Asus ROG Strix Scar combines an Intel 12th Gen CPU, RTX 3080 Ti and MUX Switch for max performance

Asus ROG Strix Scar 15/17 rendered on a matte black background and boxes
(Image credit: Asus)

Asus announced updates to its ROG Strix Scar and ROG Strix gaming laptops at CES 2022 today and competitive gamers will want to take note, these are some impressive portable gaming machines. 

The Asus ROG Strix Scar series supports up to the latest Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti paired with the Intel Core i9-12900H CPU, which combined with the MUX Switch to optimize for maximum performance sounds like a dream team for gaming on the go.

Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 and 17

Both the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 and 17 offer up to an Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti GPU and the Intel Core i9-12900H CPU with an MUX Switch to keep performance maxed out when you need to keep the pedal to the metal. 

The default display options are FHD IPS with either a 300Hz refresh rate on the Scar 15 or 360Hz on the Scar 17. If you want to go QHD both models offer 240Hz. All display options offer 300 nits of brightness and 3ms response time. 

The Strix Scar 15 and 17 support up to 64GB of DDR5-4800 in dual channel, while storage options include PCIe 4.0 support and up to 1TB in dual slots.

Both laptops offer identical port options with one Thunderbolt 4 with DisplayPort 1.4 port, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DisplayPort 1.4, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a 3.5mm audio jack, RJ45 Ethernet port and an HDMI 2.1b port.

While you'll want to stay plugged in for maximum performance, the 90Wh battery should keep you going for hours when you do need to unplug and 100W PD Type-C charging will help you get back up to 50% in 30 minutes according to Asus. 

ROG Strix Scar also boats one of the more impressive gaming laptop keyboards on the market with a 2mm key travel and per-key RGB lighting controllable through Aura Sync.

Asus ROG Strix G513 on a desk

(Image credit: Asus)

Asus ROG Strix G15 and G17

The Asus ROG Strix G15 and G17 also offer up to the latest RTX 3080 Ti GPU, but instead pair it with the new AMD R9 6900HX or AMD R7 6800H. The MUX Switch is once again present for maximum performance on your laptop when you want it. 

Display options vary slightly between the two models with both featuring an FHD 144Hz panel as standard with 250 nits of brightness and 3ms response time. On the G15 you can upgrade that to a 300Hz response time, while the G17 jumps up to 360Hz, both also step up to 300 nits of brightness with this upgrade. At the top of the line is a QHD IPS panel with a 240Hz refresh rate and 300 nits of brightness, while the G15 alone offers a 165Hz QHD option.

You can add up to 32GB of DDR5-4800 RAM in dual slots and storage includes up to 1TB of M2 2280 PCIe 4.0 with dual slots and RAID 0 support available as an upgrade.

Ports are identical between the two laptops with one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DisplayPort 1.4 and Power Delivery, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a 3.5mm audio jack, RJ45 Ethernet jack and an HDMI 2.1 port.

While battery life isn't probably your biggest concern with a laptop this powerful, the 90Wh battery should get you through a day if you aren't gaming or doing heavy content creation work. 

Sean Riley

Sean Riley has been covering tech professionally for over a decade now. Most of that time was as a freelancer covering varied topics including phones, wearables, tablets, smart home devices, laptops, AR, VR, mobile payments, fintech, and more.  Sean is the resident mobile expert at Laptop Mag, specializing in phones and wearables, you'll find plenty of news, reviews, how-to, and opinion pieces on these subjects from him here. But Laptop Mag has also proven a perfect fit for that broad range of interests with reviews and news on the latest laptops, VR games, and computer accessories along with coverage on everything from NFTs to cybersecurity and more.