Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 (G732) – Review 2020

While many gaming laptops focus on maximizing portability, some are still all about performance first. The Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 (G732) is one of these, a 17-inch laptop that isn’t massive, but certainly has the requisite space and cooling for some seriously high-end parts. (Models start at $2,199.99; our G732LXS-XS99 test configuration is $3,299.99.) Its premium Intel Core i9-10980HK processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super GPU ensure blazing fast gaming and media editing, while also able to make use of the laptop’s 300Hz display. The build is solid, if not remarkable, and we have to acknowledge that almost any laptop with such deluxe components would be a top performer. There are more exciting and interesting rigs in this price tier, like the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 (GX550) and the Acer Predator Triton 900, but the Strix Scar 17 does pack a strong performance-per-dollar ratio if that’s your priority.

A Solid, if Safe, Build

It’s difficult for this big-screen gaming laptop to go unnoticed at its size (1.1 by 15.7 by 11.5 inches), but its physical design is more modest. Rather than double down on a large footprint with a loud aesthetic, Asus opted for a pretty restrained mostly black look. The lid features just one diagonal line and a transparent ROG logo with LED backlighting, while the area around the keyboard is almost all black with a few grey sketches and some text. 

However, a more eye-catching flourish comes from the LED strip that runs along the left, front, and right bottom edge of the chassis. If you keep these lights on (colors and effects are fully customizable using the included software, as are the lid logo and keyboard lighting), the Scar is decidedly more flashy. It may not be your cup of tea, and you can turn it off, but it’s a pretty attractive (and fun) feature.

At 6.3 pounds, the Strix Scar 17 is of course far less portable than the thin 15-inch gaming laptops that have caught on in the last couple of years, but you should expect that when opting for a 17-inch rig. There are laptops this size that prioritize portability as much as they can (the Razer Blade 17, the MSI GS75 Stealth), but you’ll find many as big as or larger than the Strix Scar 17, like the HP Omen 17. There are also some much bolder, more experimental designs, such as the Asus ROG Mothership GZ700.

The 17.3-inch, full HD IPS panel on this model is not only roomy, but very advanced. The display features a blazing-fast 300Hz refresh rate, fit for enthusiasts who want to squeeze super-high frame rates out of their games. The machine’s components are up to the task (more on that in a moment), so the exotic screen’s certainly not wasted, even if aimed at a niche audience. Beyond that, the screen features a 3ms response time, and the overall picture quality is good.

Premium Parts, Ports, and More

To push frame rates that high, you’ll need some serious firepower, and as mentioned, the Scar 17 obliges. This laptop comes packed with an Intel Core i9-10980HK processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super GPU, 32GB of memory, and two 1TB NVMe SSDs arrayed in a RAID 0 configuration so they function as one drive. The CPU is an eight-core, 16-thread monster, while the GPU is the most powerful laptop option available. We’ve only tested the RTX 2080 Super in its tuned-down Max-Q form prior to this, so read on to see how it performs.

Our model is the most expensive configuration offered for this laptop. The starting version is $2,199.99 with a Core i7-10875H CPU, a GeForce RTX 2070 Super, 16GB of memory, and 1TB of storage. There’s also a $2,699.99 model with a Core i9-10980HK, an RTX 2070 Super, and 32GB of RAM, and a $2,999.99 version that takes our review unit and reduces the RAM to 16GB and the storage to 512GB. All models include the 300Hz display.

The rest of the physical build is about average, with nothing too positive or negative about the keyboard, touchpad, or ports. The keyboard is comfortable enough to type on, with decent travel but slightly mushy-feeling keys that lack much feedback. The touchpad is perfectly functional, but it feels small relative to the size of the empty space around it. It could stand to be a bit larger, but there’s nothing wrong with it as is.

The port placement is a little unusual, but the essentials are there. The left flank includes two USB 3.1 ports, while the right side has no traditional connections. The rest are in the rear, including another USB 3.1 Type-A port, a USB-C port, an HDMI connection, an Ethernet jack, and the power connector. 

