ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 17 review (2020 G732LXS model – Core i7/i9, RTX 2080 150W)

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Specs Sheet
Design and exterior
Keyboard and trackpad
Screen
Hardware and performance
Noise, heat and speakers
Battery life
Price and availability
Final thoughts
Comments

By Andrei GirbeaASUS ROG Strix SCAR 17 G732LXS, last updated on December 20, 2023

ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 17 G732LXS

Summary: If excellent gaming performance is what you're primarily after and you're willing to spend $3000 on a full-size 17-inch notebook, the ROG Scar 17 in this RTX 2080 Super 150W implementation might be the most versatile option of its generation, both on its Turbo and especially on its Silent profile. But there's a design flaw that you need to be aware of: due to the very slim rubber feet on the bottom, the thermal module chokes while the laptop sits on the desk, so you'll need to somehow raise it up in order for it to deliver its best.

Our score: 4.25 / 5
Price when reviewed: $2999

THE GOOD

sturdy build quality, cleaner design and improved control over the RGB elements
fast and punchy 300Hz IPS screen, not very bright
powerful hardware and excellent performance/ thermals once you lift this from the desk
excellent outer temperatures on all profiles

THE BAD

no card-reader, Thunderbolt 3, camera or biometrics
limited air-intake while the laptop sits on the desk, with an impact over temperatures and performance
still runs noisy with games on Turbo
small battery for a 17-inch notebook, unused interior space

Table of Contents

The specs sheet as reviewed
Design and exterior
Keyboard and trackpad
Screen
Hardware and performance
Noise, Heat, Connectivity, speakers, and others
Battery life
Price and availability
Final thoughts

For years, Asus ROG laptops have been a standard for full-size performance and gaming computers with beefy specs and cooling solutions to match.

However, with the technology progressing and people looking into more portable options, the big-boy ROG laptops have recently got into a shadow cone. As a result, Asus decided to move away from their bulky ROG design last implemented in the 2019 ROG G703GX, and instead integrate top-tier specs into a tweaked SCAR 17 chassis with the 2020 update.

Here enters the ROG Strix SCAR 17 G732LXS, a 17-inch gaming laptop built on Intel 8Core i7/i9 processors and an overclocked Nvidia RTX 2080 Super 150W graphics chip, but this time around in a more compact form-factor that weighs 2.9 kilos (vs 4.5 kilos of the G703) and requires a single power brick at full load, unlike the previous generation that required two.

Sure, the G703 implemented a more powerful CPU and a desktop-grade 200W RTX 2080 GPU, a larger battery, and extra memory/storage options, but all these came with a high price and limited portability, and I feel that newer model is a better-balanced notebook. Still, the big question is how the redesigned model handles demanding loads and gaming in terms of overall performance, thermals and noise levels, and we’ll answer those questions in this article.

We’ve spent the last month with this ROG Strix SCAR 17 an put it through its paces in order to gather all the impressions and thoughts in this review, so you’ll know what to expect from this product and whether this is the right buy for you or not.

The specs sheet as reviewed

	ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 17 G732LXS
Screen	17.3 inch, 1920 x 1080 px resolution, IPS, 300Hz, matte, AU Optronics B173HAN05.1 panel
Processor	Intel Comet Lake Core i7-10875H, 8C/16T (i9-10980HK option also available)
Video	Intel UHD and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 8GB (150W, Overclocked, GeForce 446.14), with Optimus
Memory	32 GB DDR4 3200 MHz (2x DIMMs)
Storage	2x 1 TB PCIe SSD in RAID0 (Samsung PM981), 3x M.2 slots, with RAID 0/1 support
Connectivity	WiFi 6 (Intel AX201) 2×2 with Bluetooth 5.0, Gigabit LAN (Realtek RTL8168/8111)
Ports	3x USB-A 3.2 gen1, 1x USB-C gen2 with video&data, HDMI 2.0b, LAN, headphone&mic, Kensington Lock
Battery	66 Wh, 280 W power adapter
Size	400 mm or 15.74” (w) x 293 mm or 11.53” (d) x 27.9 mm or 1.1” (h)
Weight	2.91 kg (6.4 lb), .92 kg (2.02 lbs) power brick and cables, US version
Extras	per-key RGB backlit keyboard with NumPad, 2x 4.2W bottom stereo speakers, no included webcam, Keystone

Our unit is an early sample offered by Asus for the purpose of this review, and it performed just as we would expect from the final retail models.

Retail 2020 ROG Strix SCAR 17 G732LXS configurations might get different amounts of memory and storage, but the same 300 Hz screen, RTX 2080 150W GPU, and either an i7-10875H or i9-10980HK processor. We’ve also reviewed the i9-10980HK in the ROG Scar 15 chassis, and included our findings in this article, so you’ll know what to expect from that configuration as well.

There are also more affordable lower-tier 2020 ROG Scar 17 variants with RTX 2060 90W (G732LVS) or RTX 2070 Super 115W graphics (G732LWS), and those are slightly slimmer and lighter, and get a simplified thermal design in comparison to the LXS reviewed here. We might test the G732LWS as well if there’s enough interest.

In the meantime, follow this link for updated configurations and prices in your region at the time you’re reading this article.

Update: Here’s our review of the more recent 2023 Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 update.

Design and exterior

The ROG Strix Scar lineup has been completely redesigned in 2019, and the 2020 updates are built on the same chassis.

The 17-inch variant is fairly compact, but still a bit longer than other laptops in its class, with a big chin underneath the screen and a hump behind, that accommodates parts of the thermal module. Furthermore, this particular G732LXS variant gets a thicker bottom panel, in order to accommodate the beefier thermal module required to cool the power-hungry Comet Lake processors and the 150W GPU.

As far as weight goes, this tips the scales at around 2.9 kilos (6.4 lbs), with the included 280W power brick accounting for .92 kg (2 lbs) extra in your backpack. You’ll have to bring this main charger along all the time, as the laptop won’t last much on battery and does not support USB-C charging.

When it comes to the choice in materials, the laptop’s lid is made out of aluminum, with what looks like an anodized finishing, but the interior and D-panel are plastic. The palm rest is smooth and might not feel as premium as some of the metal-crafted options out there, especially those in the thin-and-light space, such as the Asus ROG Zephyrus or Razer Blade lineups, but I could live with it just fine.

I’m not entirely sold on the design lines, though, with the graphic elements on the interior and the RGB elements: the ROG logo on the lid, and the massive light-strip at the bottom. I understand that some might like them, and I do feel that the light strip looks cool in the dark, but the ROG lit logo isn’t something I personally appreciate. At least Asus finally offer individual control over these RGB elements now, so you can switch them off if you want to. That’s possible in the Aura Creator software, where the ROG logo and light bar elements are set as individual options, but the software is not that intuitive and I had to watch a tutorial to figure it out.

These aside, the laptop is surely very well built, with a sturdy main chassis, no flex in the keyboard deck, and a strong screen, held in place by two strong hinges. They allow to easily pick up the display and adjust the angle with a single hand, as well as lean it back to about 145 degrees, which is OK for a full-size 17-inch laptop that’s going to spend most of its time on a desk.

Asus also implemented grippy (but tiny and slim, and we’ll further touch on that in the thermals section) rubber feet that keep this well anchored on the desk, and made sure to blunt and round the edges and corners. You’ll still feel the front lip pressing onto your wrists in some situations, due to the laptop’s thicker profile, but that won’t be a problem on a larger desk with ample arm-support.

Looking at the D-Panel design, you’ll notice that this implementation gets large intake cuts on top of the fans, with a few other cuts in certain locations. This is different than the design Asus implement on the Scar 15. There are still no audio cuts in the bottom panel, as the sound comes out through some narrow cuts on the sides.

As for the IO, it’s spread around the left and back edges, with the right only including the Keystone. That’s a gimmick in my book and won’t further comment on it.

It’s nice to see the ports and power plug on the back though, allowing for uncluttered sides when hooking up peripherals. You’ll still see the cables through the weird cutout beneath the screen, whose purpose is to display the status LEDs with the lid closed, as these are still placed just under the screen. They’re dim though, and barely, barely noticeable when using the laptop in the dark. And so is the always-lit power button, although I hope Asus will address both of these on the future 2021 SCAR update, implementing their newer power button with the smart finger-sensor and throwing the status LEDs on the sides.

