Asus ROG Strix Scar II Gaming Laptop Review

[Julio Franco]

The Asus ROG Strix Scar II GL504GV is a fine laptop with a good design, a good trackpad and keyboard, and generous I/O. It's not overly portable, it's not overly chunky. It's got a pretty good display, upgradeability options, and the internal hardware and performance is good, too.

Read the full article here.

https://www.techspot.com/review/1807-asus-rog-strix-scar2-rtx-laptop/

 

[144hzGamer]

Very solid machine but in 2019 I still think the Desktop + laptop approach is superior value wise.

This kind of machine costs over 1700€ in Europe. For that money you can grab a ryzen+rtx 2060 build (800€) and a i5/i7 ulv 4c/8t+ mx150/gtx1050/ti portable laptop (1,5kg to 2kg) (700€-800€). You end up with no compromises and upgrade options in the future, while using the laptop for mobility/workflow outside the desk/house.

 

[Michael7]

Very solid machine but in 2019 I still think the Desktop + laptop approach is superior value wise.

This kind of machine costs over 1700€ in Europe. For that money you can grab a ryzen+rtx 2060 build (800€) and a i5/i7 ulv 4c/8t+ mx150/gtx1050/ti portable laptop (1,5kg to 2kg) (700€-800€). You end up with no compromises and upgrade options in the future, while using the laptop for mobility/workflow outside the desk/house.

Totally agree. Heavy and hot laptops are so not cool. But I am afraid you would need to spend a little over 1000 E for a nice portable clamshell laptop made of aluminium. But you would be far better off.

 

[Clamyboy74]

How does the battery life compare to the previous 1060 version?

 

[sweez]

Very solid machine but in 2019 I still think the Desktop + laptop approach is superior value wise.

This kind of machine costs over 1700€ in Europe. For that money you can grab a ryzen+rtx 2060 build (800€) and a i5/i7 ulv 4c/8t+ mx150/gtx1050/ti portable laptop (1,5kg to 2kg) (700€-800€). You end up with no compromises and upgrade options in the future, while using the laptop for mobility/workflow outside the desk/house.

Totally agree. Heavy and hot laptops are so not cool. But I am afraid you would need to spend a little over 1000 E for a nice portable clamshell laptop made of aluminium. But you would be far better off.

Exactly - I've been looking at all the available options, and have went from initially looking at either laptop + eGPU or a desktop + ultrabook combo to a gaming laptop exactly because if you want a lightweight laptop with good build quality, a great trackpad, bright screen, good thermals, 250 gigs of SSD and 16 gigs of ram (which I find to be the minimum even for just web browsing and extremely light Adobe CC usage) there's no way in hell you're getting it for less than 1000€, and most of them are closer to 1500€ than 1000€. Then take into consideration that for the desktop you'll want a quiet, small case with enough fan space if you ever need to move it around and that you can't exactly just buy a 15'' 144hz display, add the usual assortment of at least some i7 and mid to high end GPU to the mix, and you're easily breaking 2000€, and most likely even 2500€.

Sure, the gaming laptop might be a jack of all trades rather than a master of any, but if you're like me and portability is mainly important for switching it between your living room and work room rather than for carrying it around every day, and you're in a phase of life (hi there, mid 30s) where you can't really be bothered to bargain hunt and swap out components every 6-12 months but would rather get something that will "just work" for 2-3 years, it starts to look pretty attractive.

 

[Robilar]

Excellent review thanks. This is the exact model I am looking at purchasing. Regarding the RAM upgrade, I will definitely be adding another stick for Dual Channel capability. A couple of questions:

1. I know its a DDR4 2666 SO-DIMM but are there any specs on the existing RAM used? I've built systems in the past where mismatching RAM brands (because even though they were rated at the same speed and voltage, they had different timings) can cause all kinds of weird stability issues. Given that very few stores stock this kind of RAM on the shelf, it would necessitate ordering it which can cause issues if it needs to be returned.

2. Is there anything in the bios that requires a change to enable dual channel support once the second stick is added?


Thanks!

 

[djstatik]

For GL504 owners looking to install a 2nd HDD/SSD:

My GL504G came with a small plastic bag of parts with partition where the warranty documentation was in. Included in that bag was a SATA cable with a tiny ribbon. Under the chip based SSD there is a tiny HDD module that should have screen printing on it. I removed the SSD, since it was only one screw, because I could see the HDD module much easier with it out. When I initially slid the SATA ribbon in, it slid right back out. I thought it might need to go in upside, but that didn’t work either. That is when I noticed a small “lock bar” on the HDD module. You put the lock bar straight up, slide the SATA ribbon (terminals UP) into the HDD module, then slide the lock bar down (away from you) to lock the ribbon in place. Once you do that, installing the 2nd HDD is pretty easy. Remove the cage, install the HDD using the screws that came in the SATA ribbon package, connect the SATA, and screw the cage back in. You can find pics here: https://ibb.co/album/cpHbdv