ROG Strix SCAR 17 – Ryzen 7 5800H with GeForce RTX 3080

Specs and details

Asus has taken a very bold and quite surprising step this year with its gaming laptop portfolio. It switched extensively to Ryzen 5000 processors and combined them with the new GeForce RTX 3000 mobile graphics cards. The new ROG Strix SCAR 17 is thus the first look at a new stage of mobile gaming, in the highest configuration with 8-core processor and a 16-gigabyte RTX 3080.

Basic specs

Details

The packaging of ROG products is always characterized by interesting visuals, so this time you can also see the gaming motto and a similar theme on the front of the box as on the display lid.

The content of the package is above standard rich, but again it is a tradition with gaming Asus products. In addition to the laptop, you will find two chargers, documentation, replaceable covers, a keychain with Keystone and a camera.

ROG Strix SCAR 17 represents a kind of middle class of Asus gaming notebooks, where the top models bear the Zephyrus designation. Nevertheless, SCAR offers top equipment in the field of components. The review unit thus has an 8-core Ryzen 7 5800H, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD and RTX 3080 in a 16 GB version with 115 W TDP. Interestingly, the previous model had a 150 W RTX 2080 Super, so it will be interesting to see where the new graphics card with lower TDP will be placed. Other configurations offer the stronger Ryzen 9 5900XH and the weaker RTX 3070 8 GB. You have a choice of several configurations according to your preferences.

The design style of the new SCAR is similar to the previous one. You can also see the same notch on the display lid in the lower part and the RGB backlight in the front part of the base, but this time it is even more intensive. RGB has also been added to the cut-out on the right side of the display. The front side is therefore identical, except for a few details, we will see other changes in the keyboard, but more on that later. The build quality is excellent, the laptop is like a tank and in case of emergency it would also serve well as a weapon. 🙂

On the back you can see the backlit logo as well as on the predecessor, the novelty has a dotted triangle with ROG inscriptions, as you know from motherboards and other ROG products. It is only a visual effect, the balls and the font are not engraved into the lid. The weight of 2720 grams is one of the higher ones, which is understandable due to the larger dimensions and 17-inch screen. It should be noted, however, that the SCAR is heavier than the two-display Zephyrus Duo, and that’s should say enough.

The port selection is solid, although at first glance both sides may seem the opposite. The right side has only an opening for Keystone and nothing more. On the left there are at least two 5 Gb USB-A connectors and an audio jack. The absence of ports on the right side makes sense when using a mouse, when the accessories connected on the right side would be an obstacle.

You will find additional ports on the back, where there is a pair of USB ports, one of which is again 5 Gb type A and the other is 10 Gb type C with DisplayPort 1.4 and charging. There is also HDMI 2.0b, Ethernet and power connector. Due to the use of the AMD processor, Thunderbolt is missing here, which I would otherwise expect in this price category. However, if my memory serves me right, even the predecessor with Intel did not have TB3, so it’s not even a step back.

At the rear, you can only see the massive holes of the cooling system and the hinges of the display offset towards the front.

The display cover offers a protrusion for easier opening. You can easily open the lid with one finger.

The top view will again show you the black lid with a gray two-tone port section. But the lower part is more interesting, where you can see a combination of several colors and materials. The gray part is surprisingly rubber and the black protrusions are also rubber. The notebook thus holds towards the table like glued. I commend the use of Phillips screws, which facilitate access to components.

What to watch out for when opening the lid is a pair of cables leading from the RGB LED in the corners of the bottom cover to the motherboard. Be careful not to tear them, otherwise you will lose the colorful show that the laptop offers. In the picture below you can see how the cables are run from both corners.

After removing the bottom cover, you get to the components. Although access to the inside of the notebook is a bit difficult, it is still a better solution than the first Zephyrus, where you had to disassemble the keyboard to access the components.

