ASUS ROG Strix Scar III Review: A Game-centric Designed Laptop Decent Performance

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ASUS ROG Strix Scar III: At First Glance

In 2020, ASUS returned with its third release of the ROG Strix Scar series. The ASUS ROG Scar III is a refresh of its predecessor, the ASUS ROG Scar II that comes with some serious tidying up.

ASUS also offers this laptop into a larger-sized model – the 17-inch ASUS ROG Strix Scar III 731. The 17-inch version is targeted at users who prefer a larger screen.

The laptop is in no way disappointing hence, it is worthy of its hefty price tag. At the time I published this article in August 2021, you can get the base configuration at $2,199.00.

Having introduced this laptop sufficiently, join me as we dive into the analysis of its specs and features.

ASUS ROG Strix Scar III: Design, Dimension & Weight

The ROG Scar III is a sophisticated laptop whichever way you decide to look at it. Is it the two-toned brushed gradient lid or the strip of RGB light that surrounds the laptop?

Whichever way you decide to look at it, the ROG Scar III isn’t a gaming laptop that can be mistaken as a regular laptop! The laptop is made of aluminum with a vertical gradient on half its lid and a diagonal gradient on the rest.

Sitting at the center of the lid is a ROG logo that glows stunningly in RGB. On opening the lid, you’ll find the 15-6 inch display.

The display is held up by two hinges that protrude to the laptop’s back. At the laptop’s back, you’ll find two copper vents and some ports.

Back to the display, ASUS designed it with slim bezels on its top and sides. I was hoping to see the webcam on the lower bezel since the top bezel was too slim to house one.

However, there is no webcam on this device at all. Feel free to order a detachable camera for your video conferencing needs.

Moving on, the laptop’s deck is made of a checkered pattern micro-fiber plastic. The deck is designed as a transition of contrasting dark gray and light hue.

As expected, the deck houses the keyboard. The chiclet-styled keyboard has decently sized keys with a top row of dedicated media keys.

The keyboard lacks a dedicated Numpad giving enough room for proper spacing between the keys. The keys are individually lit with configurable RGB lights.

Moreover, the keys have satisfying feedback and a bouncy feel. Overall, there is a decent key travel and force of actuation resulting in a smooth typing experience.

Below the keyboard lies the precision touchpad. As a substitute for the missing dedicated Numpad, there’s a virtual grid of numbers on the touchpad.

Interestingly, you can activate or deactivate the virtual Numpad via a long press at the top right corner of the touchpad.

Speaking of the touchpad, it is a smooth precision unit that supports Windows 10 gestures. Also, the separate mouse buttons are very clickable and easy to register.

When it comes to port selection, it is quite a lot even though there is no Thunderbolt 3 support. On the left side, there are 3 USB Type-A ports and an earphone jack.

The rear has the Ethernet connector, HDMI connector, power connector, a USB Type-C, and the power connector. While on the right side there’s a unique slot called the ROG keystone slot.

The keystone is a magnetic key that saves custom lighting profiles. Consequently, you can use the saved profiles on another laptop with a compatible keystone slot.

Speaking of another laptop with a keystone slot, there’s the ASUS ROG Strix Hero III. Hence, you can insert the keystone into a Hero III and use the saved profiles.

Another function of the keystone is that it unlocks a portion of your hard disk known as the Shadow Drive. A shadow drive is an encrypted storage partition that is created when you sign up for an ASUS account.

Let’s talk about the dimension and weight of the ASUS ROG Strix Scar III. The laptop measures 359.9 x 275 x 24.8 mm and weighs 2571.8 g.

Consequently, the laptop is quite thick and heavy for a 15-inch laptop. Comparatively, it is heavier and thicker than the Dell G7 15.

Specifically, the Dell 7 15 measures 365.76 x 274.32 x 20.32 mm and weighs 2494.76 g.

Finally, the ASUS ROG Strix Scar III is a beautiful laptop especially when you turn on its fireworks of RGB. Interestingly, you can turn off the lights or customize them from the Armoury Crate App and Aura Creator.

