ASUS Republic of Gamers Announces Premium Strix SCAR 17 Gaming Laptop

Special model redefines pro esports speed with ultrafast 300 Hz / 3 ms 17" display and NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2080 SUPER™ GPU

TAIPEI, Taiwan, April 2, 2020 ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced a special Strix SCAR 17 gaming laptop with an ultrafast 300 Hz / 3 ms display and NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2080 SUPER™ GPU that represents the pinnacle of professional esports performance.
Speed and agility are crucial stats in the world of esports, where razor-thin margins make the difference between victory and defeat. Staying competitive at the highest levels demands a gaming machine that can keep up with the action. Strix SCAR 17 is packed with power to pump out enough frames to saturate an expansive 17.3-inch display with the smooth graphics required for competitive play.

Unrivaled graphics

Every advantage matters at the highest levels of esports. Ultra-high-refresh-rate displays demand a GPU that can deliver high frame rates, so ROG created a special version of Strix SCAR 17 featuring the GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER. Upgraded cooling lets ROG Boost take the top-of-the-line GPU’s clock speeds up to 1560 MHz at a full 150 watts 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 combination enables slick lighting, reflections, and other visual effects that can make games look and feel more realistic.

Ultrafast 300 Hz display

While the GPU dictates how many frames are produced each second, the display determines how those frames are seen. ROG has been at the forefront of high-refresh rate displays from the beginning, breaking the 60 Hz barrier in 2016 with the first 120 Hz gaming laptop. ROG led the industry to 144 Hz and also to quicker response times, then raised the bar to 240 Hz to match the fastest desktop monitors of the time. ROG was the first to start selling 300 Hz gaming laptops last year and earned a CES 2020 Innovation Award with ROG Strix SCAR III. Now, the new ROG Strix SCAR 17 is reaching the same speed. At 300 Hz, action-packed battles track more smoothly. Seeing more frames with shorter delays between them can give players the millisecond difference they need to win tournaments. A quick 3 ms grey-to-grey response time minimizes motion blur for precise target tracking. The cutting-edge display is also framed by super-narrow bezels that make the 17.3-inch screen seem even larger, for a more immersive view. With a screen-to-body ratio of 81.5%, players get an impressive view of the battlefield in a device with a surprisingly small footprint.

Latest-generation power

Gamers today frequently use their devices for streaming, content creation, game design, and more. With up to the latest 10th Generation Intel Core i9-10980-HK CPU, ROG Strix SCAR 17 takes down tasks with speed. Its potent 8-core processor pushes frequencies as high as 5.3 GHz with a single core and spins up to 16 parallel threads to blaze through heavy work. Combining the processor with up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR4-3200 memory means serious multitasking capacity. Strix SCAR 17 is equipped with high-performance RAM that’s faster than the stock 2933 Hz memory speed for 10th Generation CPUs, making it even more responsive. Gamers can jump into multiplayer, stream, chat and more, simultaneously. Creators can fire up their favorite media editing software and shift swiftly between programs as needed.

Upgradable storage

Two NVM Express® (NVMe®) SSDs running in RAID 0 minimize load times. Accessing data is 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. ROG Strix 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 for easy removal. The surrounding hooks holding the edges together are smaller and stronger, letting users lift off the panel without scuffing the body.

