Asus ROG Strix SCAR (2023) RTX 40 Series Gaming Laptops Now Available – Best Gaming Laptops This Year?

Asus‘ latest gaming laptops for 2023 are now released. Well, at least some of them are already listed in online stores. The Asus ROG Strix SCAR (2023) 16″ and 18″ are now unleashed. Both laptops are powered with the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 or RTX 4080 laptop GPU and Intel’s 13th gen Core i9 13980HX Raptor Lake mobile CPU with 24 cores and 32 threads. Aside from the powerful CPU and GPU, these latest RTX 40 series gaming laptops also features the latest connectivity options, high refresh rate display, fast Gen4 SSDs, DDR5 memory, and many more. All these neat features make the Asus ROG Strix SCAR (2023) series perhaps one of the best gaming laptops this year. Check out more details below.

Asus ROG Strix SCAR (2023) 18″ RTX 4090/4080 Gaming Laptops

According to Asus, its ROG Strix SCAR (2023) model is “the pinnacle of performance”. This is the first time Asus released an 18-inch variant for their SCAR lineup. An Intel Core i9-13980HX mobile CPU and NVIDIA RTX 4090 (or 4080) laptop GPU power the ROG Strix SCAR 2023 gaming laptop. The RTX 4090/4080 laptop GPU runs at a maximum TGP of 175W (150W+25W Dynamic Boost). Since it has access to the maximum wattage, the GPU can boost up to 2090MHz for the RTX 4090 and up to 2330MHz for the RTX 4080 mobile GPU.

When it comes to performance, the RTX 4090 mobile GPU is comparable to an RTX 4070 Ti desktop GPU. Meanwhile, the RTX 4080 mobile GPU performs somewhat similarly to an RTX 3080 desktop GPU. That’s not bad, considering these mobile GPUs are running at a much lower wattage.

Although, NVIDIA’s naming scheme is tricky and can be deceptive, especially for those who are unfamiliar with these products. For the uninitiated, they might think that the RTX 4090 on this gaming laptop is similar to an RTX 4090 desktop GPU. Nevertheless, the RTX 4090/80 laptop GPUs are still fast and offer a much better price/performance than their predecessors.

Moving on, the ROG Strix SCAR 18″ (2023) model also features a 2560×1600 “ROG Nebula Display” with a refresh rate of 240Hz and a 3ms response time. The display is also G-Sync certified, Pantone Validated, 100% DCI-P3, and features Dolby Vision technology.

Since this is an 18-inch gaming laptop, its keyboard has a physical numeric keypad on the right-hand side. It also features a per-key RGB illumination. You can check out the rest of the specifications below.

Pricing and Availability

ASUS ROG Strix Scar 18 (2023) RTX 4090 gaming laptop is available on Amazon.com here.
ASUS ROG Strix Scar 18 (2023) RTX 4080 gaming laptop is available on Newegg.com here.

Asus ROG Strix SCAR 16″ (2023) RTX 4090/4080 Gaming Laptops

The 16-inch version of the ROG Strix SCAR 2023 is “somewhat” similar to its bigger brother, the 18-inch version. I say “somewhat” because most specs and features are identical. However, there are several features that the 16-inch has, but the 18-inch Strix SCAR doesn’t. So, I’ll instead discuss their difference.

For starters, the Strix SCAR 16″ has a smaller 16-inch ROG Nebula display. Most of the features or specs of the display are similar to the 18″, but the 16-inch uses a Mini LED panel with a peak brightness level of 1100nits. Unlike the 18-inch, the 16-inch is fully HDR capable, and it is DisplayHDR 1000 certified.

Due to the smaller frame or body, the Strix SCAR 16″ doesn’t have a physical number pad. However, as you can see from the photos, the touchpad can act as its numeric keypad. Simply touch and hold the “NUMLK” icon on the touchpad, and it will show the Numpad.

Another difference is that the Strix SCAR 16 gets noticeably warmer or hotter than the Strix SCAR 18. This is because of the smaller body of the Strix SCAR 16″, resulting in a smaller heatsink and cooling solution. And because of the higher temperature, the Strix SCAR 16 may perform slightly slower than the 18″ due to thermal limitation.

Nevertheless, the 2023 ROG Strix SCAR 16 and 18 are excellent gaming laptops that can easily outperform a mid-range desktop PC. Of course, they are pricey but still a better value than the previous generation of high-end gaming laptops.

You can check out the rest of the specifications in the table below.

Pricing and Availability

ASUS ROG Strix Scar 16 (2023) RTX 4090 gaming laptop is available on Amazon.com here.
ASUS ROG Strix Scar 16 (2023) RTX 4080 gaming laptop is available on Amazon.com here.

Both the ROG Strix Scar 18 and Scar 16 are included in our best gaming laptops this 2023.

Asus ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2023) G834 Specifications

Asus ROG Strix SCAR 16 (2023) G634 Specifications