In conclusion, I will rate the laptop an eight for its beautiful design.

ASUS ROG Strix Scar III: Processor (CPU) Performance

The laptop employs the 9th generation of Intel processors in two configurations. Firstly, there is the 6 cores Intel Core i7-9750H processor with 12 MB cache memory.

Also, the Core i7 processor has a base frequency of 2.60 GHz. However, you can increase the processor’s speed to 4.50 GHz using a Turbo Boost.

Secondly, there is the 8 cores Intel Core i9-9880H processor configuration with 16 MB cache memory. The Core i9 processor has a base frequency of 2.40 GHz and can turbo boost up to 4.80 GHz.

ASUS equipped the model I reviewed with the Core i7 processor. To put the laptop to a processor performance test, I used the Cinebench R20 benchmark.

Cinebench benchmarks are real-world tests that you can use to evaluate a computer’s hardware performance particularly, the CPU.

As an outcome of the multi-threaded Cinebench 20 test, the ASUS ROG Strix Scar III topped the performance chart.

Specifically, ASUS ROG Strix Scar III recorded a score of 2,753 points. As a comparison measure, I’ll pitch the laptop against two competing laptops also equipped with the Core i7-9750 processor.

Following closely behind the Scar III is the Lenovo Legion Y740 which recorded a score of 2,694 points. There’s also the Acer Predator Triton 500 that scored 2448 points

Finally, the processor performance of the laptop is very impressive as it surpassed the performance of competing laptops with the same processor. Hence I’ll rate it a nine in this respect.

ASUS ROG Strix Scar III: Memory (RAM) Performance

When it comes to memory, the ASUS ROG Strix Scar III has two DDR4-2666 SO-DIMM slots. Each slot can take up to 16 GB of RAM resulting in a total maximum capacity of 32 GB.

ASUS equipped the unit I tested with two 8 GB RAM cards running in dual-channel. Dual-channeling means that the laptop’s memory uses 2 channels to communicate with its memory.

This improves the performance of the memory, and in turn, the laptop.

With 16 GB of memory at its disposal, the laptop was an excellent multitasker. Practically, I was switching between 40 Chrome tabs out of which there were 5 Youtube videos streaming.

Additionally, I was also working on a word document and playing a game at the same time. Considering these multiple tasks occurring concurrently, the laptop seemed unbothered as it didn’t exhibit any noticeable lag.

It is our custom at www.itechguides.com to include a performance from real-world benchmarks in our reviews. Therefore, I will be using the PCMark 10 benchmark here.

PCMark 10 is a test for Windows 10 computers for evaluating the overall system performance including memory capabilities. Based on the PCMark 10 result, the ASUS ROG Strix Scar III scored 5826 points.

In the performance chart, ROG Scar III sits between the Lenovo Legion Y740 and the Acer Predator Triton 500. Specifically, the Lenovo Legion Y740 scored 5938 points while the Acer Predator Triton 500 scored 5746 points.

In conclusion, though the laptop didn’t top the competitors in the performance chart, it still recorded a respectable score. Hence, I’ll rate it an eight in this respect.

ASUS ROG Strix Scar III: Storage Options & Performance

The ROG Strix Scar III ships with either a 5400 RPM 2.5″ SATA FireCuda SSHD drive or an M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD. Whichever of these drives you chose the maximum storage capacity it can take is 1 TB.

Handling the storage functions of the Scar III’s model I reviewed is a 1 TB SSD. In my opinion, 1 TB is more than enough storage space for anyone to save their files.

I put my review unit to a copy test where it copied 4.97 GB of data in a speedy 9.7 seconds. The laptop copied the files at a speed of 525 MBps.

In comparison, the laptop’s storage performance significantly surpassed that of the Dell G7 15. Specifically, Dell G7 15 copied the same file in 40 seconds which translates to 127 MBps.

When it comes to the custom real-life benchmark, I used the AS SSD benchmark test. As the name suggests, the AS SSD benchmark is a utility tool for evaluating the performance of SSD storage.