The review configuration represents a higher model range, but it is not the very top model. The biggest attractions are the innovations in the form of CPU and GPU, namely the 8-core Ryzen 7 5800H with a base clock of 3.2 GHz and a maximum boost of 4.4 GHz. There should also be a configuration with the more powerful Ryzen 9 5900HX with a clock speed of up to 4.6 GHz, but we will have to look at the differences between these processors in practice sometime later. In the case of graphics card, it is a top model for a change, i.e. the GeForce RTX 3080 in a mobile version with up to 16 GB VRAM and TDP set to 115 W. It is the TDP that will be a very important information in the new generation of notebooks, as it may happen that the 3070 with a higher TDP beats the 3080 with a base value of 80 W. Therefore, in each test we will also present the TDP of GPUs. Also interesting is up to 16 GB of VRAM, which with the RTX 3080 is one of the two configurations with which laptops will be offered. The second one is 8 GB and it will therefore be interesting to see which versions of this GPU will appear on which laptops. Back to SCAR. In addition to the RTX 3080, you can also have the 3070 with 8 GB of VRAM. Next, the tested piece offers 32 GB 3200 MHz RAM and 1 TB PCIe NVMe SSD. Both of these components can be improved on their own. The RAM can be expanded up to 64 GB and the storage can be expanded thanks to a secondary free M.2 slot. Under the first M.2 slot, you will also find a WiFi card that already supports WiFi 6 802.11 ax, so you will not need to change it in the near future.

An interesting fact is that 5 VRM power phases are dedicated to the CPU and the GPU has up to 7. In addition, the cooling, which the manufacturer definitely did not underestimate, deserves attention too. Once again, we encounter the use of liquid metal from Thermal Grizzly, which significantly reduces CPU temperatures by up to 16 degrees Celsius.

Arc Flow fans have also been improved, now with 84 blades and reportedly increasing the airflow by 35% on the CPU and 21% on the GPU, while having 3 dBA less noise than the previous version. A unique detail is the variable width of the blades, which are only 0.1 mm thick at the base and gradually widen towards the edge. Thanks to that, they can blow more air. The fan ends, in turn, prevent air turbulence and direct the air in a regular pattern, making the cooling a little quieter again. Other technologies that the fans support are Self-Cleaning Cooling 2.0, thanks to which dust will not be stored inside the fan, and 0 dB Technology, which you know mainly from graphics cards, i.e. turning off the fans when temperatures are normal. The notebook can thus be completely silent, which was a utopia with gaming notebooks until recently.

Heatsinks, which have thinner 0.1 mm fins and can dissipate up to 13% more heat, have also undergone changes. The fact that there are up to four in the laptop, i.e. on both sides and two in the back, certainly helps. We will also find 6 copper heatpipes here. The manufacturer did not save on cooling, so it will be interesting to see what results we achieve in tests and performance curves.

Opening the lid is only possible up to about 150 degrees, it’s a pity that the hinges do not open up to a straight angle, i.e. in full plane with the base, which is my favorite feature, which is not quite common with gaming laptops.

Before I go to the keyboard, I have to mention the base. Here you can see an interesting design change in the form of a transparent right part, which definitely attracts attention. On the contrary, the rest of the base is black and it is a pleasant soft-touch material. What did not please me, however, is that it gets very dirty and it is a complete fingerprint magnet. So I don’t know if that was the best choice.

I consider the keyboard to be one of the most interesting parts of the laptop. It is an optical-mechanical keyboard that has a satisfactory click and at the same time offers a lightning reaction time of only 0.2 ms (at least according to the words of the manufacturer). Conventional mechanical keyboards have 5 ms. The length of the key is 1.9 mm and the click at the end is really great. This is exactly how I imagine a keyboard in a gaming laptop. It’s probably the best keyboard I’ve tried, and even better than the Legions offer in that regard. However, there is one area where I have some reservations and that is the layout. I commend the dedicated function buttons at the top as well as the control of all aspects of the backlight, whether the display or RGB, as well as switching of power modes. Big arrow keys are also good. What I didn’t like was moving the numeric part up one row, which you have to get used to, and during my short testing it caused me to always press a number one row lower. And as you already know me, I would like a two-line (ISO) enter. 🙂

The touchpad is less used in gaming notebooks than in ultrabooks or business models, but it is still an important part of the user experience. In this area, the SCAR 17 pleasantly surprised with the transition from physical plastic buttons to a fully glass touchpad with integrated right and left buttons, but also with an area up to 85% larger than its predecessor. I definitely praise these changes. I have no reservations about responsiveness and tracking.

