[Review] Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 G533ZW-AS94: On A League Of Its Own

Are you looking for a high-powered laptop that runs all your programs and games smoothly regardless of how CPU-intensive they might be? If so, you might consider taking a look at ASUS's ROG Strix Scar 15 lineup, as it features laptops packed with top-tier hardware components for relentless day-to-day performance in your workloads and games.

Having said that, in this review of the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 G533ZW-AS94, we'll dive deep into the best attributes of a highly-praised 15-inch laptop that boasts a very competitive price point when compared to other high-end solutions.

In just a few words, this laptop is perfect for hardcore gamers and power users as it comes with a 12th-Gen Intel Core i9 processor, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card with Ray-Tracing support, and a super high refresh-rate 300 Hz Full HD display.

The ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 G533ZW-AS94 features a rather flashy matte-black design made up of a high build quality plastic with eye-catching RGB elements on the lid and the front edge of the laptop that you can easily customize via the Aura Creator app. 

Lighter when compared to the 17-inch iteration, it has an acceptable 0.89 inches in thickness while weighing 5.07 pounds. And although it can get a little hot on demanding workloads, its 4-fan cooling system is efficient enough to prevent unwanted overheating. 

Besides the fans, it also features the ROG intelligent cooling system, which manages to sustain high clock speeds for longer periods of time. Add to that a metal liquid cooling system, and you know we're talking about a high-end gaming laptop over here.

As for the display, this model is equipped with a high-resolution 15.6-inch Full HD screen whose 300 Hz refresh rate and response time of just 3 ms will take your gaming sessions to a whole new level, especially when playing fast-paced titles such as e-Sports, battle royale, shooters, and real-time strategy games.

Also, its color performance is outstanding as it can reach up to 97.5% of DCI-P3 color gamut, so you'll be able to watch, edit, and create multimedia content with optimal color accuracy, stare of the screen from wider viewing angles, and without reflections, as this IPS panel boasts an anti-glare coating.

Sure enough, we would've liked to see a 4K display here. However, being that it features a 300 Hz refresh rate, if it also came with a 4K display, you'd be hard-pressed to have an optimal gaming experience due to the demands this would place on the GPU. Also, if you want to use a 4K panel, you've always got the option of using an external gaming monitor with said resolution, such as the impressive LG 34WP60C-B.

Having said that, if you're looking for a gaming laptop with an even higher refresh rate display, then you can take a look at the Alienware M15 R6 AWM15R6-7287BLK-PUS equipped with a 15.6-inch 360 Hz Full HD screen with a response time of just 1 ms. It's a laptop that features a similar price point and one we're sure would also fit your needs.

The chiclet keyboard on the G533ZW-AS94 feels smooth to the touch and provides good feedback when typing, which is essential on a gaming laptop. It features per-key customizable RGB lighting that will be helpful, especially when playing or working in dim environments. 

Moreover, it comes with a good-sized, smooth, and multi-gesture touchpad with NumberPad support so you can do your number crunching more comfortably. 

Moving onto its internal hardware, this laptop packs a 12th-Gen Intel Core i9-12900H processor with 14 cores (6 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores), 20 threads, and 24 MB of SmartCache memory, reaching a burst frequency of up to 5.00 GHz via Intel's Turbo Boost Max 3.0.

The formula is backed up by an upgradeable 16 GB DDR5 of RAM, which is way faster than the DDR4 iteration while providing better power efficiency daily when working on demanding tasks such as 3D rendering, professional photo/video editing, programming, and running heavy-resourced virtual machines, amongst others.

You might like => CPU vs. RAM: What's More Important?

Within the graphics department, the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 packs a top-tier 8 GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti which is best suited for FHD/QHD gaming in max settings with Ray Tracing enabled (for demanding AAA titles like Ghostwire: Tokyo and Tiny Tina's Wonderlands) while lighter games could run smoothly in 4K resolution. 

Last but not least, we appreciate the fact that this laptop features a quiet and snappy 1 TB PCIe SSD storage unit, which boasts an impressive raw throughput of 7000 mb/s. 

That's almost double what your standard laptop with an NVMe storage unit typically delivers. Offering faster loading times when booting Windows (in less than 10 seconds) as well as opening up apps/games, rendering 3D projects, and transferring data.

Moving onto connectivity options, this model comes with an Ethernet port, two full-sized USB-A 3.2 inputs, a single USB-C 3.2 with DisplayPort 1.4 and Power Delivery support, a high-speed Thunderbolt 4 port, an HDMI 2.1 output for 4K and 8K displays, and a 3.5 mm audio jack.

It should be pointed out that this notebook does not come with a webcam. Surprising, I know.

Furthermore, it features Bluetooth 5.2 and Wi-Fi 6E wireless technologies, so you'll be able to browse the web faster than ever, as well as live stream multimedia content in 4K and 8K resolutions with much less latency and interference. 

Specifically, Wi-Fi 6E is even faster than the latest Wi-Fi 6 standard and offers the 6 GHz band to connect with. Obviously, to make the most out of the 6E connectivity, you should have a compatible Wi-Fi 6E router.

On the other hand, if you prefer a similar gaming laptop with more connectivity options, you might consider the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE PT516-52s-99EL as it features two Thunderbolt 4 ports instead of one, an SD card reader, a fingerprint reader, and a built-in HD webcam.

Regarding the battery life of the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 G533ZW-AS94, it delivers similar results when compared to most gaming laptops, reaching a respectable 6 hours of light usage as well as roughly 1 hour of gaming with a variable refresh rate.

Overall, the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 G533ZW-AS94 reviewed today is a great computer for productivity and gaming that has nothing to envy high-end desktop computers, thanks to its impressive performance even in the most challenging scenarios.

Besides the lack of a webcam and SD card reader, its superb picture quality and extremely high refresh rate, customizable keyboard, lightweight design, extensive connectivity suite, and outstanding thermal management system will satisfy even the most demanding users looking for the ultimate gaming experience in an easy-to-carry and well-built laptop.

Ultimately, if you're a hardcore gamer and you've got the money, we can't think of a better alternative.

Buy Now!