The Most Powerful Gaming Laptop: The ASUS Scar 17 With RTX 4090 & Ryzen 9 7945HX!

Asus Scar 17 emerges as the most powerful gaming laptop ever tested, redefining gaming experiences with top-notch CPU performance and state-of-the-art gaming specs. However, what makes it the cream of the crop in the gaming laptop universe?

A Brief Overview: What’s New in ASUS Scar 17

The new ASUS Scar 17 powered by AMD’s new Ryzen 9 7945HX processor and RTX 4090 graphics, comes in the same body as the 2022 Scar 17 SE, but with a newer CPU and GPU. The laptop’s stellar performance puts it at the top of our 3 Game Comparisons (4K, 1440p & 1080p) consistently, losing only twice to ASUS’s own Scar 18 equipped with an Intel Core i9 processor and identical RTX 4090 graphics.

Information Asus Rog Strix Scar 17 G733PY

2023 ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 17 G733PY
Display	17.3-inch, 16:9, non-touch, matte, QHD+ 2560 x 1440 px, IPS, 240 Hz 3ms, 350-nits, 100% DCI-P3
Processor	AMD Dragon Range HX, Ryzen 9 7945HX, 16C/32T
Video	Radeon 610M + Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop 16GB (up to 175W with Dynamic Boost), overclocked at 2090MHz on Turbo mode, with MUX, Advanced Optimus, GSync
Memory	32 GB DDR5-4800 RAM – up to 64 GB (2x DIMMs)
Storage	2TB SSD (Samsung PM9A1 drive) – 2x M.2 PCI 4.0 x4 slots
Connectivity	WiFi 6E (Mediatek MT7922) 2×2 with Bluetooth 5.2, 2.5Gigabit LAN
Ports	Back: power, 2.5G Lan, 2x USB-C gen2 (with video, data, power), HDMI 2.1 FRL Left: 2x USB-A 3.2 gen1, audio jack Right: no ports
Battery	90Wh, 330 W power adapter, USB-C charging up to 100W
Size	395 mm or 15.55” (w) x 282 mm or 11.10″ (d) x 23.4 – 28.3 mm or .92″ – 1.11″ (h)
Weight	2.94 kg (6.48 lbs) + 1.12 kg (2.47 lbs) main power brick and cables, EU version
Extras	rubber-dome per-key RGB backlit keyboard with NumPad, HD camera, dual speakers, vapor-chamber cooling module

The Power Behind Its Performance

Let’s delve into the factors behind its phenomenal performance. The Ryzen 9 7945HX processor provides an unmatched multicore score, outpacing all other laptops tested thus far. It manages to retain this superior performance even on battery power, emphasizing its robust power management. While the Intel’s 13th gen has a mix of high performance and efficiency cores, the AMD processor offers only big cores. However, in single-core performance, Intel’s 13th gen still holds the crown.

Screen Quality: Good, but Could be Better

The screen of the Scar 17 displays impressive colors and comes equipped with advanced Optimus with G-Sync. Nevertheless, its maximum brightness is just 300 nits, which can be considered slightly disappointing given its high-end specification. Its screen response time, although decent, is slightly slower than last year’s Scar 17 SE. Despite these drawbacks, its system latency – the delay between a mouse click and the corresponding action on the screen – is reasonably close to that of the Scar 18.

What Lies Beneath: Internals and Memory

Internally, the ASUS Scar 17 resembles its predecessor, featuring the same layout, which unfortunately includes the tricky ribbon cables connecting the bottom panel to the motherboard. Despite the new 16 core AMD processor, it maintains the same form factor, showing no significant changes in its internal organization. The 7945HX supports DDR5-5200 memory according to AMD, but the Scar 17 ships with DDR5-4800 memory. However, tests have confirmed that it can run faster 5200 sticks if you choose to upgrade. It also features a top-performing 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD.

The Battery Life Compromise & Thermals

Despite its superlative performance, the ASUS Scar 17 does falter in the battery life department, lasting for just 2 hours and 38 minutes of YouTube video playback – one of the shortest durations measured so far. On the thermals front, ASUS provides different performance modes to control CPU power limits, fan speeds, and maximum GPU temperature. Despite these measures, the laptop exhibits thermal throttling in manual mode, which is mitigated to some extent with the use of a cooling pad. Overall, the ASUS Scar 17 with RTX 4090 and Ryzen 9 7945HX is a powerful gaming machine, offering unmatched performance in its segment. Its high-end gaming features and impressive hardware make it a must-have for gamers looking for a portable yet powerful gaming solution.

The Gaming Experience Across Different Modes

The ASUS Scar 17 offers nearly identical gaming performance in performance, turbo, and manual modes. However, there’s a noticeable drop in performance in silent mode. Despite similar temperature outputs in performance and turbo modes, a balance in performance and noise level seems to be lacking.

Radeon 610M iGPU: Room for Improvement

The integrated graphics from Radeon 610M are not on par with other Ryzen laptop CPUs in 2023. AMD’s strategy here is to pair the 7945HX with powerful discrete graphics, which makes sense. Despite potential heating issues internally (even with liquid metal on both CPU and GPU along with a vapor chamber cooler), the laptop’s exterior remains cool to touch, even under combined CPU and GPU stress tests.

Keyboard Temperature and Fan Noise

The ASUS Scar 17’s keyboard remains cool during stress tests, offering a comfortable gaming experience. As for fan noise, it registers at about 53 decibels – not exactly quiet, but significantly less noisy compared to other high-spec laptops that clock around 57 to 60 decibels.

Powerhouse for Content Creation

The Scar 17, with its top-end CPU and GPU, provides a fantastic experience for content creation workloads. However, it seems to struggle with Adobe Premiere due to the Radeon integrated graphics. The 610M graphics also showed subpar performance in gaming, possibly affecting content creation performance as well.

Speakers and Latencymon

Despite some of the setbacks, the AMD-based Scar 17 demonstrates excellent latency results, much improved from last year’s Intel-based Scar 17 SE. The laptop’s speakers also sound great, reinforcing the ASUS Scar series’ reputation for having the best-sounding speakers among gaming laptops.

Pricing, Availability & Sales

As of now, the ASUS Scar 17 with the same specs tested here is priced at $3500 USD on Amazon, which is considerably less than ASUS’s Scar 18 featuring the same RTX 4090 graphics but with an Intel processor. The lower-tier RTX 4080 option is available for $600 less. If you want the Ryzen 9 7945HX with lower-tier RTX 4060 graphics, the ASUS Strix G17 is available for $1800 USD. The pricing suggests you are indeed paying a premium for the powerful CPU.

The ASUS Scar 17: A Portable Powerhouse?

The ASUS Scar 17 with Ryzen 9 7945HX makes a compelling case for those who desire the best multicore performance in a portable package. However, be prepared to compromise on battery life, which is surprisingly short given the Ryzen lineup’s reputation for good battery life in gaming laptops.

All the Extras in ASUS Scar 17

Beyond its core performance metrics, the ASUS Scar 17 has plenty more to offer, such as ports, RGB lighting, keyboard, touchpad, and more. Other than the new CPU and GPU, the 2023 Scar 17 matches its predecessor, the Scar 17 SE, from last year. For more information on these features, check out the review of last year’s Scar 17 SE.