ASUSROG Strix Scar 15 Gaming Laptop, 15.6” 240Hz IPS QHD Display, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, Intel Core i9 12900H, 16GB DDR5, 1TB SSD, Per-Key RGB Keyboard, Windows 11 Home, G533ZW-AS94Q,Black

I've been buyng gaming laptops since before they were really ready for gaming... this is the computer that makes me think finally the technology has caught up to my desire for a quiet and cool gaming experience, and doesn't require me to remortgage my house to afford it.I've had the computer for about four months now, and I'm really pleased with its performance. It really only warms up after a long time playing a game--and that's only if the game has higher end graphics like the recently released Baldur's Gate 3. The fan is also fairly quiet. It starts up quickly and everything looks great on it.The one issue I have is with the audio--for some reason, whether it's over Bluetooth wireless headphones or the regular wired variety, I occassionally get some static noises and the sound will cut in and out. It doesn't happen super frequently, however, so I'm not sure what that's about. It's not a big enough issue to make me love this computer any less, but it's the one flaw I've noticed.

Got this machine as a replacement for my daily work driver and its solid. The easy upgradability makes it so easy to add extra storage, or swap out the RAM. Took me under 10 minutes to do both!Out of the box it works great. The screen is GORGEOUS, and this thing plays games very well but does get a little warm (should be expected given the specs of this little beast).If you are going to be using this as a desktop replacement the lack of display port means it cant exactly reach its full potential when outputting to an external display.

I bought this fantastic computer on Prime Day and saved a few hundred dollars.It was fast and sleek and powerful so no complaints there.However, when I started setting it up I could not get used to the number pad being in the touchpad. there didn't appear to be a "positioning" key like the number 5 having a raised dot. The concept is ok but the fact that you had to hold down a button for a few seconds to turn it on and off was a hassle. I use the number keypad a lot and that inconvenience was too much for me so I sent it back.

This is a great laptop so far. I bought it for a work trip, where I needed a decent video card to run SolidWorks, and do some software development and data processing. I kind of did minimal research since I was in a hurry, and just needed something powerful that would work. Certainly an upgrade from my old 2011 laptop, and even rivals my tower PCs for processing and video (though they have much much more storage and ports). The 3070Ti has so many cores, I'm curious to train some neural nets on it... Overall pretty happy with the Strix Scar 15.It has a reasonable array of ports. A lot of devices I interface with like motor controllers and industrial cameras now use USB 3. Nice to have 2x USB-A, 2x USB-C, and also still have an ethernet port.Had to do some keyboard reconfiguration to set up some standard keys like Home, End, Page Up/Down. I just overrode the useless Play, Stop, and Fast Forward/Back keys (no optical drive anyway, so why bother?). Also set the Mute M3 button to turn the keyboard lights off. Keyboard lights look cooler than I thought. Nice in a dark room and kind of mesmerizing really, but I don't need them on all the time. The backlit touchpad looks cool, and neat that they put the numeric keyboard there. But I use a bluetooth mouse, and never use the numeric keyboard anyway. It does seem like they could have added a few more keys, though at least there were enough to get Home, End, Page Up/Down without having to chord (chording didn't work all the time anyway, which is why I had to figure out how to reassign the keys).Only real complaint is the huge 280W power supply, which is nearly half the size of the laptop, and quite heavy. I haven't weighed them, but the power supply and cables feel nearly as heavy as the laptop itself, and take up as much room in a bag. The DC side of the power supply has a nearly (little) finger-thick cable, which is too short to let the brick sit on the floor in a lot of the places that I work. So kind of a pain in the butt, having this huge heavy brick, with thick stiff cables that aren't long enough, which need to get threaded over the lab table with all the delicate equipment.Just found out I can charge using a USB-C Power Delivery port instead, so long as it is 20V/5A (100W). And those bricks are substantially smaller/lighter with longer cords. I'm trying ASIN: B0BX62FT4J. Careful, there are a lot of USB-C chargers that say 100W or 165W, but that is adding up all of their ports, and they don't actually have a single port that can do 20V/5A (100W). For the most part, I don't need peak performance, and I'd rather travel with something more compact. So the main brick can sit at home, and the smaller USB-C will go in the laptop bag.No optical drive, which seems kind of weird, but I don't really use them much anymore, so whatever. No camera, which is pretty weird. Webcams are cheap, but it's just one more thing to have to carry and plug in. Seems kind of an oversight when cameras are so tiny anyway.Anyway, overall glad I bought it. Have gotten some serious use out of it so far, and look forward to many years of science and engineering. Runs Baldur's Gate III quite nicely too.

I bought a refurbished one from Amazon Warehouse and it came in like-new condition with the original packaging and all.It performs pretty well, getting a minimum of 90fps at 1080p max settings in most games and around 60-80fps at 1440p max.The RT performance leaves a bit to be desired, however. It can handle Cyberpunk 2077 with RT lighting and reflections at 1080p, but only just. I get about 40-60fps without DLSS. RT in older games like Metro Exodus and Control don’t cause quite as severe a dip in performance and are fine overall, but I honestly doubt it will do well in RT titles of the future.The 8GB of VRAM in the 3070Ti is *just* enough for 1440p gaming in newer titles, but I suspect it will be a bottleneck for games coming in the next year or two.Overall though I can’t complain too much. The performance I get for the price I paid (about $1,100 for the 3070Ti 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD) is better than I’d likely get anywhere else and it’s good for all the bells and whistles of games today. Games of tomorrow, however, will likely require compromises.