Back to those ports, though, I have to mention that the USB-C port still doesn’t support Thunderbolt 3 or charging, only data and DP video, and there’s no card-reader, and I just think that implementing one of those would have been more useful than that Keystone. And while we’re nitpicking, this SCAR generation still doesn’t get any sort of biometrics or an internal webcam.

Keyboard and trackpad

The keyboard on the ROG Strix SCAR series is similar to the ones Asus also put on their ROG Zephyrus S15, but includes a NumPad section on this 17-inch model.

It’s a standard chiclet layout with spaced out, but small, arrows keys, a narrower NumPad and an extra set of media keys at the top-left.

The keys are softly coated and feel nice to the touch, and the overall implementation is quick and quiet. However, just like on the S15, the deep actuation point and the switches’ increased resistance takes a toll on my accuracy, as someone used to softer and shallower keyboards available on ultrabooks these days. You’re going to like this a lot more if you’re coming from an older laptop or a desktop keyboard.

The illumination is bright and even and allows per-key RGB control, with a couple of effects available in the Armour Crate app. The F1-F12 writing on the top row of function keys is not backlit, though, so finding the right key in the dark is a guessing game and takes time to get used to.

This aside, there’s very little to complain about. Light doesn’t creep out from under the keys, there’s a physical indicator in the Caps Lock key and the illumination activates with a gentle swipe over the touchpad.

Speaking of, for mouse Asus went with a fairly small and immovable plastic surface, with smooth dedicated click buttons. It works fine with everyday use and gestures, but the surface still rattles when tapped.

As for biometrics, there are none on this 2020 ROG Strix SCAR 17.

Screen

Just as you’d expect from a proper gaming laptop, this is equipped with a 300 Hz 3ms FHD IPS matte display (the same Asus also include on the ROG Zephyrus S17), a fine option for daily use, and an excellent option for gaming. BTW, here’s how the Scar 17 compares to the Zephryu S17 and the Legion 7, three of the best laptops in their niche.

There’s no GSync support on the Scar series, though, unlike on some top-tier Zephyrus S models or the previous ROG G703. Instead, this only gets an Optimus mode.

Implementing GSync on this configuration would have required a motherboard redesign, in order to accommodate the required MUX switch, and Asus decided against it on this generation. In all fairness, GSync support isn’t required on a 300 Hz panel anyway, even with this sort of hardware specs, and is available for external monitors.

Gaming aside, the panel offers deep blacks and excellent contrast, wide viewing angles, and pretty good colors, at 72% AdobeRGB coverage in our tests. It’s not very bright, though, with a measured maximum brightness of 334 nits with default settings, but is one of the best in terms of illumination uniformity, and we’ve only a limited amount of light-bleeding around the edges, unlike on other 300 Hz panels tested recently.

Here’s what we got in our tests, with a X-Rite i1 Display Pro sensor:

Panel HardwareID: AU Optronics AUO519D (B173HAN05.1);
Coverage: 97.0% sRGB, 72.6% AdobeRGB, 74.8% DCI P3;
Measured gamma: 2.19;
Max brightness in the middle of the screen: 334 cd/m2 on power;
Min brightness in the middle of the screen: 15.66 cd/m2 on power;
Contrast at max brightness: 1360:1;
White point: 7400 K;
Black on max brightness: 0.24 cd/m2;
PWM: No.
Response: 5.6 ms GtG (source).

Calibrating the panel in order to address the skewed default White Point limits the maximum brightness at around 300-nits, which is perfectly fine for indoor use, but not great for bright-light environments.

Hardware and performance

Our test model is a top-specced configuration of the Asus ROG Strix SCAR 17, in the G732LXS configuration with an Intel Core i7-10875H processor, 32 GB of DDR4 3200 MHz RAM, 2 TB of storage in Raid0, and dual graphics: the Nvidia RTX 2080 Super dGPU and the Intel UHD within the Intel platform. We’ll also cover the i9-10980HK CPU option available on this laptop, and how it compares to the i7.

Before we proceed, keep in mind that our review unit is an early-production model with the software available as of late-May 2020 (BIOS 303, Armoury Crate 2.7.8, GeForce Game Ready 446.14 drivers). Based on our findings and experience with these platforms, very little can change with future software updates, so our results are mostly what you’ll get with the retail models.

Spec-wise, the 2020 Strix SCAR gets either an 8Core Intel Comet Lake i7-10875H processor or an 8Core i9-10980HK. The latter is a higher-clocked version of the former, able to run at higher single and multi Turbo Speed frequencies, if enough power is supplied. Out Scar 17 model comes with the Core i7 CPU, but we’ve also tested the Core i9 option on the similar Scar 15 chassis.

As for the GPU, what we have here is the top-tier Nvidia 2080 Super in a full-power 150W implementation, but with variable TDP and frequency limits between the several performance modes available in Armoury Crate:

Silent – prioritizes lower fan-noise and reduces CPU/GPU speeds and power – GPU is limited to 115W;
Performance – balanced profile with stock CPU/GPU settings – GPU runs at 150W and stock frequencies;
Turbo – High-Performance profile with increased CPU power allocation and overclocked GPU (150W, +100 MHz Core/+130 MHz Memory).
Manual – same as Turbo, but allows to manually create fan curves for the CPU and GPU based on temperature thresholds, as well as further overclock the GPU.

The thermal module on this Scar 17 version is beefed up in order to cope with the 150W GPU, while the standard RTX 2070 models get the same cooling from the 2019 model, meant to handle a 115W GPU. Asus also apply liquid metal compound on the CPU from the factory on their entire 2020 ROG lineup, which somewhat helps reduce temperatures.

The updated Intel platform also supports 3200 MHz DDR4 memory. Our configuration gets 32 GB of RAM in dual-channel, and there are two DIMMs available inside, so you could install up to 64 GB of memory on this laptop with the right memory sticks.

As for the storage, our unit gets two Samsung PM981 SSDs in Raid0, making up for one the faster storage solutions available for laptops out there, aside from the CPU attached implementations available on a few models. Retail configurations might not ship with Samsung PM981 drives though, so you might want to double-check this detail with the supplier.

Getting to the components is fairly simple. You need to remove the back panel which is held in place by a few Philips screws, all visible around the sides. However, the back is attached to the main-laptop with two ribbons that power the LED strips, so careful not to sever the connections. Inside you’ll also get access to the thermal module, battery, speakers, wifi chip, and the three SSD slots. This 2020 Scar update no longer includes a 2.5″ storage bay, which has been replaced with an two extra M.2 slots, for a total of three.

You’ll notice that a lot of space is left unused on this recycled design once the 2.5″ has been replaced with two extra M.2 slots. With some tweaking, Asus could have move those SSDs to the side and free-up room for a large battery, and they could have also included an SD card-reader on the right edge. Or larger speakers.

This ROG Strix Scar 17 is not just a performance laptop, it can also handle everyday multitasking, browsing, and video, while running quietly and coolly on the Silent profile. Here’s what to expect:

Nonetheless, you’re not going to buy this for Netflix, so demanding loads is where the platform shines.

On to those, we’ll start by testing the CPU’s performance in taxing loads, and we do that by running Cinebench R15 for 15+ times in a loop, with 2-3 seconds delay between each run.

On stock Turbo settings, the i7 processor stabilizes at 70+W, which translates in frequencies of 3.5+ GHz and temperatures of ~70 C, as well as scores of ~1550 points.

Undervolting is disabled by default with the retail BIOS on i7 17-inch Scar, but there is a Voltage control option in the Advanced BIOS settings, which allows BIOS level undervolting at up to -80mV. Our sample performed stably at -80 mV, which translated in sustained 3.7+ GHz and scores of 1600+ points, within the same 70W power envelope.

Dropping over to the Performance mode returns similar scores, at the same 70W power limit, but with quieter fans and slightly higher temperatures of 73+ C. The Silent profile, on the other hand, limits the processor at 45+ W.

Finally, on battery, the power is limited at up to 45W in the Performance mode (Turbo is disabled in this case). Details below.