Based on the test outcome, the laptop recorded a sequential read speed of 1574.03 MBps. Additionally, it recorded a sequential write speed of 1590.95 MBps.

Finally, I’ll rate the laptop an eight for its fast storage speed.

ASUS ROG Strix Scar III: Graphics Card Performance

In terms of graphics, the laptop comes in three configuration variants. The base configuration employs the dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti.

The GTX 1660 Ti GPU has a 6 GB dedicated GDDR6 VRAM. Additionally, the laptop has a base frequency of 1500 MHz which can be boosted up to 1770 MHz.

The mid-range configuration is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 with 6 GB GDDR6 VRAM. Also, the RTX 2060 has a base frequency of 1365 MHz and a maximum frequency of 1680 MHz.

Lastly, the high-end configuration employs the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 with 8 GB GDDR6 memory. The RTX 2070 also has a base frequency of 1410 MHz and a maximum frequency of 1620 MHz.

In addition to any of the dedicated GPUs mentioned above, ROG Strix Scar III also employs the less powerful Intel UHD Graphics 620. The UHD Graphics is an energy-saving graphics adapter for handling light graphical activities.

NVIDIA Optimus handles the switching between the dedicated GPU and the integrated UHD Graphics. Hence, when the laptop performs light graphical activities like watching videos, Optimus switches to UHD graphics.

Meanwhile, when performing graphical intensive activities like playing games it switches unnoticeably to the dedicated GPU. The benefit of switching the laptop to use the integrated GPU is that it consumes less battery – this improves the overall battery life of the laptop.

The model I tested shipped with the high-end dedicated NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 and the NVIDIA Optimus, of course. As a test of the laptop’s graphics performance, I used the 3DMark benchmark test.

3DMark is a tool that you can use to evaluate a computer’s 3D graphic rendering capabilities. As an outcome of the test, Scar III scored 19,846 points.

This impressive performance exceeds that of the competitors. Specifically, the Lenovo Legion Y740 scored 16,968 points while Acer Predator Triton 500 scored 18,060 points.

Furthermore, it is incomplete to evaluate a gaming laptop’s graphics performance without a real gaming test. Hence, I tested the gaming performance by playing The Witcher 3 at 1080p resolution and different presets.

At low preset, the game played at 258 fps. Meanwhile, at medium preset, the game played at 208 fps.

Additionally, at high preset, the game played at 130 fps. While at ultra-high preset the game played at 72 fps.

Finally, the laptop recorded an impressive performance in the benchmark test as well as the gaming test. Therefore, I’ll rate it an eight.

ASUS ROG Strix Scar III: Battery Life & Performance

The laptop is powered by a 4-cell 66WHr Li-ion battery which ASUS has claimed can deliver up to 5 hours of battery life with basic operations. Putting the laptop to a battery runtime test, the result was quite impressive, especially for a gaming laptop.

The battery rundown test involved surfing over 70 websites over WiFi and the screen brightness set to 150 nits. As a result of the test, the battery lasted 5 hours 33 minutes.

Comparing the performance with the Dell G7 15, the Scar III performed significantly better. Specifically, the Dell G7 15 lasted 3 hours 12 minutes.

However, the Acer Predator Triton 500 outperformed the ASUS ROG Strix Scar III. The Acer Predator Triton 500 lasted 7 hours 58 minutes in the same test

In conclusion, most gaming laptops perform below expectations in terms of battery. However, the ASUS ROG Scar III surprisingly performed sufficiently well.

Hence I’ll rate the laptop a seven in this respect.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

With the ROG Strix Scar III, ASUS is offering a lot. It is quite the laptop to behold, especially when its RGB lights are on.

In addition to its good looks, the ASUS ROG Strix Scar III offers impeccable power. The combination of the Intel Core i7 processor with the NVIDIA GeForce 2070 GPU resulted in an impressive graphics performance.

Finally, this laptop will attract lots of attention in public and can make a nice impression with its performance. Therefore, if these features appeal to you, then this laptop should rank top on your to-buy list.

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