ASUS - ROG Strix 18" 240Hz Gaming Laptop QHD-Intel 13th Gen Core i9 with 16GB Memory-NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080-1TB SSD - Eclipse Gray

My wife and I gave each other one of this laptop for our anniversary and we love them. The screen does produce very good colors and is super bright and crisp. The specs are great, possibly the best at the price point, so it's a really good value. However, 16GB of ram was hardly enough, so we upgraded them to 32GB ourselves and it was super easy, also added a 2TB NVMe drive in the empty M.2 slot. Overall the laptop is fast, a lot lighter than we expected, but it can get loud if you set CPU to Turbo and GPU to Ultimate settings. Temperature does stay relatively cool and never thermal throttles. The most difficult thing about owning this laptop was finding a good laptop bag that would fit it nicely, we ordered the ASUSROG BP2701 bag and it fits like a glove. I don't think you can get a better laptop for cheaper when it is on sale for $2199, and even the regular 2499 price is a good value!

Runs pretty cool at 80C/85C, GPU/CPU both running at 175W/70W during gaming, for this much power this is good. Performance is great, this is about 30-40% faster than my desktop 3070. In Cyberpunk I get around 55 fps on ray tracing ultra preset, on this I get 78 fps. Shadow of Tomb Raider its 120 fps vs 156 fps, so yeah, its a hunge improvement. This puts it at around a 3080 desktop level for a laptop. Some issues are the backlight bleed, its a bit extreme, but I noticed it has gotten a little better with use. It may be that the heat from the screen is alleviating the pressure. I got another one at the same time to compare side by side and both had the glow issue, this is probably due to too much pressure on the display during assembly. Performance is just Epic, I get ~32,000 cinebench score multi core and ~2000 single core, timespy is a solid 18,600. You can undervolt after updating to bios 307, I have mine set to 50mw. However it does have some PROBLEMS. Advanced optimus is jank, sometimes it will not switch to dgpu mode when gaming, and when it does it takes a while and you are stuck with a black screen. When you change to dgpu mode only the laptop will randomly lose the ability to change brightness and you have to switch it to hybrid mode to fix it. This is a pain and enough for me to want to return it. Also DSR FACTORS are missing from the nvidia control panel, not sure if this is due to nvidia drivers or the laptop itself. Fresh install did not fix it. There are also alot of random freezes that require you to hold down the power button to restart the laptop. As far as UPGRADEABILITY goes, I tried 64GB of Samsung 2R8 DDR5 and it did not work, I upgrade to Crucial 32GB DDR5 and that did work fine. Just be aware that the first bootup with new ram might take a bit longer than usual, don’t be scared if you see a black screen for 2-5 minutes. This is by no means “cheap”, but compared to Alienware, Razer, and MSI’s $3500 4080 laptops this is more affordable. However random lock ups, buggy advanced optimus, terrible backlight bleed make this a questionable purchase at best.

1. **Performance:** The ASUS ROG Strix laptop exceeds expectations in the performance department. Powered by a high-end processor (13th Gen i9 13980HX) and powerhouse GPU (RTX 4080), it effortlessly handles demanding tasks, from AAA gaming to content creation. The seamless multitasking experience showcases its capability to handle resource-intensive applications with ease. Excellent Cinebench result. MWIII 200+ FPS. 2. **Thermals:** Thermal management is a standout feature of the ROG Strix laptop. The intelligently designed cooling system effectively dissipates heat, ensuring consistent performance during prolonged gaming sessions or heavy workloads. The laptop remains surprisingly cool, thanks to well-placed vents and advanced cooling technology. 3. **Quality:** ASUS maintains its reputation for delivering top-notch build quality with the ROG Strix laptop. The chassis feels durable and premium, and the attention to detail is evident throughout. The keyboard offers a satisfying tactile feel, contributing to an overall high-quality user experience. The solid construction and premium materials used make it a reliable and sturdy device. If you like RGB you won’t be disappointed. 4. **Display:** The laptop boasts an impressive display (1660p) that enhances the visual experience. The high-resolution screen coupled with vibrant colors and deep contrast delivers stunning visuals. Whether gaming or watching content, the display's clarity and responsiveness contribute to an immersive experience. The narrow bezels also add a modern touch to the design. No damaged pixels with my rig 5. **Specifications:** The specifications of the ROG Strix laptop align with the expectations of serious gamers and professionals alike. Ample RAM and storage options provide flexibility, and the inclusion of cutting-edge components ensures optimal performance. The laptop's connectivity options, including USB ports and advanced wireless capabilities, further enhance its versatility. 6. Battery Life: Battery life is excellent when not gaming for long periods of time at peak performance. If you do then you should leave it plugged in to get maximum performance. 7. Noise. I did not have any issues with coil whine and even act maximum fan speed it’s not bad at all compared to the competition In conclusion, the ASUS ROG Strix laptop is a powerhouse that excels in performance, thermal management, build quality, display, and specifications. It caters to both gamers and professionals seeking a reliable, high-performance device, making it a commendable choice in the competitive laptop market at this price.

