Some of you might remember that we previously reviewed the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 17 just a few months back. So why are we having yet another article for the ROG Strix SCAR 17? Glad that you asked about it. The one we have here today is the SCAR 17 Special Edition which comes with a beefier CPU and GPU. Equipped with an Intel Core i9-12950HX and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti at 175W max TGP, the SCAR 17 SE is a step up from its standard edition compatriot.Â
Before we get into the performance differences, let’s put the rest of the good stuff out of the way. To recap, the ROG Strix SCAR 17 comes with a brilliant 17.3-inch 1440p display with a 240Hz refresh rate. The ROG design motive is plastered all over the laptop with plenty of RGB lighting, including the bottom chassis, under the display as well as per-key RGB keyboard. Â
@techcritter
The SE has a special printed lid design that only glows in multiple colours when lit under a UV flashlight that comes in the package. Do take note not to shine the light directly into someone’s eyes.Â
Basically, this is the exact same chassis dimension as the standard SCAR 17 including the port arrangements:
- 2x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A
- 1x 3.5mm combo audio jack
- 1x Thunderbolt 4
- 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C
- 1x HDMI 2.1
- 1x 2.5Gb Ethernet
Performance Upgrade?
With all those out of the way, let’s talk about the performance.
Test Specifications
- Intel Core i9-12950HX
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop (175W)
- 2x 16GB DDR5-4800
CineBench R23
3DMark
To be honest, the synthetic benchmark is not that impressive. The numbers are almost identical to the standard edition SCAR 17. I was hoping at least the Core i9 HX or the RTX 3080 Ti can provide a higher result.
Since I usually do all the synthetic benchmarks first before going into games, I was really worried about the laptop at this point.
Dirt 5
Red Dead Redemption 2
Control
Cyberpunk 2077
When I shifted to gaming tests and benchmarks, finally the results are getting better. On average, the games are getting 5-15% higher frame rates than the standard edition. I guess that’s a decent result by bumping the max TGP from 150W to 175W (16% increase). That goes to show the NVIDIA chip is limited by the TGP all these while.
Conclusion
The ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 17 SE with Core i9-12950HX and RTX 3080 Ti (175W) is officially priced at RM17,999 which is RM1,000 more expensive than the standard ROG Strix SCAR 17 with Core i9-12900H and RX 3080 Ti (150W). If you’re planning to purchase the standard variant, I would suggest you take a look at the Special Edition as it is more enticing in terms of performance. At the end of the day, those who are willing to fork out that amount of money for sure would be happier to get the highest configuration possible. Otherwise, the RTX 3070 Ti is still available.
