Tuesday, September 22, 2020

ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 G732LXS Review

Users who want to have a dedicated machine for gaming usually go for a desktop PC or a gaming laptop. The latter appeals more to gamers in the middle who need that desktop-class performance in a “portable” package. And one good example of that is the ROG Strix Scar 17. It aims to be a “desktop replacement,” boasting a 17-inch FHD IPS display with 300Hz refresh rate, Intel Core i9 -10980HK CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GPU, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD storage.

Design and Construction

With a 17.3-inch display, portability isn’t the Strix SCAR’s strong suit. Weighing in at 2.9Kg and a 2.79cm thickness, this isn’t a laptop that you’d want to carry daily. In true ROG fashion, the Strix Scar is equipped with an RGB strip that spans the entire base of the laptop.

Its lid looks similar to the Zephyrus Duo’s, with a muted design save for the ROG logo. The model unit came in the black colorway, with a smooth matte finish.

Opening the lid will reveal its massive 17.3-inch IPS display, which is capable of running at 300Hz and a response time of 3ms. There’s no built-in webcam, but ASUS included a mountable webcam for your Zoom calls.

The large display is held up by two thin hinges on either side. While it may appear flimsy due to its size, it was able to keep the display upright, with minimal wobbling while shaking the laptop.

On the left, there are two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a 3.5mm combo audio jack, and a vent.

While on the right is another vent, as well as the slot for the ROG Keystone 2, which you can configure to launch apps quickly, enter stealth mode, log in or out of the windows account, and switch on HyperFan Mode.

The back holds most of the ports, including a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DisplayPort support, an RJ45 ethernet jack, and an HDMI 2.0b port. Also found here are two vents.

As expected, the keyboard supports RGB backlighting and uses the same gamer-styled key face and keycaps. While the post-travel is quite shallow due to its low profile design, typing feels satisfying due to its tactile feedback. It’s also quiet, which is good if don’t like distracting anyone while you’re working on a document.

Below the keyboard sits the touchpad with two physical left and right mouse buttons. We hope the next iteration of the Strix SCAR features a larger touchpad, as the current one is rather small.

The ROG Strix Scar 17’s aesthetics definitely screams gaming. It’s thick with plenty of vents to keep it cool, has a large footprint, and has plenty of RGB lighting in and out.

Display and Multimedia

One of the selling points of the ROG Strix Scar 17 is its display. It’s huge at 17-inches with Full HD resolution. It’s bright, has great colors, decent viewing angles, and slim bezels to make the viewing experience more immersive.

What will set this apart from other displays is the 300Hz refresh rate, which is a huge benefit if you’re playing games that can take advantage of it. But if you’re not playing games, the Strix Scar 17 is also a great machine for watching your favorite movies or TV series.

You can also tweak the display based on your needs with the help of the ROG Gaming Visual software. You can pick from eight color modes: Default, Racing, Scenery, RTS/ RPG, FPS, Cinema, Eyecare, and Vivid. You can also adjust the color temperature to your liking.

The audio quality is great. It’s crisp, has some bass in it, and loud enough to drown the fan noise while gaming. The sound can be tweaked as well using the Sonic Studio III software. You can select equalizer profiles as well as choose between four Sonic Studio Effects: Music, Movie, Gaming, and Communication. But if you really want a more immersive audio experience, we recommend using the ROG Delta gaming headset included in the package.

OS and Features

The ROG Strix Scar 17 runs on Windows 10 Home packed with ASUS ROG software tools. Aside from the ROG Gaming Visual and Sonic Studio III, there’s the ROG Armoury Crate which you can access by pressing the dedicated ROG button at the top row of the keyboard. From here you can access CPU and GPU stats, memory and storage consumption, and fan speed and system acoustics.

You can also access Keystone status and settings, AURA Sync and effects which works with the ROG Gladius II mouse that came in the package, AURA Creator, Game Library, Scenario Profiles that automatically adjust the system configuration depending on the software you’re running, games recommendations, and ASUS ROG news. Other than that, there’s a free trial of Office 365 and McAfee LifeSafe.

Performance and Benchmarks

The model that we have for review is powered by an Intel Core i9-10980HK CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super 8GB, GPU, 32GB DDR4 3200MHz RAM, and 2TB PCIe Gen3 M.2 SSD.

The ROG Strix Scar 17 also allows you to choose between five operating modes so you can control its performance via the Armoury Crate:

• Windows: Follows default windows settings.
• Silent: Offers the best performance possible under 35dB for gaming.
• Performance: For a balance between performance and temperatures with a fan noise level which is under 40dB.
• Turbo: Offers the best possible performance without any restrictions. Fans can get loud in this mode.
• Manual: Allows manual fan speed control of the CPU and GPU fans for unrestricted tuning.

Performance, as expected is great and can produce good frame rates and benchmark numbers. In the Shadow of the Tomb Raider, we’re getting an average FPS of 111 on the Highest settings, 118 FPS on High, and 119 on Medium.

In Middle Earth: Shadow of War, we got 117 FPS on Ultra, 127 FPS on Very High, and 146 FPS on High.

In Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, we got 59.64 FPS on Ultra, 86.09 FPS on Very High, and 95.75 FPS on High.

Check out the benchmark scores below:

• PCMark 10 Extended – 7,545
• Geekbench 5 – 1,305 (Single-Core), 8,904 (Multi-Core), 105,810 (OpenCL)
• Cinebench R20 – 3,697 (CPU), 298 (CPU – Single-Core)
• 3DMark – 9,867 (Time Spy), 4,641 (Time Spy Extreme)
• CrystalDiskMark 7 – up to 2,806.53 MB/s (Seq. Read), up to 2,797.68 MB/s (Seq. Write)

Connectivity and Battery Life

The ROG Strix Scar 17 features a slew of wired connectivity options including three USB 3.2 Type-A, one USB 3.2 Type-C for DisplayPort but no PD charging, RJ-45 jack, and HDMI. For wireless, it has WiFi 802.11ax (2×2) with ROG RangeBoost, and Bluetooth 5.0.

For the battery, it has a 66Wh capacity. While we don’t recommend gaming with this unit unplugged, you can still get enough battery life for some productivity tasks. Our video loop test which involves playing a 1080p video at Better performance mode at 50% brightness and volume got us 5 hours and 13 minutes of playback

Conclusion

With its large screen with a high refresh rate and powerful internals, we see the ROG Strix Scar 17 G732LXS-HG086TS as the laptop for users who are looking for something to replace their desktop with a more mobile machine. It even allows the user a certain degree of control if you want to tinker and maximize its performance. It’s not the sleekest laptop around, but it’s definitely a performer. Lastly, at PHP 219,995 (17″ FHD IPS 300HZ / i9-10980HK / 32GB RAM 1TB x2 PCIe SSD / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER / Win10 ), it’s expensive, yes, but the performance and the included bundles, makes it worthwhile.

ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 G732LXS specs:
17.3-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS display, 300Hz, 3ms
Windows 10 Pro
Up to Intel Core i9-10890HK
Up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super
Up to 32GB 3200MHz DDR4 RAM
2 x M.2 NVME 1TB SSD w/ RAID 0 support
2×2 WiFi 802.11 ax
Bluetooth 5.1
dual 4.2-watt speakers
3 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C w/ DisplayPort support
1 x RJ45 jack
1 x HDMI 2.0b port
3.5mm combo audio jack
66Whr battery
39.97 x 29.34 x 2.79 cm
2.9 kg