Customer Ratings & Reviews

This laptop is an absolute monster in the best way possible. With an RTX 5090, Intel Core i9, 32GB of RAM, and a 240Hz 2.5K display, it crushes everything from high-end gaming to heavy editing like it’s nothing. It’s fast, powerful, and looks like it came straight out of a sci-fi movie. I’m obsessed. And honestly? I regret it—regret not buying it sooner. This thing’s a game-changer, literally.

The 2025 Scar 18 is a beast of a laptop. I'm lucky enough to have a fully functioning unit. The 5090 isn't a huge leap over the 4090; worthy upgrade over the 4080. It's very efficient and the MFG (multi frame gen) is what really sells it. Is it worth the extra $1000+; over the 5080, probably not, to most people. But if you want the best... The mini-led screen is amazing. My screen is flawless,first time in a while I haven't received a screen with light bleed, or bad haloing. The speakers are okay, they require a lot of EQ, Dolby and other apps are definitely required. The overall build quality is great. I'm happy with my purchase thus far. Asus laptops tend to improve over time with BIOS updates. So, there's that.

I purchased the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (RTX 5090 + Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX) a few months ago, expecting a premium, high-end gaming laptop. Unfortunately, it has turned into one of the most frustrating experiences I’ve ever had with a $5,000 machine. In the past few days, the system started to crash randomly with multiple Blue Screens of Death (BSODs), including: SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED (dxgmms2.sys) KERNEL_MODE_HEAP_CORRUPTION IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE I’ve performed several clean Windows installations, including from an official ISO, updated the BIOS (v327), reinstalled all official ASUS and NVIDIA drivers, used DDU to ensure a clean GPU driver environment, reset the Embedded Controller, and tested RAM, SSD, and thermals — everything checks out fine. Despite that, the errors continue. The issue clearly originates from the RTX 5090 GPU, specifically the dxgmms2.sys (DirectX Graphics Memory Management System) driver failing under load. Games like For Honor or Battlefield crash frequently with GPU driver errors, and sometimes the system completely reboots. What’s most disappointing is that this is a $5000 laptop that can’t remain stable for more than a few days at a time For a laptop in this price range, I expected reliability, not constant blue screens and instability. The ROG Strix SCAR 18 has incredible performance potential, but in practice, it’s completely unreliable. Until ASUS releases a proper fix or firmware update, I cannot recommend this model to anyone.

I purchase the strix scar 4090 last year and its a beautiful laptop as well but This laptop 5090 is a bit more powerful with 24gb dedicated video you can max everything on ray tracing and with dlss 4 another level i play it on my asus rog swift 4k monitor over 240 to 200fps max graphics and DLAA 170fps with ray tracing depends on the game. And the dysplay is beautiful on the laptop with the nebula hdr the 4090 dont get me wrong is stilll fire but the 5090 more powerful.

Worth the money ,no problems at all, can not say what the support is like never had to use it,runs what ever i throw at it

That’s the most amazing gaming laptop, I’d buy again if I have to

Has general gpu/ cpu problem, connection problem with monitors. The laptop feels like its unfinished and needs to be refined before selling it.

I have to say I have mixed reviews about this laptop. I also want to state up front that I did return the laptop and I also want to state that all drivers, bios, Armory Crate were updated upon receiving the product and before putting it through its paces. I sound system of this product is pretty bad in my opinion. The speakers it comes with are the worst have heard on any top tier gaming laptop I have used. It was all highs. There are no mid or low freqs. When you are playing games where there are multiple layers of sounds going on all at once, the speakers this system has can not handle it and it is just a horrendous, jumbled sounding mess. You cannot differentiate anything. Some sound effects could not even be heard as the low freq range they used could not be produced by the speakers. It sounded to me like they put in a set of tweeters and not speakers that could handle a wider range. Switching to headphones did not help. The issue was the exact opposite where the sound was primarily low s and the sound was muffled and muted. I tried three separate headphones I own and it was the same with all three of them. I had to download a third party program to tune the sound to something that I considered to be acceptable. Unfortunately, no amount of tuning was able to help with the laptops speakers. I spent several hours trying to get it to a point where it was natural sounding but it just sounded shrill, compressed, high-pitched. Overall, I really dislike the sound of the speakers. The speakers in my 10-year old laptop sounds numerous times better. The speakers are more natural sounding cover a wider freq range and playing games, watching movies or playing music is quite a pleasant experience. This is not the case with the Asus. I could not enjoy using the Asus with the speakers. I had an ongoing issue with getting the system to release external hard drives and USB drives. I was being told that the drives were being used even though I had nothing open at them time. Some research indicated that this may be Armory Crate or MyAsus accessing the drives in the background. The speakers where really only audible if the system volume and the game volume were at max settings. When I put headphones on I had to go back into the game audio setting and turn all volume settings down to about 15-20% to keep my ears from being blasted. It was quite irritating to have to keep adjusting the volume to account for whether I was using the laptop speakers or headphones. Last thing about the sound. Adjusting the volume from 0-50 seemed pretty normal and linear. Once I got to 50 the volume did not really increase until I got to 90-100. This was for both system volume and adjusting volume with game setting. When launching a game the system would lock up for 5-10 seconds. I would get the windows "ping" sound and then the game would launch. The same thing would happen when I exited the game. The game would close and shortly after the system would freeze for 5-10 seconds. I would then hear the windows "ping" sound and would be to once again use the computer. The GPU temps stay pretty cool, staying between mid-50 to mid-60 in all the games I played at high settings. The CPU on the other hand always seemed to run higher than I would expect . Most the time the CPU temp would get into stay in the upper 70s and low 80s. There were times where it got as high as 95. Even in a game like wow where on my 10-year old laptop with the setting set at 5/10 the CPU would stay usually in the 60s. Using the exact same setting on the Asus and capping frames at 60 to match the old laptops max frames, the Asus CPU temps would get in to 80s at times. Framerates were not bad for a laptop, Usually in Diablo 4 at max settings I got 150+, Black Desert online was 100+ at remastered. WoW all depended on what I was doing. I a major city or in a raid I was anywhere from 60-90 fps. Flying in the open world I could get 200+ fps but I did get in the mid-20 fps when doing something like an outdoor boss where there could be 30+ others participating at the same time and this is once again with WoW setting at 5/10 of the settings slider. I could have probably gotten higher results in some of these games if I messed around with DLSS and MFG settings. The monitor looked great but coming from my 10-year old laptop with a GTX980M, 60hz monitor this was to be expected. The keyboard was acceptable to me. I prefer a much more tactile feeling when I press and release a key. This keyboard has a much softer touch than I am used to and is probably something that someone who is into e-sports or competitive gaming would appreciate more. The build quality is what I expect from a gaming laptop. It was sturdy and solid in construction. I do like the easy access bottom. MUCH more convenient than having to remove 12+ screws to add an SSD or change update memory. If my only concern about a gaming laptop was how many fps I was getting or how good a game looked, I would have been happy with this laptop. It ran all the game I played on it quite smoothly (with the exception I mentioned above). But when paying a premium price I have to look at other issues like CPU and GPU temps, sound quality, any sort of quirks when using the laptop outside of gaming, etc. At this price I need something that I feel confident is going to last me for several years and with the short time I had used this laptop and was not sure that I was going to get that.