In comparison, the i9 processor in the ROG SCAR 15 stabilizes at 80+W and runs and slightly higher clocks. It also came with a default +50 mV applied overvolt (so it heats up quickly in this test), and with XTU support (alongside the BIOS undervolting option).

We were able to reduce to voltage to -80 mV, but with occasional crashes in combined loads, so we dialed back to -50 mV to prevent any stability issues. It still ended up outscoring the i7-10875H by more than 10% in this test.

In all fairness, though, we most likely hit a poor bin on this Scar 17 model, as the same i7-10875H processor performed slightly better in the smaller Zephyrus S15 and the 17-inch Gigabyte Aorus 17G tested recently.

Nonetheless, all these Intel Comet Lake processors require a lot of power at max-load, and the fact that the Ryzen 7 and 9 processors in the more compact Zephyrus G14 end up matching the i7-10875 at pretty much half the power consumption (35W vs 70W) shows the current state of AMD’s Zen2 platform and how much Intel need to catch up with their next-gen hardware. The i9 still ends up outmatching the Ryzen CPUs, but undervolted, running at 80+W, and with more complex cooling.

Next, we’ve further verified our findings with the longer Cinebench R20 loop test and the gruesome Prime 95. With Prime, the i7 CPU kicks in hard at around 115+W for about 20-30 seconds, and then drops and stabilizes at 70W.

We also ran our combined CPU+GPU stress tests on this notebook, on the Turbo profile.

3DMark stress runs the same test for 20 times in a loop and looks for performance variation and degradation over time, and this unit passed it without a problem. Luxmark 3.1 fully loads both the CPU and GPU at the same time. The GPU constantly runs at around 150W in this test, and the CPU kicks in hard at first, but then stabilizes at around 50W. On battery, both the CPU and the GPU drop to lower power settings (30W – CPU, 20W – GPU).

Next, we ran the entire suite of tests and benchmarks, on the stock Turbo profile in Armoury Crate on the tested Scar 17 model, with the Core i7 processor.

3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 21013 (Graphics – 25277, Physics – 20984);
3DMark 13 – Port Royal: 6152;
3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 9948 (Graphics – 9968, CPU – 9840);
AIDA64 Memory test: Write: Read: 48533 MB/s, Read: 46533 MB/s, Latency: 59.3 ns;
Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 6473;
Handbrake 1.3.1 (4K to 1080p encode): 40.55 average fps;
PassMark: Rating: 7517 (CPU mark: 20780, 3D Graphics Mark: 13522, Disk Mark: 27491);
PCMark 10: 5746 (Essentials – 10008, Productivity – 9088, Digital Content Creation – 5663);
GeekBench 4.4.2 64-bit: Single-Core: 5877, Multi-core: 33437;
GeekBench 5.0.1 64-bit: Single-Core: 1279, Multi-core: 8577;
CineBench R15 (best run): CPU 1858 cb, CPU Single Core 201 cb;
CineBench R20 (best run): CPU 3861 cb, CPU Single Core 455 cb;
x264 HD Benchmark 4.0 32-bit: Pass 1 – 249.32 fps, Pass 2 – 101.18 fps;
x265 HD Benchmark 64-bit: 36.97 s.

For comparison, expect roughly 2-10% improved performance on the i9-10980HK model in CPU-heavy workloads, with a marginal impact in combined loads.

3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: Physics – 23523;
3DMark 13 – Time Spy: CPU – 9858;
Handbrake 1.3.1 (4K to 1080p encode): 42.65 average fps;
GeekBench 5.0.1 64-bit: Single-Core: 1383, Multi-core: 8793;
CineBench R15 (best run): CPU 1912 cb, CPU Single Core 208 cb;
CineBench R20 (best run): CPU 4251 cb, CPU Single Core 499 cb;
x264 HD Benchmark 4.0 32-bit: Pass 1 – 264.12 fps, Pass 2 – 108.88 fps;
x265 HD Benchmark 64-bit: 35.74 s.

Getting back to our i7 configuration, we also ran some tests on the Silent profile, if you’re interested in running demanding loads at low noise levels (<40 dB).

3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 18300 (Graphics – 23607, Physics – 16956);
3DMark 13 – Port Royal: 5872;
3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 8874 (Graphics – 9137, CPU – 7632);
Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Medium: 14115;
Handbrake 1.3.1 (4K to 1080p encode): 35.94 average fps;
PassMark: Rating: 5626 (CPU mark: 16631, 3D Graphics Mark: 11135, Disk Mark: 20848);
PCMark 10: 4418 (Essentials – 8164, Productivity – 6974, Digital Content Creation – 4111);
GeekBench 5.0.1 64-bit: Single-Core: 974, Multi-core: 6983;
CineBench R15 (best run): CPU 1443 cb, CPU Single Core 153 cb;
CineBench R20 (best run): CPU 3273 cb, CPU Single Core 360 cb;
x264 HD Benchmark 4.0 32-bit: Pass 1 – 185.02 fps, Pass 2 – 88.11 fps;
x265 HD Benchmark 64-bit: 43.16 s.

We’re looking at a roughly 15-25% decrease in CPU and GPU performance compared to the Turbo profile, but significantly reduced noise levels as well: up to 39 dB at head level, versus up to 51 dB on Turbo.

Finally, we reran some of the tests on the -80mV Undervolted Turbo profile, which resulted in a small 2-5% increase in most benchmarks.

3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 21663 (Graphics – 26057, Physics – 21798);
3DMark 13 – Port Royal: 6180;
3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 10093 (Graphics – 10092, CPU – 10101);
PCMark 10: 5680 (Essentials – 9857, Productivity – 8855, Digital Content Creation – 5697);
GeekBench 5.0.1 64-bit: Single-Core: 1273, Multi-core: 8577;
CineBench R15 (best run): CPU 1859 cb, CPU Single Core 203 cb;
CineBench R20 (best run): CPU 3991 cb, CPU Single Core 475 cb;
x265 HD Benchmark 64-bit: 34.88 s.

As far as the GPU goes, it is already overclocked on the Turbo profile (+1oo MHz Core, +130 MHz Memory), and pushing it to +130 MHz Core/+150 MHz Memory on the Manual profile returns minor to no gains. That’s why we didn’t pursue further overclocking in our tests, but you can dig into this if you want to, as well as consider a slight GPU undervolt in MSI Afterburner, in order to maximize the performance and temperatures.

Finally, we also ran some Workstation related loads on this i7 configuration, on the Turbo and Silent profiles:

Blender 2.82 – BMW Car scene- CPU Compute: 4m 32s (Silent), 3m 44s (Turbo), 3m 27s (Turbo UV);
Blender 2.82 – BMW Car scene- GPU Compute: 50s (CUDA), 26s (Optix);
Blender 2.82 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 14m 21s (Silent), 12m 3s (Turbo), 11m 17s (Turbo UV);
Blender 2.82 – Classroom scene – GPU Compute: 2m 40s (CUDA), 1m 32s (Optix);
Luxmark 3.1 – Luxball HDR – OpenCL CPUs + GPUs score: 36541 (Turbo);
SPECviewerf 13 – 3DSMax: 190.7.52 (Turbo), 164.47 (Silent);
SPECviewerf 13 – Catia: 153.45 (Turbo), 126.51 (Silent);
SPECviewerf 13 – Creo: 188.32 (Turbo), 155.77 (Silent);
SPECviewerf 13 – Energy: 23.16 (Turbo), 21.14 (Silent);
SPECviewerf 13 – Maya: 226.74 (Turbo), 185.05 (Silent);
SPECviewerf 13 – Medical: 63.15 (Turbo), 55.79 (Silent);
SPECviewerf 13 – Showcase: 115.11 (Turbo), 105.71 (Silent);
SPECviewerf 13 – SNX: 22.38 (Turbo), 19.87 (Silent);
SPECviewerf 13 – SW: 92.13 (Turbo), 66.87 (Silent).

And here’s what to expect from the i9 model in these tests:

Blender 2.82 – BMW Car scene- CPU Compute: 3m 27s (Turbo), 3m 14s (Turbo UV);
Blender 2.82 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 11m 17s (Turbo), 10m 37s (Turbo UV).

