ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 16 G634JZ 16.0” 240Hz Gaming Laptop (Intel i9-13980HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, 32GB DDR5 RAM, 2TB SSD, Windows 11 Home)

Product Information

Here’s what we got in our tests of this panel with single-zone lighting, with an X-Rite i1 Display Pro sensor: For connectivity, there’s Wireless 6E and Bluetooth 5 on this unit, as well as 2.5 Gigabit Lan, an update from the previous generations. This sample performed well on wi-fi with my setup. Keep in mind that I’ve measured the below FLIR recordings in a 24-25 C ambient room, with the laptop on the desk. Placing the laptop on a raised stand will positively impact these temperatures, dropping them by 2-3 degrees in the hottest spots, and the outer conditions in your place will also impact the readings. Speaking of, the arrow keys have been updated on this generation, and are now full-size keys intertwined between the other keys on the lower-right side. I’m not entirely sold on this change over the spaced-out smaller arrows implemented in the past design, but I guess full-size arrows make more sense on such a gaming computer. To further measure GPU performance, we also run two tests from the cross-platform GPU benchmark GFXBench 5, which stresses both low-level routines like texturing and high-level, game-like image rendering. The 1440p Aztec Ruins and 1080p Car Chase tests, which are rendered offscreen to accommodate different display resolutions, exercise graphics and compute shaders using the OpenGL programming interface and hardware tessellation respectively. The more frames per second (fps), the better.

In fact, I do preffer having a bigger 16:10 display on these laptops, and the extra screen real-estate is noticeable on both sizes. The smaller bezels are noticeable as well. DLSS performance is also impressive. Nvidia made a big fuss about DLSS3 on the RTX 4000 chips, and for a good reason. Only a handful of games support DLSS 3 for now, though (Witcher and Cyberpunk are among them). We’ll discuss more about DLSS3 specifics, performance and input lag in a separate article, once we get to test a few more RTX 4000 laptops. At the same time, the ROG Scar 17 is still available as a 2023 model, but that is an AMD CPU + Nvidia GPUs configurations, and the main-stream ROG Strix G16 and ROG Strix G18 are also available now, as the mid-specced and more affordable alternatives for the high-end Scars. Furthermore, Thermal Grizzly’s Conductonaut Extreme liquid metal compound is applied on both the CPU and the GPU.

This generation of the ROG Scar is undoubtedly much more powerful than the previous Scar 15, and better cooled as well, thanks to the updated thermal module. There’s no denying the essential excellence of the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16. It’s stunningly fast when it comes to both games and productivity, the display is superb, as is the sound system, and it comes loaded with all the extras and refinements you could ask for from a top-tier gaming laptop. We’ll have another article where we’ll get more in-depth on the performance differences between these platforms. Turbo Mode vs. Performance, Silent The Strix Scar's SSD also lags behind the competition, with the 3DMark storage index score sitting disappointingly lower than the less expensive Legion Pro 7i. Pair the 103ns against the Legion's speedy 58ns, and FFXIV Endwalker load times of 11.236 seconds against a tasty 9 seconds, and it's clear there's a lot to be desired in the storage department. The keyboard is still a rubber-dome design with adequate travel and per-key RGB control, but the novelty is a slight layout change around the arrow keys, which are now full-size instead of miniaturized as in the past, but at the same time squeezed in between the other keys, and no longer spaced out. I’m not sure how I feel about this update, I’ll have to spend more time with the keyboard before making up my mind about it.

Don’t get me wrong. This is a thirsty gaming laptop — like “getting horny on main” levels of thirst, but one thing works to the Strix Scar 16’s favor here. First, it shares the same size 90 WHr cell as the Scar 18, so with a smaller display to power, it should logically last longer. While it could be argued that the RTX 4080 has less power dependency, it sports the same TGP as the 4090, so the differences here would be negligible.The ROG Scar 16 is the most powerful mid-sized ROG (Republic of Gamers) laptop of the 2023 generation, and just a tad lower on the ladder than the Scar 18, hence you’ll want to know how it handles modern games. The main benchmark of UL's PCMark 10 simulates a variety of real-world productivity and content-creation workflows to measure overall performance for office-centric tasks such as word processing, spreadsheeting, web browsing, and videoconferencing. We also run PCMark 10's Full System Drive test to assess the load time and throughput of a laptop's storage. (See more about how we test laptops.) Both the CPU and the GPU perform at 60-70% of their capabilities on Turbo, which are excellent results given how quietly the laptop runs. Gaming performance

Not to say this doesn’t look and feel premium. Far from it! In fact, while I’ve called a lot of gaming laptops “cringe” in my past, this is definitely on the lower end of that scale. The aluminum casing on top has a nice, metallic sensation as you move your fingers over the surface, which is interrupted only by the smooth glossiness of the ROG logo emblazoned across it.

The Pinnacle of Performance

I also appreciate the sturdy build quality, the updated IO and inputs, and the beautiful 16-inch mini LED display available on this series, arguably the best-balanced screen option you can find on a 16-inch gaming/performance laptop today. There’s a 16-inch 16:10 matte display on the ROG Strix Scar 16 series, with either an IPS or a mini LED panel option. Differences in the chassis style and specs might help you choose between them, and there is a big difference in the price, but it’s hard to decide if Asus is spoiling us or simply doing its best to baffle us. Either way, it’s hard to grumble when the hardware is this good. Design and keyboard This SCAR 16 G634JZ (i9 + RTX 4080) is actually the lower-specced configuration available with the 2023 ROG Scar 16 series, the other one being the SCAR 16 G634JY (i9 + RTX 4090). W (~4-5 h of use) – Netflix 4K HDR – single-zone lighting, fullscreen in Edge, Silent Mode, screen at 50%, WiFi ON;