ASUS Announces High-End Strix SCAR 17 Gaming Laptop

Speed and agility are crucial stats in the world of esports, where razor-thin margins make the difference between victory and defeat. In a massive melee, you need a gaming machine that can keep up with the action. Staying competitive at the highest levels demands a high-refresh display and power-packed GPU that can deliver the fluid frame rates required to catch every moment.

The flagship ROG Strix SCAR 17 represents the pinnacle of professional esports. Its blisteringly fast 300Hz gaming panel surpasses the current tournament standard, while its larger chassis and cooling module can run the new GeForce RTX™ 2080 SUPER GPU at a full 150W. This config pumps out enough frames to saturate the expansive 17.3” display with the sublimely smooth gameplay required for competitive play.

Potent 10th Gen Intel® processors up to a Core™ i9 deftly handle heavy duty gaming, and extend the SCAR 17’s versatility into the realms of streaming, content creation, coding, and beyond. Exotic liquid metal thermal compound coats the CPU to boost cooling performance, and it’s part of a larger Intelligent Cooling system that blends extra ventilation, self-cleaning fans, and automatic optimization to give you the best experience no matter the task.

A showcase for serious speed

Graphics are at the heart of the gaming experience, so standard versions of the SCAR 17 are available with NVIDIA® GPUs up to the GeForce RTX™ 2070 SUPER. They make gameplay silky smooth and pump out the triple digit frame rates required for competitive play. But every advantage matters at the highest levels of esports, and ultra-high-refresh displays feast on more frames, so we created a special version of the SCAR 17 with the GeForce RTX™ 2080 SUPER. The machine’s upgraded cooling lets ROG Boost take the top-of-the-line GPU’s clock speeds up to 1560MHz at a full 150W in Turbo mode, outpacing standard GeForce RTX™ 2080 configurations.

The latest series of GeForce RTX™ GPUs is built on the revolutionary Turing™ architecture. Its potent combination of CUDA, RT, and Tensor cores cover programmable shading, real-time ray tracing, and artificial intelligence. This cocktail enables slick lighting, reflections, and other visual effects that can make games look and feel more realistic.

While the GPU dictates how many frames are produced each second, the display determines how you see them. ROG has been at the forefront of high-refresh rate displays from the beginning, breaking the 60Hz barrier in 2016 with the first 120Hz gaming laptop. We led the industry to 144Hz and also to quicker response times, then raised the bar to 240Hz to match the fastest desktop monitors of the time.

We were the first to start selling 300Hz gaming laptops last year, and earned a CES 2020 Innovation Award for one with the Strix SCAR III. Now, we’re bringing the same speed to the new SCAR 17. Its industry-leading performance can make the millisecond difference needed to win tournaments. Action-packed battles track more smoothly when you can see more frames and have shorter delays between them, giving you a better grasp of every situation.

A quick 3ms grey-to-grey response time further hones your competitive edge by minimizing motion blur for precise target tracking. The cutting-edge display is also framed by super-narrow bezels that make the spacious 17.3” screen seem even larger, drawing you deeper into gameplay. With a screen-to-body ratio of 81.5%, you get an impressive view of the battlefield in a device with a surprisingly small footprint.

Flex your power beyond the gaming arena

Gamers today are more talented and diverse than ever, applying their impressive skills to streaming, content creation, game design, and more. With up to the latest 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i9 CPU at your command, the SCAR 17 has the reach to take down any task with speed. Its potent 8-core processor pushes frequencies as high as 5.3GHz with a single core, and spins up to 16 parallel threads to blaze through heavy work. With the combined firepower of the GPU and CPU, you can produce a top quality stream that features tons of fancy visual effects without breaking a sweat.

Combining the processor with up to 32GB of dual-channel DDR4-3200 memory makes for monster multitasking capacity. We specced the machine with high-performance RAM that’s faster than the stock 2933Hz memory speed for 10th Gen CPUs, making it even more responsive. Gamers can jump into multiplayer, stream their session, chat with the channel, and load up all the browser tabs they need to look up the latest seasonal rewards and more. Creators can fire up their favorite media editing software and shift swiftly between programs to produce exceptional content. And power users can run all the apps they need for maximum productivity.

