ASUS' Republic of Gamers (ROG) has launched a range of powerful and new gaming laptops across the nation. This model from the Zephyrus G series is my preference for gamers in a financial bind. However, for more experienced gamers who have larger pockets and a larger budget, the ROG Strix Scar 15 is perhaps an ideal choice. This model costs Rs 2,64,990 and comes with the highest-end specifications that laptops of today can be equipped with. It comes with the 12th generation Intel i9 12900H chipset, which is a graphics processor powered through NVIDIA's RTX3070ti. It's rare for laptops to attack your bank account in the same way that this one does and, therefore in this review let's find out the quality of the laptop and whether you should purchase it.
The Scar collection continues the tradition of providing distinctive design and build that makes it clear that it is a gaming machine designed for serious gamers. In the case of the keyboard there's an opaque area that provides an obscure view of the internals of the device. The iconic ROG logo is prominently etched on the lid, and it is lit up with RGB lighting. A strip that runs along the bottom of the chassis below the display , is illuminated to give an underglow diffused that will make it clear the laptop's gaming capabilities. If that wasn't enough ASUS gives users a set of replaceable Armour Caps that customise the appearance below the hinge
Keystone 2, a magnetically removable NFC device, can be found on the right. It is among the many features that let you access encrypted partitions inside the laptop once it is placed in. Regarding appearance aside from the transparent section it has a all black colour scheme. It is evident that the laptop is not extremely portable due to its heavy hardware and the massive AC adapter that is included with it that is essential to operate it. Strix Scar 15.
Other than that I found the hinge mechanism be extremely fluid in shutting and opening the lid. A set of white LEDs indicate whether the laptop is charging in battery mode, charging, or in sleep. The overall design is solid strong, robust, and constructed with plenty of thermal vents for the dissipation of heat. It's not difficult to say it that Strix Scar 15 is a gaming enthusiast's dream from an outside perspective.
The laptop comes with the latest collection of I/O ports to make it easier for access. The majority of them are located on the rear of the device. This includes the two USB C ports with DisplayPort capabilities. Thunderbolt 4 and power delivery are accessible on just one port. There is a 2.5G Ethernet port as well as the HDMI 2.0 port is available in addition to it. On the left side of the device you will find two USB 3.2 ports, as well as an 3.5mm headphones and microphone combo. One thing that's missing on it is a camera, and this is now quite standard among the omissions by ASUS within its gaming line-up. Biometric authentication for fast entry into the device isn't present too.
Moving to the screen, ASUS is using an extremely high-resolution at 240Hz for its 15.6-inch LCD panel to provide the best visual experience. Based on my experiences I have found that the Taiwanese giant offers top-of-the-line displays on its gaming consoles, though there are a few instances of exceptions in and out. This Strix Scar's 8 bit display is compatible to Dolby Vision HDR, but it doesn't have Pantone approval for high-end color correction. With a peak brightness of 350nits the screen isn't necessarily the brightest, but it isn't a issue for indoor use.
For gaming purposes the screen can be used with Adaptive-Sync to decrease frame rate and tearing. ASUS' Armoury Crate setting allows Panel Overdrive, which reduces latency for display to around 3 milliseconds. I played a number of AAA games on my laptop, such as CyberPunk 2077 and God Of War and both were displayed in stunning detail.
Ray tracer is a technique that the GPU can accommodate at higher settings, provides more realistic colors, realism and textures while playing titles. The panel is essential in showing every detail in a precise manner. For me the screen of the Strix Scar 15 is able to provide stunning visuals and a variety of titles, however it may not be suitable for video or photo editing.
The 15-inch display offers plenty of space so that the keyboard can be spread out. The lack of an exclusive numeric pad increases the space available for keys. Apart from the traditional chiclet-like six-row layout there are dedicated hotkeys to control volume, ASUS Armoury Crate, fan speed, and disabling the microphone. Arrow keys are resized in size, and can be used to provide other functions. The keyboard wouldn't be fully functional from ASUS's perspective without an enthralling amount of RBG customisation options that can be access through The Armoury Crate. Backlighting is adjustable up to 3 levels of light. For type experience, these keys offer good travel and a quick responses that allow for precise gaming in esports. Its palm rests covered with a matte surface that keeps fingerprints and smudges out to a certain extent.
The trackpad at the bottom is big enough for everyday work but I was not a fan of the latency or responsiveness of the touch. Utilizing an external mouse to use the device might be a great idea. By pressing the right-hand side of the trackpad, you will be able to open the numpad, which is capacitive. However, it will not be possible to use the trackpad navigational reasons until the latter is shut.