Now, as far as gaming goes on this laptop, we ran a couple of DX11, DX12, and Vulkan titles on the default Turbo/Performance/Silent modes, on FHD (on the laptop’s display) and QHD (on external monitor) resolutions. Here’s what we got:

Core i7-10875H + RTX 2080 Super 150W	FHD Turbo	FHD Turbo UV	FHD Performance	FHD Silent	QHD Turbo, external
Battlefield V (DX 12, Ultra Preset, Ray-Tracing OFF)	138 fps (96 fps – 1% low)	–	130 fps (111 fps – 1% low)	122 fps (103 fps – 1% low)	109 fps (64 fps – 1% low)
Battlefield V (DX 12, Ultra Preset, Ray-Tracing ON, DLSS OFF)	75 fps (56 fps – 1% low)	–	67 fps (56 fps – 1% low)	60 fps (50 fps – 1% low)	–
Far Cry 5 (DX 11, Ultra Preset, SMAA)	105 fps (78 fps – 1% low)	115 fps (81 fps – 1% low)	110 fps (81 fps – 1% low)	97 fps (57 fps – 1% low)	98 fps (59 fps – 1% low)
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (DX 11, Ultra Preset)	219 fps (141 fps – 1% low)	229 fps (146 fps – 1% low)	239 fps (154 fps – 1% low)	182 fps (110 fps – 1% low)	209 fps (150 fps – 1% low)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (DX 12, Ultra Optimized, TAA)	90 fps (71 fps – 1% low)	103 fps (78 fps – 1% low)	85 fps (66 fps – 1% low)	76 fps (53 fps – 1% low)	91 fps (66 fps – 1% low)
Rise of Tomb Raider (DX 12, Very High Preset, FXAA)	135 fps (74 fps – 1% low)	137 fps (74 fps – 1% low)	132 fps (61 fps – 1% low)	115 fps (56 fps – 1% low)	111 fps (70 fps – 1% low)
Shadow of Tomb Raider (DX 12, Highest Preset, TAA)	113 fps (77 fps – 1% low)	118 fps (82 fps – 1% low)	113 fps (75 fps – 1% low)	103 fps (54 fps – 1% low)	84 fps (66 fps – 1% low)
Strange Brigade (Vulkan, Ultra Preset)	186 fps (136 fps – 1% low)	192 fps (142 fps – 1% low)	178 fps (132 fps – 1% low)	173 fps (122 fps – 1% low)	–
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (DX 11, Ultra Preset, Hairworks On 4)	98-132 min-max fps (115 fps avg, 78 fps – 1% low)	96-148 min-max fps (119 fps avg, 86 fps – 1% low)	96-134 min-max fps (115 fps avg, 83 fps – 1% low)	85-113 min-max fps (100 fps avg, 70 fps – 1% low)	71-101 min-max fps (86 fps avg, 68 fps – 1% low)

Battlefield V, The Witcher 3 – recorded with Fraps/in-game FPS counter in campaign mode;
Far Cry 5, Middle Earth, Strange Brigade, Red Dead Redemption 2, Tomb Raider games – recorded with the included Benchmark utilities;
Red Dead Redemption 2 Optimized profile based on these settings.

The HWinfo logs below show the CPU and GPU speeds and temperatures in Farcry 5, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Witcher 3 on the stock Turbo profile.

Both the CPU and GPU run hot, with the fans spinning at 50-51 dB at head-level. The CPU stabilizes at 88-92 C in demanding titles, with the GPU averaging 82+ degrees C. That’s about 10 degrees hotter in each case than on the 2019 ROG G703GX.

Undervolting makes very little difference, as it allows the CPU to run at slightly higher clocks, but the same kind of high temperatures, with no impact over the GPU.

Instead, raising up the laptop from the desk by as little as an inch immediately causes the temperatures to drop in all the tested titles. The GPU drops to around 73-75 degrees in all titles, and runs at up to 10% higher clocks, and the CPU stabilizes at 82-88 degrees in our tests. This pretty much suggests a design flaw: with the tiny rubber feet and the minuscule amount of space underneath the laptop, the fans cannot draw enough air to properly cool the components while the laptop sits on the desk.

The impact is even greater on the Performance and Silent profiles. The fan noise drops to about 47-48 dB at head-level on Performance, with a slight CPU limitation and the same high GPU temperatures. Once pushed up, though, the GPU runs cooler and delivers excellent performance.

On Silent, the GPU is limited at 115W with the fans running at 38-39 dB, but it actually thermally throttles under 100W in every title we’ve tested.

Once you lift up the laptop, though, the GPU cools down and comfortably runs at 115+ W and around 74 C, while the CPU is limited to around 25W and temperatures under 80 degrees C. The open D-panel design, with intake cuts on the fans, helps here.

In this scenario, the ROG Scar 17 provides excellent performance, almost the same kind you can expect from an RTX 2070 Super or RTX 2080 Super Max-Q implementation at full blast.

I’ve added a quick comparison down below of this Scar 17 on Silent next to the RTX 2070 Super 115W powered Scar 15 and RTX 2070 Super Max-Q powered Zephyrus S15, both on Turbo.

	FHD Silent – Scar 17 RTX 2080 Super 150W 38-39 dB	FHD Turbo – Scar 15 RTX 2070 Super 115W 49-50 dB	FHD Turbo – Zephyrus S15 RTX 2080 Super 90+W 48-49 dB
Battlefield V (DX 12, Ultra Preset, Ray-Tracing OFF)	122 fps (103 fps – 1% low)	–	117 fps (83 fps – 1% low)
Battlefield V (DX 12, Ultra Preset, Ray-Tracing ON, DLSS OFF)	60 fps (50 fps – 1% low)	–	68 fps (52 fps – 1% low)
Far Cry 5 (DX 11, Ultra Preset, SMAA)	97 fps (57 fps – 1% low)	113 fps (90 fps – 1% low)	115 fps (92 fps – 1% low)
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (DX 11, Ultra Preset)	182 fps (110 fps – 1% low)	145 fps (105 fps – 1% low)	158 fps (109 fps – 1% low)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (DX 12, Ultra Optimized, TAA)	76 fps (53 fps – 1% low)	85 fps (68 fps – 1% low)	85 fps (65 fps – 1% low)
Rise of Tomb Raider (DX 12, Very High Preset, FXAA)	115 fps (56 fps – 1% low)	109 fps (68 fps – 1% low)	136 fps (76 fps – 1% low)
Shadow of Tomb Raider (DX 12, Highest Preset, TAA)	103 fps (54 fps – 1% low)	101 fps (66 fps – 1% low)	102 fps (72 fps – 1% low)
Strange Brigade (Vulkan, Ultra Preset)	173 fps (122 fps – 1% low)	153 fps (117 fps – 1% low)	156 fps (121 fps – 1% low)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (DX 11, Ultra Preset, Hairworks On 4)	100 fps avg, 70 fps – 1% low	105 fps avg, 74 fps – 1% low	108 fps avg, 51 fps – 1% low

Just remember that you somehow have to lift up the laptop from the desk to get the best possible gaming experience, or perhaps put this on a proper cooling pad.

You might also be interested in how this performs with the lid closed, when hooked up to an external monitor and keyboard/mouse.

Both the CPU and GPU heat-up while the laptop sits on a desk, and the temperatures drop when raising up the laptop, just as explained above. I didn’t notice any difference in framerates or temperatures when using the laptop with the lid open or closed in this scenario, which suggests that the vast majority of fresh air is sucked in from the bottom, and not through the keyboard. You should also not worry about any heat impacting the screen, as the laptop’s interior barely gets past 40 degrees Celsius on any of the power profiles.

Keep in mind though that with the video ports placed on the back, using this in a vertical stand might be tricky.

Finally, gaming on battery is not really an option based on our experience with this sample, as both the CPU and GPU fluctuate and throttle in this case.

Noise, Heat, Connectivity, speakers, and others

The thermal module has been specifically designed for this RTX 2080 SUper 150W implementation of the ROG Strix SCAR 17, with two high-capacity fans and an ample array of heatpipes and thermal plates, with two separate radiators for both the CPU and the GPU. The fans are larger and most likely higher-cfm than what Asus implement in the Scar 15 and lower-tier variants of the Scar 17.