Cooling boosted by liquid metal

The special ROG Strix SCAR 17 features unique cooling features that enable peak power from its high-end GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GPU. It one-ups its Strix siblings with four heatsinks instead of three, making a total of 284 heatsink fins that raise the total surface area for thermal dissipation to 178,125 mm2. The chassis also gets 1.4 mm of additional height to accommodate the more robust cooling module. The rest of Strix SCAR 17’s cooling enhancements are shared with the standard Strix models, and in some cases across the entire ROG laptop range. Exotic liquid metal thermal compound is painted onto the CPU of every ROG gaming laptop with a 10th Generation Intel Core processor. Liquid metal excels at transferring thermal energy from the CPU to heatsink, but it’s electrically conductive and 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 ROG commissioned custom equipment to automate the process with mechanical precision. The process is patented, as is the special internal fence ROG designed to contain any leakage that may occur over time. ROG debuted the system with the limited ROG Mothership last year and is now using the same equipment to bring the benefits of liquid metal to a wider audience. In Strix SCAR 17, the compound helps sustain higher frequencies up to 5.3 GHz on a single core with less strain on the cooling system. Less strain keeps noise levels below 50 dB in Turbo mode, letting the laptop 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 ensures each fan can fit 83 ultrathin blades strong enough to hold up at high spin speeds. 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 ultrathin, 0.1-mm fins that increase the surface area for thermal dissipation while lowering air resistance. A self-cleaning cooling module maintains long-term stability by preventing build-up on components like fan blades and heatsink fins. Anti-dust tunnels catch incoming particles and expel them to prevent build-up over time. Heat from internal components can sometimes make keyboards less comfortable to use, especially during marathon gaming sessions. The ROG CoolZone design puts strategic vents around the WASD keys to create airflow through the area, reducing surface temperature by as much as 14% compared to competing designs. Cooling and performance requirements vary based on the task at hand, so ROG offers multiple modes tuned for different needs. Silent mode minimizes acoustics for everyday tasks. 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 smooth in-game performance. A simple keyboard shortcut lets users switch between modes at all. Users can also create custom Scenario Profiles in the ROG Armoury Crate software to automatically change operating modes based on the active application. Even the striking structural design of Strix SCAR 17 is designed to improve cooling. Inspired by a collaboration with BMW Designworks Group, Strix SCAR 17 has unique features that 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 Strix SCAR 17 breathe more easily.

Deep personalization

Evoking a deeper physical connection with the machine was a key theme of the BMW Designworks Group collaboration. ROG Strix SCAR 17 channels this concept in the new ROG Keystone II, which updates Keystone technology introduced in last year’s ROG Strix SCAR III. Keystone II allows users to link quick commands and other functions to a physical, NFC-enabled key that docks into the side of the chassis. Inserting a Keystone can launch a specific operating mode, the Armoury Crate game library, or an app or game of choice. Removing one can instantly activate a stealth mode that minimizes apps and mutes audio or logs out of Windows. The Cloud Profile function restores personalized preferences associated with a user’s ROG ID to make compatible devices feel more familiar. Keystone II can even be used to reveal a secret Shadow Drive for covert storage, complete with added security via encryption on systems with Windows 10 Pro.

Expressive RGB lighting

Aura Sync accents add RGB shine to ROG Strix SCAR 17. A wraparound light bar glows under the front and side edges, complementing the backlit ROG logo on the lid. Users can 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.

A keyboard tailored for gaming

The keyboard’s spacious, desktop-style layout makes everyday use more comfortable. Soft-touch paint covers the palm rest, minimizing smudges and fingerprints to sustain a clean appearance all 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, so users can make quick adjustments without taking their focus off the game. Overstroke technology lifts the actuation point of the underlying key switches to provide a faster response for gaming. Full N-Key rollover ensures simultaneously keypresses are registered precisely. Plus, each keyboard is built to last with switches rated for 20 million presses.

Heavy duty portable power

With ROG Strix SCAR 17, users can game at LAN speeds on compatible networks with ultrafast Intel WiFi 6 (Gig+). Otherwise known as 802.11ax, the latest WiFi standard boosts speed and efficiency, and provides a better connection on crowded networks. It also reduces latency, meaning less lag for multiplayer matches and voice chat. To help maintain the strongest signal, Strix SCAR 17 augments WiFi 6 with ROG RangeBoost technology. WiFi signal strength can vary a lot depending on location. Walls, furniture, and other obstructions can easily block connections. RangeBoost 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%, improving signal stability and reducing dead zones. If wired network access is available, the Gigabit Ethernet jack at the back boasts the lowest latency for multiplayer competition. Additional rear ports make space for a range of gaming peripherals with minimal cord clutter. The USB 3.2 Type-C™ (USB-C™) port offers blazing fast transfers at Gen 2 speeds. Its DisplayPort 1.4 compatibility allows users to connect an external G-SYNC® monitor for ultrasmooth gameplay. Gamers can put the action on the big screen with HDMI 2.0b, and watch movies and games on a 4K UHD monitor or TV at up to 60 Hz. The USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A 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 3.5 mm audio combo port lets users plug in their favorite headset for clear, immersive audio. Side-firing speakers are powered by smart-amplifier technology that 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.