Like the Zephyrus Duo, the new SCAR does not offer a front camera, which is not ideal in today’s pandemic situation and home office trend. Fortunately, following the example of the Duo, SCAR also offers an external GC21 camera in the package.

However, you have to connect it via USB, ideally in the back. The quality is significantly better than any other laptop built-in camera, so I commend this aspect. The problem is probably just the portability and the need to assemble and disassemble the camera whenever you need to move your laptop somewhere.

What disappointed me a little is that you won’t find any biometric security on this laptop. At least I would welcome a G14-style fingerprint reader.

An integral part of the SCAR 17 is the RGB backlight, which is located basically everywhere.

At the back, the logo and strip in the cutout of the display lid are lit, on the front it’s the keyboard and a large strip in the front of the base, which we have already mentioned when looking at the components.

Another interesting design aspect is the interchangeable covers called Armoury Cap. There are three versions in the package, and the goal is for you to be able to print your own on a 3D printer and adapt the notebook to your own liking.

The speakers consist of a pair of 2 W and a pair of 4 W modules. After a long time, it is a relatively good-sounding gaming notebook, which definitely stands out in this aspect. The speakers also support Dolby Atmos and you can customize them through the corresponding application.

The notebook is equipped with a 90 Wh battery, which is a fairly large jump from 66 Wh in the previous model. Nevertheless, I would expect the maximum of 99 Wh, which is allowed by the aviation authorities, and in practice this is the greatest value you will see in laptops. We already had smaller laptops with this capacity, and the SCAR 17 is definitely not a small laptop where the few more Whs wouldn’t fit. Nevertheless, I praise the significant increase compared to its predecessor.

The laptop comes with a 240 W charger, which is slightly smaller than the 280 W version of the predecessor. Thanks to fast charging, you are at 50% after half an hour, an hour is enough to reach 86% and a full charge takes about an hour and a half. However, it is still an impractical solution for travelling, so you will also find a 100 W USB-C adapter with Power delivery in the package, which you can also use to charge your laptop. You will definitely appreciate the more compact dimensions and lower weight in cases where you do not need to use the full power of the processor and graphics card. In practice, you can have a 240 W adapter at home for playing games and carry the smaller 100 W one with you on the road. I really like this solution and I commend the manufacturer for it.

The manufacturer states that the laptop could handle more than 10 hours of use, whether browsing the Internet or video playback. Our demanding YouTube test did not confirm these values much, given that the laptop lasted only 4 hours and 49 minutes. This is less than the Zephyrus G14 with 6 hours and 13 minutes or the last tested Legion 5 with 7 hours and 44 minutes. The reason will probably be mainly the 300 Hz display of significantly larger dimensions, or the amount of RGB backlight, etc. However, I can imagine that endurance will improve over time after debugging drivers and control software. After all, we tested the laptop before the actual sale start and we know how it is with drivers of practically all hardware, when we test something this soon. Either way, it’s no shame and 5 hours on a gaming laptop with high performance and a large display is definitely a respectable value.

Asus has taken a very bold and quite surprising step this year with its gaming laptop portfolio. It switched extensively to Ryzen 5000 processors and combined them with the new GeForce RTX 3000 mobile graphics cards. The new ROG Strix SCAR 17 is thus the first look at a new stage of mobile gaming, in the highest configuration with 8-core processor and a 16-gigabyte RTX 3080.

Testing methodology

We tested the notebook at home, not in a laboratory environment. Nevertheless, the effort was made for the most accurate results. These are therefore the average of the measured values from repeated tests.

The tests include synthetic benchmarks to compare the performance of both the processor and the graphics card. We also measure storage speed, battery life, charging speed and in-game performance. The goal is to test laptops and desktops in various scenarios and get a comprehensive overview of their performance and operating characteristics.

Asus has taken a very bold and quite surprising step this year with its gaming laptop portfolio. It switched extensively to Ryzen 5000 processors and combined them with the new GeForce RTX 3000 mobile graphics cards. The new ROG Strix SCAR 17 is thus the first look at a new stage of mobile gaming, in the highest configuration with 8-core processor and a 16-gigabyte RTX 3080.