The right flank of the laptop does include one unusual feature: Asus’ proprietary Keystone module slot. The Keystone is a removable flash-drive-style product (sold separately for $39.99) that stores your profiles for settings (general and game-specific) as well as system lighting. It also includes an encrypted hidden partition for personal file storage, and works with several other Keystone-compatible Asus systems.

Last but not least, the laptop includes Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth, but no webcam. This is one of several recent Asus laptops that lacks a webcam; I’m not sure why Asus keeps coming to that decision, but it’s an especially notable exclusion in our current climate.

Now Testing: Top-End Parts Deliver Top-Tier Power

For the sake of performance-testing comparisons, I gathered a batch of similar laptops to pit against the Strix Scar 17. There are a mix of other 17-inch laptops and some smaller 15-inch models for context, some with more experimental designs. Their names and specs are in the table below.

Especially notable for comparisons with the GeForce RTX 2080 Super in the Scar 17 are the full-fat (that is, non-Max-Q) version of the GeForce RTX 2080 (in the Predator Triton 900) and the Max-Q version of the RTX 2080 Super (in the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15).

Productivity, Storage, and Media Tests

PCMark 10 and 8 are holistic performance suites developed by the PC benchmark specialists at UL (formerly Futuremark). The PCMark 10 test we run simulates different real-world productivity and content creation workflows. We use it to assess overall system performance for office-centric tasks such as word processing, spreadsheet jockeying, web browsing, and videoconferencing. PCMark 8, meanwhile, has a storage subtest that we use to assess the speed of the system’s boot drive. Both tests yield a proprietary numeric score; higher numbers are better. (See more about how we test laptops.)

The super-powered CPU didn’t get a chance to fully flex its cores and threads in PCMark 10, but it still put up a very strong result. It wasn’t the best of the bunch, but all of these scores are far above what is required for everyday tasks, ensuring fast loading and no slowdown while multitasking. The SSDs are equally snappy, and will make your Windows and gaming experience more efficient.

Next is Maxon’s CPU-crunching Cinebench R15 test, which is fully threaded to make use of all available processor cores and threads. Cinebench stresses the CPU rather than the GPU to render a complex image. The result is a proprietary score indicating a PC’s suitability for processor-intensive workloads.

Cinebench is often a good predictor of our Handbrake video editing trial, another tough, threaded workout that’s highly CPU-dependent and scales well with cores and threads. In it, we put a stopwatch on test systems as they transcode a standard 12-minute clip of 4K video (the open-source Blender demo movie Tears of Steel) to a 1080p MP4 file. It’s a timed test, and lower results are better.

We also run a custom Adobe Photoshop image editing benchmark. Using an early 2018 release of the Creative Cloud version of Photoshop, we apply a series of 10 complex filters and effects to a standard JPEG test image. We time each operation and add up the total. As with Handbrake, lower times are better here.

When these processors were pushed to their limits, the Scar 17’s Core i9-10980HK came out at or near the top. It posted the best Cinebench and Photoshop results, and was just off the lead in Handbrake. The eight cores and 16 threads were able to make relatively easy work of these media tests, and Asus’ much-touted “liquid metal” thermal compound appears to work well to keep heat in check to prevent bottlenecking. 

While the Scar is of course primarily a gaming laptop, this level of proficiency in CPU-based tasks makes it a truly effective media-editing machine, too. It could also serve a variety of workstation-style professional roles that lean on both the CPU and GPU for modeling, rendering, and editing.

Graphics Tests

3DMark measures relative graphics muscle by rendering sequences of highly detailed, gaming-style 3D graphics that emphasize particles and lighting. We run two different 3DMark subtests, Sky Diver and Fire Strike, which are suited to different types of systems. Both are DirectX 11 benchmarks, but Sky Diver is more suited to midrange PCs, while Fire Strike is more demanding and made for high-end PCs to strut their stuff. The results are proprietary scores.