Asus also apply liquid-metal thermal compound on the CPU from the factory, and the design places the intake cuts in the D-panel on top of the fans, unlike on the 15-inch ROG Scar 15.

Nonetheless, as explained above, a complex thermal module isn’t going to do much without proper airflow around those intakes, that’s why the components run hot here as long as the laptop sits on the desk, and raising it up by an inch or two translates in significantly improved temperatures and performance.

As far as external temperatures go, this laptop barely goes past 40 degrees on any of the working modes, with certain small parts around the radiators heating up on Silent.

Both fans remain active all the time though, even with light use, but they spin quietly on Silent and you’ll only notice them in a quiet room. There were no electric noises on this unit, but that’s no guarantee you won’t’ get any with yours.

Here’s a round-up of our fan-noise measurements:

Turbo – 50-51 dB with games (47 dB Armoury Crate), 50-51 dB with Cinebench loop test;
Performance – 47-48 dB with games (45 dB Armoury Crate), 43-44 dB with Cinebench loop test;
Silent – 38-39 dB with games (35 dB Armoury Crate), 38-39 dB with Cinebench loop test, 30-33 dB with Daily use.

And here’s what we measured in terms of chassis temperatures.

*Daily Use – streaming Netflix in EDGE for 30 minutes, Silent Profile, fans at 27-33 dB (23-29 dB in Armoury Crate)
*Gaming – Turbo– playing Far Cry 5 for 30 minutes, Turbo Profile, fans at 50-51 dB (47 dB in Armoury Crate)
*Gaming – Silent– playing Far Cry 5 for 30 minutes, Silent Profile, fans at 38-39 dB (35 dB in Armoury Crate)

We’re using a CAT S61 smartphone with a FLIR module for our thermal readings.

For connectivity, there’s Wireless 6 and Bluetooth 5 through an Intel AX201 chip on this unit, as well as Gigabit Lan. Our unit performed well both near the router and at 30+ feet away with obstacles in between, without drops or other issues.

As far as the speakers go, there’s a set of them firing through narrow cuts on the lateral sides, and they’re quite good. Asus included physically larger speakers than on their ROG Zephyrus lineups, and as a result, we measured high volumes of 82-84 dB at head-level (on the Music profile in Audio Wizard), and the sound comes out clean and fairly reach on the lower end, for a gaming laptop. You’ll still need to use headphones to properly cover the fan noise on Turbo.

As for the camera, there’s isn’t any on this laptop, but there’s a pair of microphones at the bottom of the screen. An external FHD webcam might be bundled in some regions, but is not included everywhere.

Battery life

There’s only a 66Wh battery inside this ROG Strix Scar 17, so it comes to no surprise that this won’t’ run for very long on a charge, even with Optimus.

Asus made sure that the screen automatically switches over to 60 Hz when unplugging the laptop, and that helps with runtimes a fair bit. On top of that, I’d also suggest switching off the light bar and backlit ROG logo when looking to maximize runtimes, as we did in our tests.

Here’s what we got on our unit, with the screen’s brightness set at around 120-nits (60%):

15 W (~4+ of use) – text editing in Google Drive, Silent Mode, screen at 60%, Wi-Fi ON;
15.5 W (~4+ h of use) – 1080p fullscreen video on Youtube in Edge, Silent Mode, screen at 60%, Wi-Fi ON;
14 W (~4 h 30 min of use) – Netflix fullscreen in Edge, Silent Mode, screen at 60%, Wi-Fi ON;
22 W (~3h of use) – browsing in Edge, Performance Mode, screen at 60%, Wi-Fi ON;
70 W (~50 min of use) – Gaming – Witcher 3, Performance Mode, screen at 60%, Wi-Fi ON, no fps limit.

Asus pairs the laptop with a fairly chunky 280W power-brick, which weighs .92 kilos with the included cables in this US version. You’ll pretty much have to bring this along everywhere, as USB-C charging is not an option here.

charger

Price and availability

The 2020 ROG Scar 17 is listed in some areas of the world at the time of this article.

The RTX 2080 Super variant tested here, but with the i9-10980HK processor, starts at $2999 in the US and around 3500 EUR in Germany.

An i9-10980HK model paired with RTX 2070 Super 115W graphics (Scar 17 G732LWS) is also listed from $2699, or 3000 EUR over here.

Follow this link for updated configurations and prices in your region at the time you’re reading this article.

Final thoughts

On paper, the 2020 ROG Scar 17 is a downgrade in terms of specs and performance compared to the 2019 ROG G703 it’s replacing, as it no longer gets a 200W GPU, a 100W+ processor, 4 sticks of RAM, a big battery or GSync.

At the same time, though, this is a much more portable laptop that only requires a single power-brick at full-load, and it’s still outperforming most gaming notebooks out there. We’ll pitch the two side by side in a future article, but for the most part, the 2020 Scar 17 is a close match to the previous model in combined loads, and only looses in demanding CPU chores, where the i9 in the previous implementation could constantly run at around 180W on Turbo, with the associated power draw and noise levels.

The 2020 model also runs quieter than the G703 at full-blast and its chassis keeps cool with games and other taxing loads. Heck, it’s even a solid performer on the Silent profile, with the fans spinning bellow 40 dB, where it almost matches what many of the other top-tier gaming laptops can do on their Turbo profiles.

But there’s a catch: you need to lift this laptop from the desk in order to allow for proper airflow into the fans and radiators. For some reason, Asus implemented very thin rubber feet on this laptop, which are about 2 mm in height, and that’s choking the thermal module and causes the hardware to heat-up. If you’re willing to “tweak” this aspect, the ROG Scar 17 in this RTX 2080 Super 150W implementation might be the most versatile gaming notebook of its generation, allowing for excellent performance on Turbo, and an unmatched balance of framerates and reduced noise on Silent.

Of course, there are also a couple of aspects to consider here, such as the lack of certain features (biometrics, webcam, Thunderbolt 3, card-reader, GSync), the limited runtimes on battery, and the $3000 price tag. If the gaming performance is what you’re primarily after and if this is within your budget, I’d expect the ROG Strix Scar 17 to do good by you. Otherwise, you could look into lower-specced and more affordable 17-inch laptops, such as the Alienware Area 51, Gigabyte Aorus 17, the MSI GE75 Raider, or the lower-tier ROG Scar 17 versions, or their more compact 15-inch alternatives, including Asus’s own ROG Strix Scar 15.

With that in mind, we’ll wrap up this review here, but I’d love to hear what you think about this notebook, so get in touch down below with your feedback or if you have any questions about them.

Disclaimer: Our content is reader-supported. If you buy through some of the links on our site, we may earn a commission. Terms.

Review by: Andrei Girbea
Andrei Girbea is a Writer and Editor-in-Chief here at Ultrabookreview.com. I write about mobile technology, laptops and computers in general. I've been doing it for more than 15 years now. I'm a techie with a Bachelor's in Computer Engineering. I mostly write reviews and thorough guides here on the site, with some occasional columns and first-impression articles.

77 Comments

Geoff

June 5, 2020 at 8:47 pm

Thank you for adding the min. brightness measurement!! It is much appreciated.

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  June 5, 2020 at 9:10 pm
  
  Np. I'll try to add it from now on, as long as I don't forget.
  
  Reply
- Leon
  
  July 12, 2020 at 11:57 am
  
  Hey!
  I actually got the Strix 17 with 17inch and i9-10980HK.
  I also saw on XTU that it comes overvolted with 50mV.
  I tuned it down to -80mV. However, I opened throttlestop now and after the UV via XTU ThrottleStop tells me again that the CPU is overvolted by 50mV. Could you please tell me how you guys did it?
  Thanks, also for the detailed review!
  
  Reply
  - Andrei Girbea
    
    July 12, 2020 at 12:05 pm
    
    Switching between modes seems to overwrite the XTU settings. I just kept the laptop on Turbo and that way the undervolting was sticking on my unit.
    
    If that doesn't work, you can either:
    1. Use Throttlestop to undervolt, you'll find a good guide here on the site.
    2. Undervolt in BIOS, that should also stick.
ZOD

June 6, 2020 at 1:01 am

On your spec sheet you list this being 14+ inches plus wide , is that real?