Gamut, brightness and color difference

We measured the image properties of the display using the Datacolor Spyder5Elite color analyzer. The display is one of the key features of gaming laptops for a full travel experience. The new generation of laptops also brings new display options. The tested piece has a 300 Hz Full HD 3ms matte IPS with Adaptive Sync, 300+ nit brightness and 100% sRGB coverage. There should also be an even faster 360 Hz model and a slower 165 Hz model with QHD resolution. Given the size of the display, I would recommend reaching for the QHD resolution.

The specs given by the manufacturer have been more or less confirmed to us. 100% sRGB, 82% AdobeRGB, 86% DCI-P3 and 79% NTSC are very good values for looking at a 300 Hz gaming panel. Gamma 2.2 with a slight deviation and a brightness of 313 nits are also respectable values. The average color difference of Delta-E with a value of 1.33 is also great.

Slightly worse is the uniformity of colors and backlighting, where we see a deviation in the orange band in the lower half of the display.

You can customize the display profiles in the Armoury Crate application in the Game Visual section.

Asus has taken a very bold and quite surprising step this year with its gaming laptop portfolio. It switched extensively to Ryzen 5000 processors and combined them with the new GeForce RTX 3000 mobile graphics cards. The new ROG Strix SCAR 17 is thus the first look at a new stage of mobile gaming, in the highest configuration with 8-core processor and a 16-gigabyte RTX 3080.

Rendering, Geekbench

The SCAR 17 is the first notebook with the new generation Ryzen 5000 and RTX 3000 in our tests. It will be interesting to see how much performance the new components offer compared to many previous models, whether it is the Ryzen 4000 and Intel 10th generation or RTX 2000 and their Super versions. We will primarily compare it with the ROG Zephyrus Duo G14 and Legion 5/7i in the field of notebooks, but also with the HAL3000 Alfa Gamer Pro desktop, which has desktop versions of the new components.

Let’s start traditionally with Cinebench R15 for a first look at the raw performance of the processor. The 5800H surprises with its single-core performance, which beats all laptops tested so far. It beats the mobile Ryzen 4900HS and 4800H by 26 and 21% , but even Intel with the i7-10875H and i9-10980HK models is not enough and loses by 14%. The HAL3000 with the desktop 5600X is even 11% faster, but the domination of the new Ryzens is essential, which has so far only been a utopia in single-core tests. Multi-core no longer brings such a surprising result, as Ryzen could be expected to be at the forefront. The G14 thus lags behind by 33% and the recently tested Legion 5 with 4800H by 11%. Intel laptops also lag behind by 20–30%. The HAL3000 desktop also lags behind, as the 5600X is just a 6-core.

The newer Cinebench R20 shows practically identical results and thus the second place in the SC behind the HAL3000 AGP and also the second place in the MC behind the HAL3000 MČR 2020 Ultimate with a 12-core 3900X.

We do not yet have enough data in the new R23, but the table is filling up gradually. We can see that the single-core performance is a bit weaker than with the new Tiger Lake 11th generation processors, but the difference compared to the predecessor, the 4800H in Legion 5, is 13%. In multi-core, we already see the winning of SCAR 17 by 11% ahead of Legion.

Blender and POV-Ray practical tests show similarly good results due to high multi-core performance. In POV-Ray, the SCAR 17 took second place ahead of Legion 5 with a lead of 10% and beat the G14 by 32%. Intel laptops lag behind by 14–70%. In Blender, the Legion loses only by 5%, on the contrary, the loss of the G14 has increased even more, to 36%.

The single-core results in Geekbench 3–5 show a steady increase in performance against the Legion 5 with 4800H by 12/16/16% and compared to 4900HS in G14 by 14/19/18%. In multi-core, the Legion 5 is relatively close in performance with values of 1/7/-3%, so in GB5 it even beats the SCAR 17 by 3%. On the contrary, the G14 lags even more behind by 24/25/10% in multi-core tests.

GPU Compute tests show the first comparison of the RTX 3080 with the 2080 Super and 2070 Super. The Zephyrus Duo with the 2080S loses by 44/27%, the Legion 7i with 2070S by 51/61%. We will see if similar results are confirmed in games.

