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The ROG Strix Scar 18 is Asus' top-end gaming laptop laptop release of the year. With an 18-inch display, top-of-the-line Intel Core Ultra CPUs, and RTX 50 series graphics hardware, it is designed for an ultimate gaming experience. The build quality has been adjusted to maintain such power-hungry hardware with few thermal issues.
I got to spend a few weeks with the RTX 5090 Scar 18. With the Core Ultra 9 275HX chipset, it is among the fastest laptops today. Read on to find how the laptop fared in synthetic and gaming benchmarks.
The ROG Strix Scar 18 RTX 5090 laptop is Asus's flagship for this generation
The ROG Strix Scar 18 is quite large, given the 18-inch display it bundles. Moreover, Asus hasn't skimped on the cooling design, which makes the device quite heavy. The form factor means portability takes a hit, which could limit the use case for a portion of the market.
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That said, the device runs all hardware at the maximum power limits, which mandates a high-end design. You get the 24-core Core Ultra 9 275HX with 80W TDP on the highest-end model with the 175W RTX 5090 24 GB laptop GPU. This is paired with 64 GB DDR5-5600 memory and 2 TB of PCIe Gen 4 storage. Overall, this makes for a powerful combination for gaming, professional workloads, and AI training.
The laptop is also available with weaker CPU and GPU combinations. Here's the detailed specs sheet:
The RTX 5070 Ti variant starts $2,699. The higher-end 5080 option is priced at $4,249 on Amazon, and the 5090 model we tested costs $5,499.
A closer look at the ROG Strix Scar 18 RTX 5090 laptop
The Scar 18 is a premium device, and that shows from the packaging itself. As you lift the box, the laptop is nicely presented inside with artwork hinting at the specs of the device. Other than the device, you get the power cable, and that's all for the unboxing experience.
The device is filled with RGB lighting. You get an Asus logo on the box that lights up, with a white LED panel (dubbed AniMeVision) that can play cool animations. By default, you get a few presets with the Strix logo to choose from. Moreover, the keyboard supports per-key lighting with additional LEDs wrapped around the bottom to create a halo effect.
That said, the keyboard and touchpad do leave something to be desired. While the keys have sufficient travel and the touchpad is sufficiently large, the design and comfort don't hold up compared to solutions from other high-end laptops.
The display is a 2560 x 1600 IPS LCD panel. It has anti-glare but lacks the polish of OLED panels that cheaper designs from Asus bundle, such as the ROG Zephyrus G14 and G16. While the display is quite sharp, there's nothing special about it. The same goes for the bundled audio speakers. The audio quality isn't up to par with Asus' own Zephyrus model.
However, these compromises have been made with the "gamer" aesthetic in mind. The cheaper, more portable Zephyrus is a creator-focused machine that comes with weaker hardware.
The Scar 18's internals support toolless access. You can upgrade the essentials, such as the storage and RAM, without needing a single screw. Also, taking off the back panel gives you a look at the tri-fan cooling system the laptop packs. This is an innovative feature that makes it easier to use the laptop as a workstation.
Performance benchmarks
CPU test
We tested the laptop in several benchmarks. Let's start by measuring how the CPU performs in gaming-focused workloads. With a single-core score of 1,295, the chip is among the fastest in the market, beaten only by the Ryzen 9 9950X3D desktop chip. The extra cores on the 275HX helps it get close to the multi-core performance of the 9950X3D as well, making it a mobile powerhouse.
GPU benchmarks
Next up, let's test gaming performance with 3DMark's suite. Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 test that tests the GPU's gaming prowess with the legacy API. The 5090 laptop is no stranger to peak performance as it scored a whopping 38,088 points, putting it in the league of high-end desktop cards like the RTX 3080 Ti and the RX 9070. However, the performance gap with the RTX 5080 and 4090 is still pretty large.
In Time Spy, we notice a more fairer distribution of performance as it utilizes the newer DirectX 12 API. Here, the 5090 laptop pulls further ahead with a score of 23,178, beating AMD's high-end deskop cards such as the RX 9070 and 9070 XT.
In ray tracing, the 5090 shines with its improved RT scores. The GPU scores 82.4 frames per second on average, second only to the RTX 5080 laptop.
The newly released Steel Nomad test captures the performance nuances, as the Scar 18's 5090 gets 6,105 points, putting it behind the RX 9070 XT and RTX 5080, while ahead of the RX 9070 and 5080 LT. However, our data for this benchmark remains limited.
Moving to more real-time ray tracing tests, the RTX 5090 LT finds itself in between the RTX 3080 Ti and RX 7900 XTX in terms of performance with a score of 13,495.
In 3DMark Speed Way, a DirectX 12 Ultimate test, the GPU takes a lead over the AMD RX 7900 XTX and the RX 9070, given architectural and software integrations that support a better integration with the new API.
The raw rendering benchmark data falls apart in DLSS feature test, as the 5090 laptop pulls signfiicantly ahead of older Nvidia and AMD desktop hardware given multi-frame generatio support.
Gaming benchmarks
Now, let's look at the gaming performance of the Scar 18. We tested all games at the highest settings in the native resolution of 2560 x 1600.
Here are the framerate numbers logged in some of the latest video games:
Performance is on point at high resolution across video games. With ray tracing, however, performance takes a hit. Most of the titles we tested struggled to hit 60 FPS, unlike the patterns we observed on desktop cards such as the RTX 5080.
That said, DLSS frame generation and Transformer-based upscaling save the day, with triple-digit framerates across the board. These days, Nvidia's AI-powered frame multiplier tech has gotten so good that most gamers can't tell the difference.
Thermals and power draw
The Scar 18 bundles several demanding components, meaning the power draw remains high consistently. The 275HX, when stressed with AIDA64, drew a maximum of 138W, before settling at 115-117W throughout the test. This is high for even desktop chips, hinting at the serious capabilities of the Scar 18's hardware.
The CPU maintained 3.9 GHz clock speeds on average, with the P-cores at 4.1 GHz. At max, the chip hit 4.85 GHz, which is standard for a mobile chip from Intel.
The Scar 18's serious heatsink mass and triple-fan cooling mean temperatures stayed under control throughout the stress test. The P-cores hit a maximum of 87°C, with average temperatures of 81°C throughout. There was little thermal throttling from time to time, maxing at 7%. This is solid performance for an Intel laptop chip as they are infamous for throttling issues.
The RTX 5090 GPU maintained decent temperatures throughout the Furmark 2 stress test as well. It hit a maximum of 77°C, with sustained heating throughout as the test ran. This is quite decent given the caliber of the chip and the desktop-level performance it pumps out.
The power draw remained consistent throughout the test, with the chip pulling just under 175W under full load. Power draw characteristics remain consistent across all rails and the 12VHPWR connection, suggesting decent internal design.
Value and conclusion
The ROG Strix Scar 18's design is top of the line. The RTX 5090 model we tested costs a whopping $5,499, which is considerably more than what a 5090 desktop system costs. Performance is still lower than a 5080 desktop card, which costs even less. So, unless you want a portable workstation, the Scar 18 doesn't make much sense.
That said, this device is quite heavy and large. It doesn't fit in regular laptop bags and weights over 5 kg; thus, portability takes a hit. You should only buy the Scar 18 if the compact system is exactly what you're looking for but still need high-end desktop-grade performance. Otherwise, thin-and-light systems with Blackwell hardware or an ITX PC make more sense.