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  June 6, 2020 at 9:05 pm
  
  Mo, that was a mistake. it's 400 mm, and 15.7 inches
  
  Reply
Abraham Perez

June 8, 2020 at 6:53 pm

hello, love the review, alot of details too, i would love a review of the G732LWS <3

Reply
Jay

June 11, 2020 at 6:46 pm

How is this model compared to MSI gt76 or the auros 17X with RTX 2080 super, in terms of performance and cooling?

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  June 11, 2020 at 7:44 pm
  
  I haven't reviewed either of those, so I don't know. I'd reckon the GT76 should be more powerful, especially in CPU loads, but it's also a bigger/heavier laptop
  
  Reply
Jay

June 11, 2020 at 8:47 pm

How about compared to the Ge75 with comparable hardware? Will the New Scar 17 out perform that, in terms of cooling and performance?

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  June 11, 2020 at 8:52 pm
  
  For the most part, yes, but they're fairly close. This is better built imo, while the GE75 wins at audio.
  
  Reply
- Art
  
  June 15, 2020 at 4:30 am
  
  Do you plan on reviewing a S17 in the future? I'm debating on purchasing the Strix Scar 17 or the S17.
  
  Reply
  - Andrei Girbea
    
    June 15, 2020 at 11:07 am
    
    Not in the near future. However, the S17 is pretty much the 2019 Strix GX701 with updated hardware, so that review should answer most of your questions.
Kristijan

June 14, 2020 at 10:05 pm

Hi, great review (as all of them)!

I can't decide between few options:

1. Zephyrus S GX502GV (240hz, 16gb, RTX2060, 512gb SSD) ~2000€
2. Zephyrus M GU502GU (same specs as S but glacier blue color) ~ 1900€ (would need to order outside of my country)
3. Scar 17 (144hz, i7-10875h, 16gb, RTX2060, 512gb SSD) ~1700€
4. Scar 17 (300hz, i7-10875h, 32gb, RTX2070, 1TB SSD) ~2600€
5 Zephyrus g14 (4800h+16gb+1660ti) ~1800€
5. Wait for zephyrus S15 with 8 i7-10875h ~will be probably 3k+ €

Last 2 years I was mostly using desktop with ryzen 2700x but decided I will keep on with laptop as it's much easier for me since every few months I am changing my residence (working online). I had Asus N550JV for 7 years (i7-4700HQ) and never had any problems so I am mostly interested in Asus. Not sure about razer's reliability, Gigabyte seems to have coil whine, Alienware is very expensive and bad thermals (?) and for others, I don't like the looks. So atm I am looking and mentioned models. I don't need to buy now but for sure before october.
I am using laptop for work so reliability is important to me, I can't have laptop dying and me waiting for new one. I use mostly many apps at the same time, don't play games and use one app that uses up to 16 threads but not more then ~20min a day so I guess I could go with 12 thread CPU. Asus N550JV throttles with my everyday work on these apps while Ryzen 2700x had no problems.

What would you suggest me? I think Scar 17 is best buy athough this cheap version is not the one you reviewed so I am not sure how is the screen or cooling in that cheaper one.. I kinda want premium so I lean towards zephyrus.. GX502 for performance and GU502 for color.
I am really not sure what to do, hopefully your thoughts might help me.
Thank you!

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  June 15, 2020 at 11:04 am
  
  I'd look into some reviews of the 8Core Scar 17 with RTX 2060f first, it doesn't get the same thermal module as this one here.
  
  The G14 is also a solid option for multithreaded CPU loads. Despite the small form factor, the AMD platform is miles ahead of Intel's 10th gen Core H.
  
  If not in a hurry, I'd wait for a few more Ryzen 4000 H options and decide among those around fall. that looks like the ideal platform for your workloads.
  
  Reply
  - Kristijan Husko
    
    June 16, 2020 at 1:05 am
    
    Thnx for the answer!
    Will there be a video review on your youtube channel as well?
    
    btw. is this chassis in the same rang quality as 2019 Scar III or more like asus's G series? (If I understood correctly, Scar III was premium for these "gaming" series of Asus while Zehpyrhus is kind of mix gaming/other stuff)
  - Andrei Girbea
    
    June 16, 2020 at 10:43 am
    
    We should have a video as well.
    
    The Zephyrus is the higher tier gaming notebook in a more portable form-factor, and use aluminum/magnesium and some plastic elements. the Strix Scar is the higher-tier performance full-size laptop, but use more plastic than the Zephyrus model. The ROG G is the mid-level series with a mostly plastic build.
CK

June 15, 2020 at 1:11 am

Hi Andrei,

Does this scar17 have the same chassis as the asus g17(2020) version?

Do you know if the G17 will experience the same thermal throttle problem like this scar17?

I was going to buy this laptop but thank you for telling me the thermal problem.

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  June 15, 2020 at 11:05 am
  
  I haven't tested the Scar G17 yet, but I will in the next few weeks. If you can wait, the review should answer your questions
  
  Reply
Jay

June 15, 2020 at 9:32 pm

Is there any clue when the Scar 17 will be released in the states?

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  June 15, 2020 at 10:20 pm
  
  I've seen some sites such as xoticpc and excaliberpc mentioning July
  
  Reply
Jay

June 19, 2020 at 5:46 pm

Would you happen to know if the G703GX will get a new refresh with a rtx 2080 super?

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  June 19, 2020 at 5:50 pm
  
  No, that's done, this Scar 17 replaces the G703 series for 2020.
  
  Reply
hexaae

June 21, 2020 at 3:52 pm

For me G-Sync is crucial and my next laptop (currently using ASUS GL703GS) MUST HAVE IT… also because I'm addicted to old emulators running at 50Hz or 54.7Hz (MAME arcade games for example) and g-sync/free-sync are the only tech offering ALWAYS smooth screen refresh also with those old refresh rates.

Reply
Jay

June 21, 2020 at 8:24 pm

Im trying to choose between this laptop and Aorus 17x with 2080 super and with a i7-10875H.

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  June 22, 2020 at 11:06 am
  
  We've reviewed both, although the Aorus in a lower-tier configuration.
  
  Reply
Leo

June 22, 2020 at 8:54 am

Do you think asus is aware of the design flaw and gonna fix it for retail? Is it enough to raise the back of the laptop or did you raise it at all 4 rubbers?

Also did you play some games at low setting, eg Fortnite and check fps? Because the screen hits 300hz but kinda pointless if the specs don’t

Thanks for the review!

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  June 22, 2020 at 11:07 am
  
  They can't do anything about it now, we can only hope they'll address it on the next gen. Raising the back is enough.
  
  I haven't played that can of games, but they'll sure run at high fps, given how Shadow of Mordor and Strange Brigade already run at 200 fps on Ultra.
  
  Reply
  - Andy
    
    June 24, 2020 at 8:01 am
    
    I saw a review that the model i9-10980hk and rtx 2080 was 1.4mm higher, I'm not sure if thats the same model you reviewed, and whether the 1.4mm height would solve those issues.
  - Andrei Girbea
    
    June 24, 2020 at 10:29 am
    
    it's the same
  - Jay
    
    June 24, 2020 at 12:56 pm
    
    Where was this?
Eric Perez

June 22, 2020 at 8:45 pm

It seems that this laptop wont be available till at least August according to Hidevolution website.

Reply
- Jay
  
  June 24, 2020 at 4:42 pm
  
  so the Scar 17 version with i9-10980hk is 1.4 mm thicker then this one?
  
  Reply
  - Andrei Girbea
    
    June 24, 2020 at 5:13 pm
    
    no, the 2080 Scar 17 (regardless of CPU choice) is thicker than the standard Scar 17, with the 2070 dGPU and lower.
Jose Antonio

June 30, 2020 at 5:20 pm

Hello! Great review! I'm looking for a high perfomance-portability ratio laptop so I can play sometimes in my TV at 4K resolution games and take it back for my lessons. Do you think the battery can hold a 3 hour work with documents and PDF on my classes? It's not very bulky from what I see on the review, right!?

I'm so torn between this and the Zephyrus S17, but I'm coming from having an Area 51m (they give me the money back) and don't want to lose so much perfomance to play games at 4K on the TV.

Thoughts?