Asus has taken a very bold and quite surprising step this year with its gaming laptop portfolio. It switched extensively to Ryzen 5000 processors and combined them with the new GeForce RTX 3000 mobile graphics cards. The new ROG Strix SCAR 17 is thus the first look at a new stage of mobile gaming, in the highest configuration with 8-core processor and a 16-gigabyte RTX 3080.

3D/PC Mark and Unigine Heaven/Superposition

The PCMark result is traditionally influenced more by CPU performance than GPU, so we see Legion 7i with a 10% loss, Zephyrus Duo with 21% and Legion 5 with 24%. The G14 is up to 34% behind. On the other hand, the SCAR 17 lacks 8% performance to match the HAL3000.

Game-oriented 3DMark Firestrike, Time Spy and Sky Diver will show us the first comprehensive look at the performance of the RTX 3080 in the mobile version. Zephyrus Duo with 2080S Max-Q lags by 26/26/39%, Legion 7i with 2070S Max-Q by 39/37/-1%. The SCAR is closest to the last tested HAL3000 with the RTX 3060 Ti, where we see differences of -3/2/-27%.

Performance dependent on RT cores shows about 25–30% lead over Zephyrus Duo and Legion 7 with a loss of about 45%. The closest is again HAL3000 with a loss of 3–5%.

New tests have been added to 3DMark, which we will also use in the future. Wild Life shows us how the SCAR 17 beats all laptops tested so far and does not match only the HAL3000 desktop. However, in the ray tracing test, it wins by 13%.

Unigine Heaven game tests once again show the high performance of the mobile RTX 3080, which beats both the RTX 2080 Super and RTX 3060 Ti in desktop versions in both Full HD and QHD. Competing laptops lag behind by 20–40% in the case of the mobile 2080S and 2070S.

The latest graphic tests of Unigine Superposition do not change the situation. SCAR 17 is 3–5 faster than HAL3000, Zephyrus Duo lags behind by 30% and Legion 7i by 50%.

Asus has taken a very bold and quite surprising step this year with its gaming laptop portfolio. It switched extensively to Ryzen 5000 processors and combined them with the new GeForce RTX 3000 mobile graphics cards. The new ROG Strix SCAR 17 is thus the first look at a new stage of mobile gaming, in the highest configuration with 8-core processor and a 16-gigabyte RTX 3080.

Gaming tests – dedicated GPU

The most interesting part for every gamer is without a doubt the gaming tests, where we will be interested in the performance offered by the GTX 1650 Ti in Full HD. However, according to previous results in synthetic tests, it seems that it will not be entirely suitable for ultra details.

In GTA, we see that the SCAR 17 lags behind the HAL3000 by 10% and is 16% slower than the Zephyrus Duo. On the contrary, it beats the Legion 7i by 34%.

In Far Cry, the SCAR and Legion have almost identical results. The HAL3000 achieves a 30% higher FPS, while Zephyrus loses by 12% in this test.

AC Odyssey is a challenging test and SCAR called the HAL3000 and moved 21–28% ahead of Zephyrus and Legion.

The new tested title is AC Valhalla, where again there is only a tiny difference between the HAL3000 and SCAR. The Legion is 16% behind.

The situation in SOTTR is again different with a 30% loss against the HAL3000, but is about 10% ahead of both Zephyrus and Legion.

Metro is a very demanding title and the new RTX 3080 shows its advantages here. The SCAR 17 thus defeats all competitors, including the HAL3000 desktop, which lags behind by 3%, Zephyrus by 27 and Legion by 41.

After turning on ray tracing in the Metro, the loss of Zephyrus increased to 33% and with Legion up to 52%.

Another new game test is Dirt 5, where the SCAR does not catch up with the desktop by 11%, but beats the Legion by 40%.

Asus has taken a very bold and quite surprising step this year with its gaming laptop portfolio. It switched extensively to Ryzen 5000 processors and combined them with the new GeForce RTX 3000 mobile graphics cards. The new ROG Strix SCAR 17 is thus the first look at a new stage of mobile gaming, in the highest configuration with 8-core processor and a 16-gigabyte RTX 3080.