Everything loads in at warp speed thanks to two NVM Express® (NVMe®) SSDs running in RAID 0. Accessing data is lightning fast, making the whole system feel super responsive. Space for a third SSD makes it easy to add terabytes of space to the total capacity, giving you room for the latest games (and their updates), a massive multimedia library, and more.

The SCAR 17 simplifies adding memory and storage with an easy-upgrade design that puts the SO-DIMM and M.2 slots behind the bottom panel. It’s held in place with standard Philips screws, and a special pop-open screw pushes the bottom corner away from the chassis so you can get under the hood fast. The surrounding hooks holding the edges together are smaller and stronger, letting you gently pry off the panel without scuffing the body or special tools.

Cooling paves the way to hardcore performance

Gaming performance of this caliber wouldn’t be possible without cutting-edge cooling. To sustain and even raise the bar on clock speeds, we employ a wide range of innovative tactics to set each gaming laptop up for success.

The SCAR 17 distinguishes itself from its family with key changes that enable peak power from its ultra high-end RTX 2080 SUPER GPU. It one-ups its siblings with 4 heatsinks instead of 3, with a total of 284 heatsink fins that raises the total surface area for thermal dissipation to 178,125mm2. The chassis also gets 1.4mm of additional height to accommodate the more robust cooling module. 

The rest of the SCAR 17’s cooling enhancements are shared with the standard models, and in some cases entire lineups. We paint exotic liquid metal thermal compound onto the CPU of every ROG gaming laptop with a 10th Gen Intel Core processor. Liquid metal excels at transferring thermal energy from the CPU to heatsink, but it’s electrically conductive and significantly more fluid than standard thermal paste. Applying it is delicate work typically done by hand to keep the compound from touching other components. That’s not feasible for mass production, so we commissioned custom equipment to automate the process with mechanical precision.

The process is patented, as is the special internal fence we designed to contain any leakage that may occur over time. We debuted them with the limited ROG Mothership last year and are now using the same equipment to bring the benefits of liquid metal to a wider audience. In the SCAR 17, the compound helps sustain higher frequencies with less strain on the cooling system. Less strain keeps noise levels below 50dB in Turbo mode, letting your machine work hard with less grumbling from the fans.

The two n-Blade fans are sculpted to draw in more air. They are made from a special liquid crystal polymer that lets us fit in an incredible 83 blades per fan, and still ensure that each blade is strong enough to hold up at high RPMs.

An extended heat spreader and six heatpipes absorb and distribute thermal energy from the CPU, GPU, and VRM supplying them with power. Each heatsink is filled with ultra-thin, 0.1mm fins that increase the surface area for thermal dissipation while simultaneously lowering air resistance and increasing flow. Our self-cleaning cooling module maintains long-term stability and performance by preventing build-up on critical components like fan blades and heatsink fins. Anti-dust tunnels catch incoming particles and expel them out the back, so they don’t compromise the cooling over time.

Heat from internal components can sometimes make keyboards less comfortable to use, especially over marathon gaming sessions, so we use strategic ventilation around the WASD keys to create airflow through the area. This CoolZone design reduces the surface temperature by as much as 14% compared to competing systems.

Cooling and performance requirements vary based on what you’re doing, so we offer multiple modes tuned for different needs. Silent mode minimizes acoustics for less demanding everyday tasks like web surfing and video streaming. Balanced mode is ideal for gaming, with the power to pump out high FPS without blasting the fans. Turbo reaches even higher heights with the volume to match, offering maximum speed for seamlessly smooth performance even in the thick of intense action. Switch between these modes at will with a simple keyboard shortcut. If you’d prefer to automate the process, you can create custom Scenario Profiles in ROG Armoury Crate software to shift operating modes seamlessly based on the active application.

Even the striking structural design of the SCAR 17 is designed to improve cooling. Inspired by our collaboration with BMW Designworks Group, its unique features are both visually pleasing and advantageous to airflow. A trapezoidal cut below the display ensures unrestricted airflow when the laptop is open. The scissor-door hinges holding the lid are shifted forward, opening up additional space at the back for a heavily ventilated 3D Flow Zone, where hundreds of precise perforations let the SCAR 17 breathe more easily.