Next up is another synthetic graphics test, this time from Unigine Corp. Like 3DMark, the Superposition test renders and pans through a detailed 3D scene and measures how the system copes. In this case, it’s rendered in the eponymous Unigine engine, offering a different 3D workload scenario for a second opinion on each laptop’s graphical prowess. Note here that the 1080p High preset would not run on the Zephyrus, an issue we’ve occasionally seen with Superposition across various systems.

As mentioned earlier, this is the first time we have been able to test the non-Max-Q GeForce RTX 2080 Super, and as expected, it’s just about the most powerful laptop GPU we’ve seen so far. It pushed the highest scores on these raw power synthetic tests, even if it wasn’t by much more than the Predator Triton 900’s non-Super RTX 2080. This hints at very capable gaming performance, as you’ll see next, but bodes well for the other 3D professional tasks I mentioned.

Real-World Gaming Tests

The synthetic tests above are helpful for measuring general 3D aptitude, but it’s hard to beat full retail video games for judging gaming performance. Far Cry 5 and Rise of the Tomb Raider are both modern, high-fidelity titles with built-in benchmarks that illustrate how a system handles real-world gameplay at various settings. We run them at 1080p resolution at the games’ medium and best image-quality settings (Normal and Ultra for Far Cry 5 under DirectX 11, Medium and Very High for Rise of the Tomb Raider under DirectX 12).

These are extremely high frame rates for a laptop, no matter how you slice it. Even some of these other very expensive laptops are more than 20fps behind this machine, though others hang much closer. These frame rates are far above 60fps, making use of the high-refresh display. AAA games won’t touch the 300Hz ceiling, but less demanding competitive multiplayer titles will climb much closer to it, giving you an edge.

The Triton 900 did top the Scar 17 on Rise of the Tomb Raider—small differences in per-game performance just happen with different combinations of hardware, but we’d expect the RTX 2080 Super to eke out more frames on average. The advantage may not be worth it if a laptop is theoretically charging you more for the RTX 2080 Super than the non-Super version, but it’s just as likely only one will be offered with any given laptop going forward. 

Battery Rundown Test

After fully recharging the laptop, we set up the machine in power-save mode (as opposed to balanced or high-performance mode) where available and make a few other battery-conserving tweaks in preparation for our unplugged video rundown test. (We also turn Wi-Fi off, putting the laptop in airplane mode.) In this test, we loop a video—a locally stored 720p file of the same Tears of Steel short we use in our Handbrake test—with screen brightness set at 50 percent and volume at 100 percent until the system quits.

The Scar’s stamina was just okay, avoiding the woeful two- or three-hour runtimes we sometimes see from big gaming laptops. Roughly five and a half hours is hardly all-day battery life, but it will allow you to use this laptop off the charger for a reasonable amount of time in non-gaming ways. (Gaming will drastically reduce battery life, though.)

A Pure Performer

The Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 is an expensive gaming laptop, and it performs like one. These high-tier parts deliver nearly unmatched performance, and a 300Hz display gives you a competitive advantage and a smoother experience in those lighter-lift games that the GPU can push above 150fps or 200fps. The laptop itself is pretty unremarkable, though, as a design. It’s hard to get too enthused about the chassis quality or design, it’s not especially portable, and the battery doesn’t last too long.

 Any laptop you’d equip with these parts would almost definitely perform as well, save for a few frames or seconds here and there due to varying thermals. You can get much more interesting designs at this aspirational price tier, like the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 or the Acer Predator Triton 900, that also offer top-end performance.

The Strix Scar 17 is an extra bit more powerful, prioritizing speed over design innovation. It’s not the first, or second, way I’d suggest spending more than $3,000 on a gaming laptop, but it might appeal if performance is your be-all and end-all.

Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 (G732) Specs

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