Encryption, encoding

In both encryption and decryption, the differences are in a few percent and all values are around 10 GBps.

h264 video editing is practically identical to the 4800H in the Legion 5, but with h265 the newer chip achieves an 11% better result.

Asus has taken a very bold and quite surprising step this year with its gaming laptop portfolio. It switched extensively to Ryzen 5000 processors and combined them with the new GeForce RTX 3000 mobile graphics cards. The new ROG Strix SCAR 17 is thus the first look at a new stage of mobile gaming, in the highest configuration with 8-core processor and a 16-gigabyte RTX 3080.

Memory and storage tests

We also see solid results in the memory test, where again there are just tiny differences. Unfortunately, the latency in this case is in the last place from the compared models.

I can praise the SSD speed. This is the fastest measured read speed in a single-drive configuration, and writing is also one of the top places.

Asus has taken a very bold and quite surprising step this year with its gaming laptop portfolio. It switched extensively to Ryzen 5000 processors and combined them with the new GeForce RTX 3000 mobile graphics cards. The new ROG Strix SCAR 17 is thus the first look at a new stage of mobile gaming, in the highest configuration with 8-core processor and a 16-gigabyte RTX 3080.

Heating and battery life

The maximum CPU temperatures of 98 degrees are no different from the competition, the worst of the compared pieces was the Zephyrus G14 with 102 °C. However, this is the maximum measured value across the tests, i.e. values that are usually the result of a rapid increase in performance and then decrease slightly. The same goes for the GPU with a value of 82 °C, which is the highest measured value for the change.

We will look at a more detailed analysis when comparing the modes and extended tests of Blender. We will be interested in it mainly due to the results of rendering tests but also graphics and game benchmarks.

Considering the large 300 Hz display, the battery life is relatively good with a value of almost 5 hours, which defeats the Legion 7i by a hair and ranks just behind the Zephyrus M15. This is not enough for the G14 or Legion 5, but again it is necessary to consider what components the SCAR 17 offers and neither the G14 nor the Legion 5 can compete with it in terms of performance.

Asus has taken a very bold and quite surprising step this year with its gaming laptop portfolio. It switched extensively to Ryzen 5000 processors and combined them with the new GeForce RTX 3000 mobile graphics cards. The new ROG Strix SCAR 17 is thus the first look at a new stage of mobile gaming, in the highest configuration with 8-core processor and a 16-gigabyte RTX 3080.

Blender – CPU and GPU comparison

We are introducing a new type of test in which we want to show you the differences between CPU and GPU rendering and at the same time take a closer look at thermal management, clock speed and power draw in practice and not just the maximum or average values as in the previous pages.

So we compare the course of the BMW test in the latest version of Blender, where in addition to the classic CPU and GPU render using CUDA, we also have the opportunity to use the new Nvidia OptiX, which uses new hardware resources for RTX graphics cards. While CUDA works with shaders, OptiX also uses RT cores and tensor cores for acceleration. Such a more complex involvement of computing units brings higher performance and efficiency is at a better level. At the same time, the application support is already quite decent and comprehensive. For an overview of the editors supported by the Optix API, see the Nvidia website. Nvidia is serious about this interface and has been developing “studio” drivers in addition to game-ready drivers for some time now, which are better and faster optimized for changes in supported applications.

In the first graph, you’re looking at the CPU clock speed curve during rendering. The classic CPU mode keeps up well around the 4 GHz limit, and over time we see only a slight decrease, which is not the case with most other laptops. With the combined load in CUDA mode, we see a slower start but it reaches the same 4 GHz for a short time before the test ends. With OptiX, the processor is not under load, so we see fluctuations around the base 3.2 GHz frequency.

CPU Package consumption shows that CPU mode at full load takes 80 W, without any drops. CUDA also reaches the 80 W limit and then drops when the render ends. OptiX is at the level of 15–17 W.

The processor temperature graph is very important. The maximum load of the processor is reflected in temperatures from 90–95 °C, but this is not reflected in any way in clock speed, which means that we are without problems within the cooling system’s capabilities. With CUDA, we see a big jump to 100 degrees, but then a rapid decline as the test is over. OptiX does not exceed the 70 degree limit.