The bulk of the Strix Scar 15's cost is in its performance and graphics capabilities. For the former laptop, it has the 12th generation Intel i9 12900H processor, one of the latest models from the chipmaker's Alder Lake lineup, running things. It's among the most powerful silicon options from Intel in the moment and is close to the 12900HK MSI has with the GE76 Raider. However it's performance, this Scar 15 is one of the most powerful processors currently on the laptop market. The 14-core processor can achieve clock speeds of 5GHz, and can have up to 20 threads that it can run. Additionally it has 32GB of dual-channel 4800MHz DDR5 memory as well as 2TB of M.2 PCIe storage.
It's logical to conclude that, when you see these specifications on paper, that the tasks that make up my day-to-day work are accomplished quickly and with ease. Benchmarks are available to support the assertions. The laptop has one of the best Cinebench R23 multi-core results I've ever seen on the Windows machine with 15,849. The results are mirrored by Geekbench as well as multi-core tests giving a score of 12,898. PCMark 10 evaluates the performance of the device to handle daily tasks. The device scores a well-rounded score, which is 7,615. I used CrystalDiskMark to test the speed that the SSD and was able to get exceptional speed of write and read at 7,088MB/s as well as 5,124MB/s.
The device is equipped with 8GB NVIDIA RTX 3070Ti's GPU, but there is also an option that comes equipped with the 3080Ti. Before we get into how impressive the graphics capabilities of the device are, MUX Switch must be mentioned. Briefly, when you play any game with a GPU it is the hidden GPU needs to communicate to the graphics integrated prior to receiving access to the display. MUX Switch negates this process by permitting the display to connect to the GPU and bypassing the integrated graphics integrated into the CPU. This lets the device beat the bottleneck, and create superior graphics and more fps. In addition, MUX will also increase battery life because it allows the embedded graphics that consume less power, to be used for tasks that are not demanding without having an external GPU involved. ASUS have installed MUX in all its ROG laptops for the year, and is accessible via it's Armoury Crate. All of my games were run to the MUX's Discreet GPU option to get the best performance.
The 150W power generated by the GPU it is not surprising that the device to become somewhat hot, but it never let me down. thermal management of the device fail me. The speed of the fan can cause the sound of a roar when you set it to Turbo mode. My recommendation is to play demanding games using headphones. GPU temperatures never surpassed the 90 degree mark when I looked at Armoury Crate although there is some CPU throttling when temperatures exceed 95 degrees.
God Of Warat Ultra graphic options cranks out an impressive 80 frames per second without the option of ray tracing. When playing CyberPunk 2077 using ray tracing in Ultra and graphics set to High, I was able to get 45-50fps. With ray tracing at low, the speed was up to 70 frames per second. Both games were run at QHD resolution and had adaptive sync was enabled. Shadow of the Tomb Raider test at the most powerful graphics produced 92 frames per second. Call of Duty Cold War with Ultra graphics and with ray tracing on produced 85-95 frames per second. CS: Go along with Valorant offers 200fps and 160fps at the highest settings. I also tested the 3DMark Time Spy benchmark which outputted an astounding 11,475 in the Time Spy test. The gaming experience on this system is absolutely perfect and you're definitely getting the most value for your money.
The speakers on this device are not the top of the industry. There are two main units beneath the chassis as well as a two tweeters on each side. The audio quality is excellent enough for close-up viewing, however when you're seated some distance away the sound becomes less transparent.By the standard set by top gaming laptops such as it's Strix Scar 15 battery life is rated as not impressive. This is understandable considering the weight of the hardware operating by the 90Whr cell, however with only three hours of screen-on time for moderate use, it appears to be a source of worry to me. The huge 280W adapter will recharge the device in around two hours, and you have the option of charging through USB C. USB C port at 100W also.The issues I have with my Strix Scar 15 mostly involve the absence of a web camera or biometric authentication. The battery life could be improved, especially considering the huge 90Whr cell that is housed inside the. But, aside from this this ROG Strix Scar is a close-to-perfect gaming device that is at the top on the marketplace. It definitely meets the specifications listed on the sheet and also has thermal management to ensure that the graphics continue to stream throughout any type of intense game. Naturally, it's an expensive purchase, however should you be the type of player who just would like the best hardware available for the money, ROG Strix Scar 15 ROG Strix Scar 15 could be the right choice.
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