The ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 15 G533ZW-XS96 is a Mobile PC Gamers Dream!

MicroCenterOfficial · June 2022

I recently had the pleasure of testing out the Asus Rog Strix SCAR 15 G533ZW-XS96 gaming laptop and it is an incredible piece of hardware. No matter what I was doing – gaming, editing, streaming, or just browsing the web – the SCAR handled it with ease and power to spare.

The Specs

The insides of this machine are incredibly impressive with one of the latest 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H Processors and a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU. These powerful components are supported by 16GB of DDR5-4800 SO-DIMM RAM and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 Performance SSD. With internals this powerful, the SCAR 15 doesn’t get slowed down by the latest games and is able to push out high frame rates on its beautiful 15.6-inch, 1440p 240Hz IPS Display with Adaptive-Sync and Dolby Vision HDR.

If that isn’t impressive enough, just imagine streaming live games with this 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H Processor. This robust CPU has 14 cores with 6 Performance and 8 Efficient cores and can be boosted up to 5.00 GHz, allowing you to stream live while you play on the same machine!

I/O Ports on this computer are no letdowns either. It has Thunderbolt 4, one of the most powerful and versatile ports available. A 2.5G LAN port is available to ensure no slowdowns on your ethernet connections. 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, HDMI and audio ports ensure that any accessories that you need will be able to connect to complete your gaming experience.

With the new security added with Windows 11, it’s mandatory for the motherboard to have a TPM (Trusted Platform Module) installed. It is able to be BIOS Admin Password protected as well as User Password Protected.

Initial Impressions

You can feel the quality of the build just by touch alone. The keyboard is very responsive and the backlit chiclet keys feel comfortable to use. Since there is no physical number pad, it leaves extra space in between the keys, so you don’t accidentally hit the wrong key while in a fast-paced game. However, you are a fan of number pads, fear not. There is a digital number pad built into the touchpad.

Asus did an amazing job with their RGB on the laptop. This laptop has a sleek black casing with customizable RGB accents underneath, on the logo, and on the keyboard itself. Each key is individually adjustable. The underglow of the Aura Sync Light Bar on the laptop, the Aura Sync Bezel Glow and the Aura Sync logo on the outside of the case lid are all synced with the software as well. Of course, if you’re looking for a stealth mode, you can turn those RGB lights off as well. When you have the SCAR in battery mode, its default is to keep the RGB lights off, so you don’t have to worry about them using extra power. You can even show off a little more customization with the included Armor Caps, so you can really make it your own individual style.

For those of you who use built in speakers on a laptop, you won’t be disappointed. This system comes with a 4-speaker system that has Smart Amplifier technology. It sounds surprisingly loud for a laptop and is clear enough to hear the characters in game talk. Action sequences don’t have as much bass, due to the space limitations, but it is more than enough to get you by and know what is going on in the game world.

The laptop comes in at 5.07 lbs. (2.30 KG) with dimensions of 13.94" x 10.20" x 0.89" ~ 1.07" (35.4 x 25.9 x 2.26 ~ 2.72 cm).

Benchmarks

One of the first things that I did was run 3DMark Time Spy benchmark to put the machine to the test. The SCAR clocking in with an impressive score of 10,716 (10,414 GPU and 12,830 CPU) for a 1440p Time Spy benchmark. The native resolution for that screen is 1440p, but for fun, I ran a 4k test as well to see how it measures up. It scored 5,296 (5184 GPU and 6043 CPU) for a Good Rating on the 4k Time Spy Extreme test.

Running a Sampler Feedback feature test for good measure reveals 309.08 FPS with Sampler Feedback off and 316.12 FPS with it on. On a Cinebench R23 Multi Core CPU test, it scored an impressive 15,878 pts. Using FurMark (v1.30.0.0) it got a nice 6,328 points on a Preset: 1440p test.

I also tested the computer’s power while it was on battery to see how it performs when you aren’t using outlet power. Time Spy scores went down to 3,963 (3,650 GPU and 7,724 CPU). A Cinebench CPU (Multi Core) test resulted in 11,033 pts. FurMark (v1.30.0.0) rounded out my battery-operated tests with a 1,592 point score for the 1440p Benchmark.

Gaming

Of course, I didn’t simply leave it at 3DMark tests. I played Destiny 2, running Strikes to get a feel for the PVE environment. It runs smoothly without any frame drops or stutters. The WQHD anti-glare display has a very good color range and looks very vibrant. Destiny 2, being an older but well-optimized game, does push some of the higher frame rates while staying stable at above 160 fps.

I also gave Elden Ring a try on the SCAR. The game is locked at 60fps and the laptop was able to run it very well. Of course, it does have some dips in the less optimized areas of the game, which is absolutely a fault of the game, not the SCAR. Otherwise, the game looked amazing and responded very well with the controller that I connected to it.

During my time using the laptop, I only used it through WiFi. Its Wi-Fi 6E(802.11ax) Dual Band wireless did not disappoint. I didn’t have any latency issues or drops while I was playing. Downloads were very quick as well. Steam was going to the high 6 Mbs/s and I am sure someone with better internet and/or router could get even faster speeds.

Editing

With the power of this machine, it doesn’t have to stop at gaming alone. The 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU has a tremendous amount of power for anyone who is going to edit photos or videos on the go. It has 2 SO-DIMM slots allowing for a supported 64GB of ram max for anyone needing the extra ram for editing or upgrades in the future. The PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 slot allows for some of the fastest drives to help with editing large 4k video files at extreme speeds. In addition, you have an IPS-level panel for excellent color accuracy which is a must for editing videos or pictures.

All in all, the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR is a great laptop with a wide, robust range of uses. It’s more than capable of running AAA games and esports games on the go and is a fantastic choice if you’re looking for a PC that can edit away from home.