The GPU load in CPU mode is practically minimal, on the contrary, in CUDA and OptiX you can see the full load.

The CPU clock is naturally at a minimum, as the dedicated GPU is not used. With OptiX, we see a straight line at 1860 MHz, which is the maximum that the GPU can operate at. CUDA mode clock is around 1500 MHz due to the combined CPU and GPU load.

We see interesting differences in the GPU consumption, where OptiX reaches around 100 W and CUDA up to 120 at the maximum point. In CPU mode, the power consumption is basically zero.

Finally, a look at GPU temperatures. A rising line from 40 to 49 degrees is visible with the CPU. A large part of the chip works in CUDA and therefore the temperature rises to 60 degrees Celsius. Again, we see that in the combined CUDA mode, the temperature is higher, which corresponds to the higher consumption in the previous graph. In this mode, we reach almost 70 °C.

As always, we can now observe the differences between the individual rendering modes in Blender. Let’s start with the slowest, which is the CPU mode. So far, we have measured the best result with the Legion 5 with 4800H, the predecessor of the 5800H, which is in the reviewed SCAR 17. The Legion took 209 seconds and therefore the SCAR defeats it with 201 and is the new king of CPU rendering. With GPU acceleration, we achieve the best times we have measured in this test. In CUDA mode, therefore, it’s 33 seconds and in OptiX only 25. The times measured so far were around 42–47 s in OptiX and around 60–65 s in CUDA.

Asus has taken a very bold and quite surprising step this year with its gaming laptop portfolio. It switched extensively to Ryzen 5000 processors and combined them with the new GeForce RTX 3000 mobile graphics cards. The new ROG Strix SCAR 17 is thus the first look at a new stage of mobile gaming, in the highest configuration with 8-core processor and a 16-gigabyte RTX 3080.

Performance modes

The notebook offers the choice of Turbo, Performance and Silent modes in Armoury Crate.

All tests were made in Turbo mode, but it’s worth a look at the differences between the modes. Therefore, we compare the performance curves in the combined load using 3DMark in the Fire Strike benchmark.

The CPU clock during the test show that Turbo and Performance do not differ significantly, on the contrary Silent is always a few hundred MHz lower.

A similar trend is shown by the consumption curve, i.e. Performance and Turbo are almost identical, while Silent has a constantly lower consumption.

The temperature curve is interesting, where Silent reaches lower temperatures due to lower clock and consumption, which is reasonable. What is more interesting, however, is the difference between Turbo and Performance, where Turbo has better numbers, which is likely caused by a more aggressive fan curve.

What about the GPU? No differences in load as seen with Blender, so the GPU always runs at full speed, except for two deviations in Silent mode, where in the second half of the test it does not reach the maximum load as the other two modes.

The GPU clock again shows interesting differences between the individual modes. Silent has significantly lower, up to half the clock speed compared to the other two modes. Another interesting finding is that the Turbo still has slightly higher clock than the Performance.

The same situation is with the GPU power consumption, again about half the consumption in Silent mode and slightly higher in Turbo compared to Performance.

With the GPU temperatures, we see a similar scenario as with the processor temperatures. Due to lower clock and consumption in Silent mode, temperatures are also lower. Turbo again offers better results than Performance, for which the fan profile is likely responsible again.

The expectations according to the graph curves are as follows: the difference between Turbo and Performance will be minimal, while Silent will lag behind by about half. This was more or less confirmed in the final score. Only a 3% difference between Turbo and Performance is negligible, although higher noise is the reward for lower temperatures. Silent lags even more than I expected, by 70–75%.

Asus has taken a very bold and quite surprising step this year with its gaming laptop portfolio. It switched extensively to Ryzen 5000 processors and combined them with the new GeForce RTX 3000 mobile graphics cards. The new ROG Strix SCAR 17 is thus the first look at a new stage of mobile gaming, in the highest configuration with 8-core processor and a 16-gigabyte RTX 3080.

MyAsus

The already known MyAsus application is used to adjust the settings.

Here you will find basic information about the notebook, diagnostic options or driver updates.

The application is also used to adjust the power supply to save the battery. Other application options include Link to MyAsus to connect your computer to your smartphone. In this case, MyAsus is limited in functionality compared to ZenBooks.