Express yourself freely with deep PC personalization

Evoking a deeper physical connection with the machine was a key theme of our BMW Designworks Group collaboration. The SCAR 17 channels this concept in the new ROG Keystone II, which updates the Keystone technology we introduced in last year’s ROG Strix SCAR III.

Keystone II offers a more personalized link to your laptop by linking quick commands and other functions to a physical key that fits in the palm of your hand. These NFC-enabled devices dock discreetly into the side of the chassis, adding a subtle pop of color. Each one can be customized with a number of different features.

Inserting a Keystone can launch a specific operating mode, the Armoury Crate game library, or the app or game of your choice. Removing one can instantly activate a stealth mode that minimizes your apps and mutes your audio, or log you out of Windows. The Cloud Profile function restores personalized preferences associated with your ROG ID to make compatible devices feel more like home. You can even use Keystone II to reveal a secret Shadow Drive for covert storage, complete with added security via encryption on systems with Windows 10 Pro.

Aura Sync accents add RGB shine to the distinctive exterior design. A wraparound light bar glows under the front and side edges, illuminating your environment and complementing the backlit ROG logo on the lid. Coordinate colors and effects across an entire ecosystem of Aura Sync devices to set up the perfect mood lighting. ROG Aura Creator software offers more advanced control, including per-key customization and the ability to create complex effects. Using keyboard lighting to highlight critical bindings and shortcuts can make gaming, streaming, and everyday work a lot easier. Scenario Profiles take it to the next level by automatically lighting up your preferred layout for the task at hand.

The keyboard’s spacious, desktop-style layout and thoughtful design make everyday use more comfortable and effortless. Soft-touch paint covers the palm rest, minimizing smudges and fingerprints to sustain a clean and stylish appearance through to the end of the day. The thin, textured coating makes extended play more comfortable and is resilient enough to last.

Dedicated hotkeys put volume and microphone mute within easy reach at all times, so you can make quick adjustments without taking your focus off the game. Strategically spaced blocks of function keys allow easier identification on the fly, and the enlarged space bar provides a bigger target for your thumb. Overstroke technology lifts the actuation point of the underlying key switches to provide a faster response for gaming, and the extended travel after actuation improves the overall feel. Punch in complicated combos with abandon knowing that full N-Key rollover registers every press precisely. You can bang out commands with confidence knowing that the keyboard is built to last with switches rated for 20 million presses. 

Bring your A-game everywhere

Game at LAN speeds wherever compatible connections are available with ultrafast Intel® Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+). Otherwise known as 802.11ax, the latest Wi-Fi standard boosts speed and efficiency, and provides a better connection on crowded networks. It also reduces latency, meaning less lag for sensitive activities like multiplayer matches and voice chat. 

To help maintain the strongest signal, the Strix SCAR 17 augments Wi-Fi 6 with ROG RangeBoost. Wi-Fi signal strength can vary a lot depending on your location; walls, furniture, and other obstructions can easily block your connection. RangeBoost technology evaluates the signal strength of four internal antennas, and then picks the best pair for the environment. This multi-antenna array can increase range by up to 30%. With better signal stability and fewer dead zones to navigate, you can make the most of fast Wi-Fi 6 networks to play anywhere.

If you have access to a hardline, the Gigabit Ethernet jack at the back boasts the lowest latency for multiplayer competition. Additional rear ports make space for all of your favorite peripherals without cluttering your desk with cables. Enjoy blazing fast transfers at Gen 2 speeds via the USB 3.2 Type-C™. Its DisplayPort™ 1.4 compatibility means you can connect an external G-SYNC monitor for ultra-smooth gameplay. Put the action on the big screen with HDMI 2.0b, which allows you to enjoy movies and games on a 4K monitor or TV at up to 60Hz. The Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 port at the back is perfect for a gaming mouse, and there are two more on the left for a gamepad and external storage. 

The 3.5mm audio port lets you plug in your favorite headset for more immersive audio. For a headphone-free experience, side-firing speakers put you in the thick of the action. Smart Amp technology monitors audio output and makes real-time adjustments to keep the speakers within thermal and excursion limits, preventing damage to the cones. The resulting sound has less distortion, more dynamic range, heavier bass, and significantly higher potential output. Pump up the volume and hear every audio cue in the game.

Read the rest of the press release here … Asus