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  June 30, 2020 at 6:37 pm
  
  Barely. With the small battery, this is primarily designed to be plugged-in
  
  Reply
  - Jose Antonio
    
    June 30, 2020 at 7:14 pm
    
    But you got on the review 15 W (~4+ of use) – text editing in Google Drive, Silent Mode, screen at 60%, Wi-Fi ON;
    
    So, should I hope to get at least that amount, right?
    
    Thanks!
  - Andrei Girbea
    
    June 30, 2020 at 7:56 pm
    
    I'd say yes, 3-4 hours of light use is possible here on the more efficient power profiles.
Dave Johnson

July 2, 2020 at 12:30 am

Thanks for the review on both new SCAR laptops! You did a great job as always :) I was looking at either this laptop, or the Scar 15 you reviewed with the i9 and RTX 2070super. I noticed on some of the benchmarks the Scar 15 does better than the 17" with the 2080super which is very interesting. Did the 17" also have the i9 because in the benchmark video comparing both laptop it shows the 17 as having the i7…

Also, the 17" 2080 super is selling for 800$ more than the 15" you tested which to me, the difference in FPS for $800 might be overkill and not worth it. Would you agree? The only thing I really wonder is the silent testing. The silent mode on the 2080 is unreal!

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  July 2, 2020 at 10:23 am
  
  my samples were the 15 with i9 + RTX 2070 Super 115, and 17 with the i7 + RTX 2080 Super 150W. That might explain some of the differences, plus keep in mind these are early units with immature software, and that could also impact some of the tests.
  
  As for the 2nd question, yes, the Scar 17 with the 2080 is more expensive and the main reason I'd go for it is the performance on the Silent profile. At the same time, the 15 with the 2070 is better value for money, but it's also a different thermal design and won't run as smoothly on Silent. Also, if you were considering the 17 with the 2070 GPU, keep in mind that's also a more limited thermal design than the 17 with 2080.
  
  Reply
  - Dave Johnson
    
    July 2, 2020 at 11:55 am
    
    Thanks so much for the reply!
    
    The only 17" model offered in Canada with the 150W 2080super comes with the i9 CPU with 32GB ram. Hopefully with the better/new thermal design and the 150W GPU the i9 won't be too hot for it. It's too bad they didn't give you the i9 model in the 2080super so we could see those thermals as well. Then again, the 15 with the i9 worked I'm sure it would be alright in the 17 and give great performance…
DaaX

July 2, 2020 at 6:17 pm

Hi Andrei, with the 15" with 2070 Super, I saw other reviewers having problems with the refresh rate not being well detected by some online games, like For Honor. Disconections occured because the game wasn't able to detect the 300Hz refresh rate, implying the machine was at a low refresh rate. Did you noticed that on the online games you tested?

And in Doom (2016), Forza Horizon 4, Jurassic World Evolution, it seems that the game was not that fluid at ultra graphic settings. The display was jerky in all those games. Especially the glory kills and menus that were very jerky in Doom. Did you noticed that in the games you tested? Maybe those games are not well optimized for the graphics card, don't know.

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  July 2, 2020 at 6:20 pm
  
  I haven't noticed any jerkiness, but I also haven't tested any of those games. Did you find that in multiple reviews? Perhaps there was an issue with one particular unit?
  
  Reply
  - DaaX
    
    July 3, 2020 at 5:11 pm
    
    I saw that on only one review and I was really suprised bacause I haven't heard problems like that yet. Perhaps there was indeed an issue with the unit they tested.
Matthew Tantillo

July 5, 2020 at 12:00 am

I love this laptop and cant wait to buy. I had a question though, on my old laptop which was an acer nitro 5 my hyper X headset mic wasnt working so I was stuck with having to use the built in laptop mic for talking with my friends on discord. Does this laptop have the same problem? Because mine had also one audio jack port for mic and headset and I really dont want that problem again on such an expensive laptop, thanks.

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  July 5, 2020 at 9:45 am
  
  is your headset mic working with other laptops? If it does, it should work here, but it should also work on that Nitro. perhaps there's a settings problem?
  
  Reply
  - Matthew Tantillo
    
    July 11, 2020 at 1:10 am
    
    Yes the Mic works on another laptop. I just wanted to make sure because I have had this laptop for over 3 years and still couldnt find a way to make my mic work for discord on the acer nitro. Ive seen many people have the same problem while using the same laptop so it might be a problem with the laptop in general. I had ordered the Strix scar 17 in the i9 2080 Super edition so im praying that I wont have problems with it as well.
Amy

July 12, 2020 at 5:33 am

Could there be a typo by the Superposition 1080 Extreme result (5300)? I've seen other 2080 Max-P cards with 6000+ scores, do you still have the results by any chance? Thanks

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  July 12, 2020 at 11:20 am
  
  Thanks for the heads-up, I've just checked and updated with the real score: 6437.
  
  Reply
Jose Antonio

July 12, 2020 at 3:14 pm

Hello! I have the option to buy the I7 or the i9 2080 super for the same price.

Would you go always with the i9 option? I'm afraid about thermal throtting on the i9, thoughs?

Thanks a lot!

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  July 12, 2020 at 4:19 pm
  
  id' go with the i9 if the same price. However, id you can find the i7 for less, that would be my first pick
  
  Reply
Edward

July 16, 2020 at 10:27 pm

Hi! Your review is very much appreciated and im looking like this kind of review.

Do you have a review of this strix scar 17 core i9 that can be compare to the zephyrus duo 15 core i9, which both of them have the same specs. Because my concerned when buying either of the two is their performance and cooling system or maybe if they have i9 on the zephyrus s17.

Thanks!

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  July 17, 2020 at 3:22 pm
  
  no, we haven't reviewed the i9 versions of those, but you can use the results in this review for a general comparison
  
  Reply
Bhargav

July 21, 2020 at 2:07 am

Hi! Thanks for this informative review. I am considering MSI GE75 raider 10sgs-222 vs ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 17 i9 model. Both have nearly identical specs. Do you have a review of the new GE75 10sgs? Which among these two is better in terms of performance/thermals and build quality?

Thanks a lot!

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  July 21, 2020 at 11:37 am
  
  You can find our GE75 reviews on the site, in various configurations. We haven't tested the 2020 i9 model
  
  Reply
Tse

August 5, 2020 at 10:47 am

is this type using RTX2080 super max-q or non max-q? for g732lxs

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  August 5, 2020 at 11:02 am
  
  Non max-q
  
  Reply
Arda Kacar

August 9, 2020 at 2:09 pm

Hi! I have a question about the dpc latency part. Is the latency noticable during gaming or daily use and was it solved with the new drivers?

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  August 9, 2020 at 3:06 pm
  
  i haven't noticed any obvious issues with games, but |I also didn't carefully look into it during my time with the laptop
  
  Reply
Bob

October 3, 2020 at 4:07 pm

I have the G17 (GL732LW, I think) with 10750H and 2070. Previous I owed the Strix Scar 3. You said limited airflow because the bottom is choked…well Asus themselves show that's not the primary intake. They say it's designed to intake from the area behind the screen. Not sure if specs would make the difference but I have mine on desk on Perf mode with -80mv in bios and the CPU maxes 75 and CPU 79 in HZD and fans don't get loud. Other games like Witcher 3 show low mid 70s. I've seen CPU boost to 4.0-4.1ghz while still under 80, don't think it would do that if choked. This is already 10deg better than the scar 3, maybe due to the LM paste. Maybe we are different because yours is test?

Just sharing my feedback owing this model.

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- Andrei Girbea
  
  October 3, 2020 at 5:06 pm
  
  I know what they say, but look at what happens with this configuration when you lift it up from the table. The review is about this model.
  
  I'm surprised that your temperatures are that good on the G17 LW, the fans are completely covered on the back on that one. I've tested the 2060 model on the G17 and it performed nowhere near those temperatures, in fact it ran a lot hotter. I haven't yet published that review though.
  
  Reply
Tony B

October 13, 2020 at 8:59 pm

First of all, I just found your site yesterday and you do amazing reviews. You are defiantly bookmarked.