Armoury Crate

The reason is simple. The SCAR is also equipped with another application, namely Armory Crate. It is used to control the gaming aspects of the laptop.

Here you will find the option to select performance modes.

You can also customize the display on your desktop or connect a smartphone to monitor the specs of the notebook.

You can monitor the utilization of individual components or manage iGPU mode.

Of course, you can also adjust the RGB backlight and synchronization with other Aura devices. You can also create different preset profiles and link them to specific games.

In the application you will also see recommended games or software for players and various other offers.

Again, you can link your account and save your settings as well as switch the application theme.

But we’re not done yet.

We still have to look at one aspect of the laptop, which is the Keystone II.

It is a small NFC key that can be inserted into the right side of the notebook. It’s used to adjust settings as well as save profiles.

You can set the audio and RGB chime to start after inserting the key. Subsequently, the key can be used to switch between performance modes or start a specific application.

Also, something can happen after disconnecting it, either hiding all the open tabs or locking the Windows account. Last but not least, the key can serve as an encrypted data storage.

Asus has taken a very bold and quite surprising step this year with its gaming laptop portfolio. It switched extensively to Ryzen 5000 processors and combined them with the new GeForce RTX 3000 mobile graphics cards. The new ROG Strix SCAR 17 is thus the first look at a new stage of mobile gaming, in the highest configuration with 8-core processor and a 16-gigabyte RTX 3080.

Conclusion

The Strix SCAR 17 is and has always been a black horse of the ROG gaming line in my opinion. Although it does not carry the name Zephyrus, which all the top models have, it offers top equipment in a relatively bearable price category. Especially if we compare it with the Zephyrus Duo, for example… The 17-inch version is also a bit of a unicorn, as most of the market consists of 15-inch laptops, although I know people who are looking for larger models. The larger dimensions allow the manufacturer to use a better cooling system and more “power-thirsty” components than the predecessor with the 150 W RTX 2080 Super. This time, however, the SCAR received the “only” a 115 W version. It is the TDP of new graphics cards that will play a big role for this generation and it is still too early for the overall rating of the first sample. However, the measured results show that the SCAR has improved by about 10–15% with CPU and 10–30% with GPU depending on the use. Together, therefore, it is a solid increase in performance and the arrival of new generations of both key components at once seems to be the ideal time to upgrade.

The SCAR 17 offers many positives such as a fast display, an interesting optical-mechanical keyboard, a large touchpad, many ports, unconventional design elements with interchangeable or transparent parts and RGB backlighting, of which a Christmas tree would not be ashamed. I also praise the applications for adjusting settings, functional performance modes with a real impact on operation, or an interesting element in the form of a keychain – Keystone. Overall, the new SCAR offers a number of improvements, whether it’s cooling, charging, battery or smaller external dimensions compared to its predecessor.

Of course, there are areas where the notebook could be even better. The main point is probably the biometric security that the Zephyrus G14 already had, but this novelty doesn’t. Also nowadays, a webcam is almost a necessity, and although in the package you will find a perfect external camera with a better image than any other laptop, it would still be better integrated. There is a lot of space under the display, and if the entire display was moved down the body, a camera would certainly fit on the top edge, or even a 3D IR version with face recognition, such as ZenBooks have. Then no fingerprint reader would be needed.

My personal keyboard layout preferences are a bit at odds with what SCAR offers, but what is objective is that the black area around the keyboard and touchpad gets very dirty easily. It is nice to the touch, but constant cleaning from fingerprints will definitely bother you. I don’t know if that was the most suitable choice of material. However, all these are just such little details and do not change anything on the functional side. For those interested in a 17-inch gaming notebook, the new SCAR 17 is definitely an interesting choice.

Thank you to Spacebar for providing us with games for our tests

• Contents
• Specs and details
• Testing methodology
• Display tests
• Rendering and Geekbench
• 3D/PC Mark and Unigine Heaven/Superposition
• Gaming tests – dedicated GPU
• Encryption, encoding
• Memory and storage tests
• Heating and battery life
• Blender – CPU, CUDA and Optix tests
• Performance modes
• Utility app
• Conclusion