On the bright side, the i9-13980HX+RTX4080 on a 18 inch laptop perform like a beast. The thermal is well controlled when you manually increase the fan speed (The presets in Armoury Crate maintain the CPU and GPU temperature merely below the thermal limit, for the purpose of reduce fan noise). The QHD panel looks fantastic since it is factory calibrated, also with its 240Hz refresh rate, which feels smooth in every game that can utilize such high refresh rate. HOWEVER, it is just impossible to avoid LED backlight leak on all gaming laptop, this one also has this issue mostly around the corners and sides, (I guess that’s just a thing people have to accomodate. I used to have a zephyrus m16 and it also have backlight leak. It will depend on luck regarding the amount of leaking). IN ADDITION, just like people’s complain on the internet, the electric noise on this model is also inevitable, including other strix models as well. The electric noise is super annoying when the laptop is at idle, and it will make even more noticible sound when you are moving your cursor (basically if you add some loads to the cpu and gpu, the electric noise will come up). Even though Asus claim it is a normal phenomenon on all high-performance gaming laptop, I say give it a try yourself and see whether you can accept it or not. LAST but NOT LEAST, I don’t know if it is a driver issue or hardware problem, when you open certain game or softwares while using direct GPU output instead of hybrid mode (for me it is Rainbow Six Siege running on Vulkan), there will be screen blinking on the right side of the panel, and then the video driver will crash followed by a black screen, and you will have to restart the system to restore it. I hope it is a issue that can be fixed by Nvidia video driver or Bios updates, otherwise Asus really has to come up with a solution to improve their quality control. In summary, the overall performance is great, but there are just too much small problems that adds up to challenge customer’s patience when you spend over 2.5k on a gaming laptop.

I bought this over Black Friday after doing a LOT of research. There were a few things that I needed to have. 1. FAST raw processing power for content creation 2. RTX Graphics for optimal streaming and video editing work 3. Large screen with decent color accuracy and brightness. This computer hits all of those out of the park. I had several reservations based on some early reviews, the biggest being the backlight bleed. My unit is PERFECT with a beautiful screen. The Nice To Haves were as follows: 1. Really nice feeling keyboard. This is very subjective, but I like the travel and the "click" feel when typing. 2. Easy to upgrade RAM and storage. I've upgraded to 64GB and added a 4TB 2nd NVME for video editing work. It was super easy to upgrade. There are a few drawbacks.. 1. The build quality is OK. Not great.. Not Terrible, but it's plastic, and you can tell. This is an obvious tradeoff to keep the price reasonable even with top-tier specs. I'm OK with it, but you may feel differently. 2. It really could use a media card reader. It's not a big deal to use a dongle, but it's another piece to carry. 3. The port location is OK but I would have preferred to have a type A and C on each side vs having the type C on the left and the type A on the right. if you need a 2nd type A USB device, it gets in the way of your mouse hand. I can work around it, but it could have been laid out a little better. Things that surprised me: 1. The Asus Armory Crate software is pretty easy to use. I run my unit mostly on silent mode, even when gaming. There's so much power in this thing that I can drive the panel at 240hz on my e-sports games and not even break a sweat. The software lets you swap between use case with relative ease. There are some custom options if you want to set up something unique for a particular task. 2. It's much quieter than I would have expected, even when on MAX mode. 3. The speakers are better than I expected. You get decent sound and volume without distortion. They are really good for gaming without headphones, watching videos, listening to music while working, etc. They are better than average. 4. The price over Black Friday was 1999.99, so it was a no-brainer for me. This is my primary work laptop, so it's an easy write-off. I would have bought it at the regular price, but I was hesitant, given the early reviews. A good screen is really important to me. When the price dropped, and knowing that returns are NOT a problem if needed, I pulled the trigger. I'm super happy I did. Last thoughts: I've run a bunch of synthetic benchmarks on this, and it meets or beats my 12900K desktop with 4070 TI graphics. There is ZERO downside to using this for work or for play, and the 18" screen has made all the difference for productivity, given my poor eyesight. If you are looking for an ultra-performant desktop replacement, this is it.

