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As mentioned earlier, the 4080 is within 80 to 95 % of the performance of the 4090 in these similar designs, and at the same time notably faster than the RTX 3080Ti of the previous generation. However, while the gap is around 30% in benchmarks, it actually dwindles toward 15-20% in professional loads such as Blender, 3DMax, or Maya. With its Core i9-13980HX CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 GPU, the ROG Scar Strix 16 combines some of the most potent gaming hardware on the 2023 market. As a result, our comparisons focused on similarly powerful gaming laptops, like the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 8, the MSI Titan GT77 (2023), and the larger Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (G834JY). Dominate the Windows 11 Pro battlefield with the all-new ROG Strix SCAR 18. Introducing a 18-inch screen to the SCAR lineup for the first time, see the enemy more clearly than ever before. Powered by a 13 th Gen Intel ® Core™ i9-13980HX processor and NVIDIA ® GeForce RTX™ 4090 Laptop GPU with a max TGP of 175W, the SCAR 18 easily handles even the most demanding games. It also comes with a dedicated MUX Switch with support for NVIDIA Advanced Optimus, enabling you to easily harness the true power of your GPU when gaming. With support for up to 64GB of DDR5 RAM and up to 4TB of PCIe Gen4x4 storage, the SCAR 18 can easily game, stream, and create content all at the same time without breaking a sweat. For the ultimate gaming laptop, look no further than the Strix SCAR 18.
Just like on the Scar 18, though, I noticed some coil whining on this sample, but only when launching any demanding load, in the 5-10 seconds before the fans start spinning. I haven’t experienced electronic noises with daily use, though. I also haven’t experienced persistent coil whining on the Silent profile, once the fans start spinning. 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. Dominate the Windows 11 Pro battlefield with the all-new ROG Strix SCAR 16. Introducing a 16-inch screen to the SCAR lineup for the first time, see the enemy more clearly than ever before. Powered by a 13 th Gen Intel ® Core™ i9-13980HX Processor and NVIDIA ® GeForce RTX™ 4090 Laptop GPU with a max TGP of 175W, the SCAR 16 easily handles even the most demanding games. It also comes with a dedicated MUX Switch with support for NVIDIA Advanced Optimus, enabling you to easily harness the true power of your GPU when gaming. With support for up to 64GB of DDR5 RAM and up to 4TB of PCIe Gen4x4 storage, the SCAR 16 can easily game, stream, and create content all at the same time without breaking a sweat. For the ultimate gaming laptop, look no further than the Strix SCAR 16. 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.
At the same time, the color and brightness uniformity take a hit, as they are impacted by the zone-dimming functionality, and blooming/glowing and uniformity artifacts are visible in some situations, as explained in this dedicated article about the mini LED laptop display technology. Thus, I wouldn’t recommend this multi-zone setting for any sort of professional color work, but I’d keep it selected for daily use, watching movies, or playing games (especially those with good HDR support, at least). There’s practically nothing to complain about the 16-inch display. It’s a Pantone-validated, HDR-capable, Mini-LED display with a 2560 x 1600 resolution and a 240Hz refresh, which Asus claims can cover 100% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut.
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. In our basic graphics tests, we saw promising 3DMark and GFXBench results from the ROG Strix Scar 16, joining other 13th Gen systems in the leading batch of scores, but a similar lag behind the larger RTX 40 Series laptops. For example, in the GFXBench Aztec Ruins subtest, systems like the MSI Titan GT77 (2023) and the larger Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 scored 500-plus points, while the 16-inch ROG Strix Scar scored just 419, falling behind even the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 8. Despite this, the leap forward from the 2022 12th Gen models is still dramatic, with those systems scoring fewer than 300 points in the same test. That leaves you with the Scar 17 and Strix G17 as the only 2023 models built on the previous chassis, but these are only available with AMD processors and Nvidia graphics. You are giving up on the 18-inch screens, though, and there are no mid-sized 15-inch variants available either. You’re also giving up on the updated tri-fan thermal module, but you’re getting an interesting vapor-chamber cooling module on the Scar 17. Hardware specs for the 2023 ROG Scars As far as noise levels go, expect 52 dBA on Manual with max-fans, ~50 dBA on Turbo, ~42 dBA of Performance, and 35 dBA on the Silent profile. I haven’t noticed any coil whining on this unit, but that’s no guarantee you won’t on yours. Make sure to properly listen for any potential issues within your return term.Across a multiplicity of graphics tests, it’s impossible to say which is the outright better performer, the 150W/16GB RTX 4090-equipped Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 or the 175W/12GB RTX 4080-equipped Scar 16. As far as the IPS option goes, it’s the 16-inch BOE QHD+ panel with ~500 nits of brightness, 1200:1 contrast, and 100% DCI-P3 color coverage that Asus offers on most of their ROG series, such as the Strix G16 or the Zephyrus G16. You’ll find more about it by following those links. Hardware and performance Aside from these main power profiles, there are also some GPU options to choose from: Ultimate (dGPU only, requires a restart when selected), Standard (enables Advanced Optimus), Optimized (enables regular Optimus), and Eco (regular Optimus, but disables the dGPU). I mostly kept the laptop on Standard for daily use and tests, and opted for Ultimate for gaming. But if AI frame generation is the only place where the 4090 pulls ahead, it can be argued that these GPUs are a lot closer than Nvidia suggests in its marketing material. For you, that means you can save big and still get an awesome gaming experience. Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 performance
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