If you have a few questions and looking for your opinion. I currently have the HP Envy from years ago, i7 6500, 940m graphics card, 16gb ram. So Any of these will be a nice upgrade. Most of the games I play are not the mainstream games people are worried about but still can cause issues. Titles such and some of the total war games, Hearts of iron, City skyline and a few other turn based games. The problem is late game sometimes my computer struggles, especially in skylines once you have a larger city it starts to freeze, or massive lag. Not to mention using chrome with multiple windows open can crash chrome. Is this a GPU, CPU, memory or all kind of issue?

I leave my laptop plugged in all the time, it is on a lapboard too. It is a desktop replacement for me. I am considering the ASUS rog scar 17, MSI gs75 or GE75. Are these the right laptop for the job? Another thought I have is waiting for AMD ryzen 9's to be paired with RTX 2080 super. Do you know of any out there or if this is coming. Thank you for any info.

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- Andrei Girbea
  
  October 14, 2020 at 10:09 am
  
  Hi Tony. The CPU is probably the bottleneck with that Envy, it's an U-series and not meant for heavy multitasking.
  
  About those Ryzen + high end graphics, there aren't any right now and might not be for a while. I'd also consider if that kind fo graphics is worth paying for with the kind of games that you're paying. I'd argue that it's not, and you'd get better value in a good RTX 2060 configuration, preferably the newer 115W model from 2020. That, paired with an i7 (or Ryzen 7 if you need that kind of multitasking prowess), 16 GB of RAM and a fast SSD should be good for at least 2-3 years, and then you can upgrade again if needed. That's what I'd rather recommend over getting a high end 2080 configuration right now and keeping it for 5+ years.
  
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  - Tony
    
    October 14, 2020 at 10:06 pm
    
    Thank you for the reply. In city skyline, isn't the graphics card the bottleneck? It glitches as you try to scroll through the map as it gets larger? Do you have any top picks for 2060 laptops? I like 17 inch screens. I will start looking through your reviews now on those.
  - Andrei Girbea
    
    October 16, 2020 at 7:02 pm
    
    I'd look at the Predator Helios 300 17, MSI GE75 Raider and Asus ROG Scar 17
Bessa

October 20, 2020 at 4:24 pm

Considering the same specifications – i7-10875H, 32 GB RAM, RTX2070 – (regardless of the price) which are recommended in order of preference for architectural work (2D design and 3D rendering).

– MSI GE66
– MSI GE75
– ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 17 G732
– ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 15 G532

Just analyzing performance for work (performance, heat dissipation, battery …)

If a more detailed answer on the advantages and disadvantages of each one is possible, I would be grateful.

Did you consider another laptop besides these in the same price range?

Thank you so much

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  October 20, 2020 at 5:03 pm
  
  I'm curently resting the GE66, so can't yet comment on that. Out of the others, the GE75 would be my choice strictly in terms of performance and thermals, but not that much in terms of build or battery life (see our reviews from last year, they also apply to these 2020 updates). Thermals are unfortunately not great on these recent ROGF Strix models from what I've tested, but you should further look into other reviews for other opinions. I haven't tested the G732 yet, though.
  
  I'd also consider the Aorus 17G, if you're willing to tweak it manually, as it's not overclocked by default.
  
  Reply
  - Bessa
    
    October 20, 2020 at 5:16 pm
    
    Thank you very much for quickly answer.
    
    So the GE75 is the best option for 17", right?
    
    Probably, I will buy it at Black Friday, so I have a litle time to consider the better solution.
    You have an idea when you will post the review of GE66?
    
    Thank you very much
  - Andrei Girbea
    
    October 20, 2020 at 5:31 pm
    
    Yes, the GE75 is what I'd go with, but you should make sure you're OK with its other particularities and potential quirks.
    
    As for the GE66, I'll have it up most likely mid-next week. I have a few other products to finish up first, and reviewing that kind of a gaming product takes a lot of testing. I was hoping MSI would have a GE76 in stores by now as well, but probably that will only happen next year with Nvidia 3xxx.
    
    Btw, if you end up considering 15-inch models, the Legion 7i from Lenovo should also be on the list.
David McClanahan

November 2, 2020 at 1:18 am

I bought this unit 2020/10/12 largely based on reviews like yours and end users saying how they are mostly pleased. I bought the G732LWS-DS76 (16GB 2300Hz RAM, 2070 Super, 1TB fairly slow Intel NVMe SSD, and i7-10875H) with upgrading everything I could right away(64GB 3200Hz ram, added 2 2TB NVMe SSDs which I tried to setup as a RAID 0 for booting but failed miserably). Once that was done I loaded games and other software, which all ran fine except for the games, which ended up giving me quite a scare by dieing in one of three ways after 20-30 minutes of play: 1) BSOD with meaningless codes, or 2) the games crap out for no apparent reason over and over, or 3) the machine would freeze and not allow a soft restart. I even called ASUS and their first suggestion was simply to do the usual "reload Windows and start from scratch again". After that they were less helpful and offered to replace the machine in a few days. I stopped them when it occurred to me it might be a power supply issue, the fans seemed to spin up and blow lots of nice warm air as expected. So I bought the larger 280W power supply and I've been able to game for a couple of hours without issue. ASUS will not help you with upgrading advice, but they are so very quick to point out to us that we can upgrade these units to get the sale. I think the least they could do is suggest that pretty early for inconsistent trouble calls and perhaps post some guidelines for the consumer to keep in mind if they want to upgrade. I never thought about the extra power demand that the larger and faster memory and larger and actually faster NVMes would put on the unit. I'm now happy with the performance and overall features of the machine. Thanks for your review, though it might be nice for upgraders to see their plans discussed in this and similar reviews.

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  November 2, 2020 at 11:29 am
  
  HI David, thanks for your feedback, that's going to help other potential buyers.
  
  The extra RAM and SSD have a tiny impact on the power requirements imo, so the problem is the fact that they sold that configuration with a 230W power brick to begin with. That's a 115W 2070 and a power-hungry processor, they ought to have paired it with a 280W brick, which is what I got in the G532LWS that I tested, although that was an i9.
  
  As for the other aspects, post-sale support is a major issue with almost all brands these days and something we as buyers just have to expect. To mitigate it, what I recommend is to test a new laptop as much as possible and look for any potential flaws within the return window, which over here is 14-30 days, and just send it back if not good enough. Also, buying from stores that do not ask for a restoring fee .
  
  Noted on the upgrade guides though, I'll try to include those in the future. We're a tiny publication and we can only do so much :)
  
  Reply
Antony Jose

November 12, 2020 at 9:42 am

I just bought the G732LXS i9 can you please guide me on how to undervolt it. the temps are offthe charts somtimes it spikes upto 99C

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- Andrei Girbea
  
  November 12, 2020 at 11:32 am
  
  It's explained in the article. As I remember out of the top of my mind, you need to go to BIOS >> Advanced and enable undervolting (XTU support), then you can use XTU to make the changes.
  
  Reply
David McClanahan

November 12, 2020 at 6:22 pm

Thanks for the reply Andrei. I ended up getting amazon to replace the entire box and reapplied my upgraded hardware and it works just fine. I also bought a 280W PS and have been gaming for well over and hour without issue. After reading your reply in wondering if indeed there was some underlying issue with the machine, not just the power supply. Happy now with a nice laptop that doesn't for in me!

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SERGEY CHAKIN

December 25, 2020 at 5:42 pm

David, thanks a lot for describing your experience on upgrading this laptop. I bought the laptop and going to buy 64gb memory for it. Could you please tell me what exact model of RAM you have used for the upgrade? Was you able to run 64gb with 3200MGz frequency? Standard voltage or xmp profile voltage? Thanks a lot in advance!

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David

December 26, 2020 at 10:54 pm

I simply ordered off Amazon and did indeed get 3200MHz RAM. I do recall asking the BIOS to rescan hardware.
and here's the description: G.Skill RipJaws Series 64GB (2 x 32GB) 260-Pin SO-DIMM PC4-25600 DDR4 3200 CL22-22-22-52 1.20V Dual Channel Memory Model F4-3200C22D-64GRS This was $229.99 when I bought it.

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David

December 26, 2020 at 10:55 pm

P.S. I'm still running various games on the replaced machine without issue.

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ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 17 review (2020 G732LXS model – Core i7/i9, RTX 2080 150W)

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