I was super hyped for this laptop. The performance of the laptop lives up to that hype, getting about 60 fps on Cyberpunk 2077 without frame generation with frame generation about 85ish (at max settings including the Psycho settings). Hogwarts Legacy looks amazing at about 120 fps with frame generation (ultra settings) as well in the open areas, gonna have to play more of that game to see how it does. However, I enjoy darker looking games probably the most, Dead Space, The Callisto Protocol, Devour, Labyrinthine, and some others. And I’m not sure if it’s normal but I have terribly bright corners on the devices screen, I’ll attach pictures with lights on and in low light, I do know that cameras overexpose that brightness. But playing horror games or darker games in general feels like playing with a bright/negative vignette setting. Other than the screen issues, I’ve some common issues on setup and automatic updates happening where the computer would shut off randomly without warning and restart. Coil whine does exist on this device under load but it’s common for the higher end gpus… albeit not terrible, but some of the other reviewers mentioned a weird sound like a static-y electronic low res noise. I thought it was my headphones but I took them off and heard it, it was not coil whine and I have no idea what it was, it wasn’t consistent and didn’t stay long, this was during idle/web browsing. Temperatures are pretty nice CPU under load around 80 degrees Celsius and GPU under load was around 70-72ish degrees Celsius. Other notes about frame generation to those new to the 4000 series cards, this setting has given me some input lag, it’s there but not terrible or unplayable by any means, more useful than bad. Very happy about the MUX switch for the computer which amps up the systems performance. (Have to select ultimate GPU mode in Armory Crate software) I’ve had the laptop for a day as of writing this and was purchased on March 2nd.

From what I noticed, a lot of the bad reviews are from the initial batches- I ordered mine in late July and I have ZERO of the major issues. Coil whine is just barely there, but the fans drown it out. (The coil whine issue was apparently fixed by a better power supply revision- if your power brick has an extra plastic sticker over the ROG logo, you have the better power brick). The screen has some bleed, but its not OLED, so all laptop screens have bleed. My unit isnt egregious from past laptops I've owned. The CPU does run warm, about 90c even when undervolted and using a cooling pad, but the gpu doesnt really go above 80c. The webcam is meh, and the speakers are maybe slightly above average. I really don't have many complaints in the month I've used it daily gaming. The 16:10 screen is pretty much the best I've seen excluding OLEDs when it comes to color accuracy. For the price I'd definitely recommend it since its one of the cheapest max tdp 4080 laptops that dont feel like cheap trash. Also keep an eye open for sales. I bought mine when it was 2499$ but it was on sale for 2099$ last week. Upgrading is also very easy. There is no ribbon cable for the rgb strip like there was on the 2022 models and you can easily add an m.2 ssd or upgrade ram- since 16gb is just too low these days unless you are ONLY gaming. Definitely my favorite laptop I've owned so far

I purchased this laptop to do heavy AI applications. I upgraded to 64GB of RAM and 2TB SSD to get the ultimate beast. This laptop is pure performance. At the beginning I ran into few BIOS update hurdles that solved by themselves without me doing anything (Just let the computer do its thing, she knows what she's doing). Nothing to complain about. It delivers. The Strix 18 is a sweetspot in terms of performance to price ratio. I wasn't willing to spend and additional $1,500-ish just for the Scar and its 4090, for a mere +15% in GPU performance. The Strix 18 and Strix Scar 18 have the same specs except for the GPU, so you are having a good deal for sure.