Asus ROG Scar 17 Review - AMD did it again, 3D V-Cache in Laptops is a Game Changer, literally!

With their #Zen4 architecture, AMD already introduced one of the fastest mobile CPUs for this generation of notebooks, and while it could easily hand it to Intel in applications, it was lacking slightly in gaming performance.
This changes today since Team Red is bringing their 3D V-Cache technology to laptops, and well, this thing games! We had the chance to put the new silicon through its paces in the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 and will tell you all about it.
Please enjoy our review video, and for much more in-depth information, please head over to our written review:

ENG:

ENG CPU-Analysis:

DE-Review:

DE CPU-Analysis:

Our Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 review unit comes with AMD's Ryzen 9 7945 HX(3D), Nvidia's RTX 4090, 32 GB DDR5-4800 RAM, and a 1TB SSD.

Time Stamps:
0:00 – Intro, Specs
0:43 – Overview, Chassis
2:08 – Keyboard, Touchpad,
2:47 – Ports, Maintenance,
3:30 – Display
4:07 – CPU/System - Performance
5:03 – GPU - Performance
5:13 – Gaming - Performance/ Benchmarks
6:46 – Fan Noise + Noise Samples
8:15 – Battery Life
8:31 – Summary

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[dalefrancis]

Yeah that thing where some manufacturers treat AMD like a second class citizen annoys me too. Think only Lenovo gives them the respect they deserve. Great review as always.

[joelconolly]

Review of the mobile X3D is finally here

[Max_Mustermann]

A good example of "gamer" aesthetic done right is IMO the Zephyrus range. The design manages to look futuristic and distinct, yet understated.

[allstargaming]

Asus should understand that given the premium price point, they gotta make some things to look premium. They gotta include a mechanical keyboard with no squished in numpads(17" and 18" still feature kitten sized keys). Biometrics and 3 USB A and 2 USB C is necessary. Camera quality gotta go upto 5MP with IR. And maybe a SD card with upto 150MB/s. This is why I think some people don't like Asus because they charge a premium price but not looking premium with such features. They gotta go back to the drawing board and redesign their keyboard like Alienware full sized keyboard and good RGB lighting already. It looks super dull and F1 to F12 icons are not lit up which is weird.

[gaming_centric]

Is it just me or is the pricing on these absolutely wow-inducing :)) its shocking

[neerajkarunanidhi]

Handing the older chassis to an objectively better SoC is just….weird. The OG 7945HX model can be justified. This feels unfair. They have one last shot with the rumored 7900M chip based Strix AE model in the barn……if that goes out the winds, then it’s clear that Intel has resorted to hand-wringing to prevent an objectively better product from a competitor.

[toungeenaamoo]

Why is it that only one sku used this processor?

[JTorres]

Thank you for the review, one question, what brand is your shirt? Thanks

[zachariah]

All I want is the Unicorn of laptops, like if this had a 16x10 ProArt screen and it had a baby with a Dell XPS. Is that too much to ask? 😁

[highlanderc]

why can't they put the mouse pad on the damn center?

[driftertraining]

hmm according to the official asus site, the model also have power delivery / G-SYNC function on 1 usb c port and G-SYNC function on another c port

[nahhsa]

Is it the same screen as the scar 16? Mini led 1100 nitts?

[TotallyNotEvil]

Your comments on the second class citizen treatment for AMD machines are very welcome, it feels like they've been sabotaged like that for years now. Dell didn't even touch AMD, not even when Ryzen 4000 and 5000 were crushing Intel 9th, 10th and 11th gen. This practice feels very scummy, and they are probably being paid for this.

I usually hammer on this very key on almost every machine, too- saving pennies on machines that start at 2000 EUR is ridiculous and very off-putting.

On the machine itself, it's looks shockingly similar to the G15 AE, which is both good and bad. The keyboard on it I find great, albeit lacking in a numpad, but the touchpad does look different, and I find the one in the G15 quite good as well.

3D V-cache really changed the game, and I can't wait to see it trickle down further, especially for handhelds. Imagine Zen 5 3D v-cache chips with an RDNA4 iGPU, that is going to be straight up silly.

One of the most appealing parts of 3D GPUs seem to be missing from this as AMD went the way of Intel, deciding to forget tuning the power curve to instead just deliver the highest possible Cinebench scores. To be fair, I get the reason why- big number means neuron activation and all that. For the top-most, mobile workstation chip, I don't mind too much.

The best part is that I expect any 3D V-cache CPU to hang at the top spots in the gaming CPU hierarchy for a long while, because to this day there are games where the humble 5800X3D, a CPU that, effectively, is a mid-range chip from 2020, is still trading blows with a 250W latest-gen i9 that costs two or three times as much, and doing it while sipping power. It has been aging really, really well.

It's crazy how some games are an absolute blowout in the favor of any CPU with the extra cache, regardless of it's "base power", and it feels like we are getting more of those as of late. I don't know if it's more detailed models, more complex physics, more background stuff that happens in ever more ambitious titles, but given Intel is also racing to implement their own low-level cache expansion technologies (Adamantine I think it's called?), I suspect this trend will continue for some time.

[marcin_karwinski]

Chip - better than the non V-cache unit, as expected... though what would have been perhaps even better would be a mixed Bergamo chiplet and 3D V-cache one, as both are more energy efficiency oriented, one potentially giving 16 full-fledged cores with regular cache size per chiplet and one with more cache for those apps that benefit from it. That aside from a full-on 3D V-cache dual chiplets CPU would make it far better. Sure it would cost as much if not slightly more, but then it would make a better premium component than this is. Still, this chassis at this price point? Perhaps sometime soon Dell might start offering a refreshed internals Alienware units, then this CPU might be offered there in some Xnn line-up models. But currently and globally it seems that along the so called "premium" laptops only Asus has the global reach and distribution (it's one thing to state that something is offered, it's a different thing to deliver it to retailers/clients worldwide). And yet, they're putting the premium compute components into an old chassis coming from a refresh 2 or 3 years ago on an even older design, with only an okayish screen? Asus once had Zephyrus S17, why not base the chassis design on it, just improve the cooling more (who knows maybe they could even get the Frore systems on board to get a whole huge set of their AirJets spread over the surface of the vapor chamber/laptop space), use the raised keyboard for extra air intake and to keep hands cool all the time and to put a huge touchpad, maybe even one to rival those from the Macbooks, put a miniLED 17" screen with 8:5, or how it is now commercialised/named 16:10, AR as there are a few of those on the market to choose from at FHD+/QHD+/UHD+ resolutions, give more than 2xUSB4-C and 2xUSB3.2-A ports as well, upgrade to the WiFi7 cards, maybe consider adding a 10GbE ethernet port as a first in Windows laptop market, and as a must-have add better camera like what's being done on the "office-oriented" Zenbooks, plus complete the package with both IR for face detection and a fingerprint scanner, maybe even consider adding smart-card reader for trully all the boxes ticked in the security department. Finally, drop the awful RGB everywhere discoteque leaving only the useful parts, like keyboard lights and maybe, if you really want RGB on a chassis, add turnable hard to see ports monikers like Lenovo did on Legion 7. Heck maybe even consider checking the USB-C chargers to get some 240W+ PD GaN small-ish brick for the on-the-go occasions... That would make it a head turner for those in the know and a stealthy looking one for those that don't want to lug around room ambient lights along with the thick old-looking laptop. And that, priced at similar range as the current old chassis, would make far more sense to the consumers looking for a trully premium offering. Someone at Asus must have known that, and yet we got this?
Btw. we're still missing RDNA3 GPUs higher than 7600M in laptop space... wouldn't it be great if AMD could combine their efficiency designs and release whole platform top of the range AMD? Maybe then people could forget the old chassis setup offered on a premium product... just maybe.

[vgvgvg]

It says 3D V-Chache on the video title. (typo for V-Cache)

[vikng]

Why can't it be liquid metal? Is it due to some technical problems with the chip or just ASUS not giving an option? That phase change pad is also pretty close to liquid metal in performance.
Also, is the 7945HX3D single CCD or double like the desktop 7950X3D?

[lenbata]

Just placed an order of this today 10/03/2023 $3, 699.99 plus California tax

[kb]

How can it be that Asus claims that their Performance Mode does not excede 40 Db, and your testing says it is about 48 Db?

[snakeplissken]

While you have some good points i would add that the more powerful a laptop gets the worse it´s battery time will become. Hence it becomes more of a desktop replacement with the perk of being smaller, easier to move then a desktop pc.

So stuff like keyboard flex, certain style choices, heck even the quality of the display do not matter as much anymore as they would in a laptop you actually use for "laptop" things.
Sure for the pricetag they ask it´s arguable if "cutting corners" isn´t bit of a cheap shot, there are other brands that offer similar performance for less money while cheaping out on parts that probably a lot of consumers don´t even care about (or would even notice).

If i would require a laptop for work, presentations etc i´d definitely not get one with a dedicated gpu and focus a lot more on efficiency. After all you do not really do high workload stuff on the go using battery.
There are plenty of laptops around 400-500 bucks that are much better suited for doing anything on the go and you can add some more money to get the preferred build quality/display option etc.
The one that shows up to a work meeting with a ryzen 9 7945hx3d laptop either doesn´t give a damn or wants to do some weird flex that most in the room won´t get.

[Smart_boy]

I don't understand, what X3D is going to improve