The speed and power of this laptop is undeniable. I swapped the factory 32GB 5600 RAM for 64GB 5600 and swapped the initial 2TB SSD for two 8TB SSDs and love the computer. The fan can get pretty loud, but, the laptop doesn’t get too hot. Be sure to not have the screen backed up against anything to allow proper airflow. Had an issue with the screen getting extremely hot while about 6” from a wall. One weird problem I’ve only recently started having is the screen will go totally grey with three blue lines. Happened with one game and only when I click something in game, so I’m not sure if it’s the laptop or the software. Battery won’t last more than a few hours, but, only tried that out once when the charger came unplugged without me knowing. The charging case is pretty big and gets really hot, but, no issues so far. Overall, very happy with this computer and am very glad to have my first laptop dedicated to gaming and fun!

The ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 sets a new benchmark for elite gaming laptops in 2025. Armed with the latest cutting-edge hardware and a commanding design, this machine is clearly built with no compromises. After extended testing across high-performance gaming and productivity scenarios, I can confidently say this is one of the most formidable portable systems available today. Performance: Desktop-Class Firepower in a Portable Form The inclusion of the Intel Core Ultra 9 HX processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 GPU makes this laptop a powerhouse. Whether you’re pushing triple-A titles at ultra settings, streaming, or editing 8K video, the system performs with impressive thermal stability and zero throttling. Games like Cyberpunk 2077, Flight Simulator, and Hogwarts Legacy run effortlessly at 2.5K resolution with ray tracing maxed out—thanks to the 5090’s generational leap in ray tracing and AI frame generation. Display: A Feast for the Eyes The 18" 2.5K QHD+ display running at 240Hz is a dream come true for competitive gamers. Color accuracy is top-tier, and the refresh rate ensures ultra-smooth performance with no ghosting or tearing. The immersive screen size strikes a perfect balance between desktop-grade immersion and portable convenience, ideal for both gaming and creative work. Memory & Storage: No Compromises With 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 2TB NVMe SSD, multitasking is frictionless and load times are virtually nonexistent. The configuration is ideal for power users, offering more than enough headroom for modern and future software demands. Storage-heavy gamers and creators will appreciate the fast and generous drive space. Design & Build: Aggressive Yet Refined True to the ROG Strix DNA, the SCAR 18 exudes a high-end, performance-focused aesthetic. The build quality is solid, with premium materials and intelligent cooling zones that manage heat exceptionally well under load. The RGB lighting is customizable and tastefully integrated. Despite its large footprint, it remains surprisingly sleek for an 18-inch performance laptop. Other Highlights: Advanced Cooling System with liquid metal on CPU and triple fan layout Comprehensive I/O, including Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1, and multiple USB-A/C ports ROG software suite for performance tuning and personalization Final Verdict: The ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 is a flagship gaming laptop that confidently blurs the line between desktop and mobile performance. It’s clearly designed for gamers, content creators, and power users who demand top-tier specs and future-ready performance. At its price point, it offers exceptional value when compared to similarly specced competitors. Highly recommended for anyone unwilling to compromise.

I'm coming from a 16" Macbook Pro and I was concerned about purchasing this laptop because I've never owned a laptop this large before, but I wanted the extra screen size for when I'm not docked because I'm a developer. The laptop is everything you expect; large, heavy, fast, beautiful, controversial. Taking this thing to Starbucks is going to get you some attention from the size alone, but then there is also the AniMe and huge ROG icon on the lid. I'm in my 40s and like to game, but these are a bit much for me, but oddly at the same time I don't really mind them. You can disable all the effects. The performance is absolutely astonishing. You will not be disappointed at all with it. There is nothing more to say here - Asus did a great job with it! I want to reiterate to anyone considering this laptop, it is large and it is HEAVY. I don't travel much with my laptops, but I do use them around the house a lot, so that's why the "portability" is welcomed. That said, despite it being heavy, I don't mind "lapping" it. It stays pretty cool and the weight distribution doesn't make it too awkward. If you have the money to spare, you won't be disappointed with this machine!

When first got the laptop, it was missing drivers and had a bunch of software crashes. I had to get new bios and reinstall windows on it to solve a bunch of program crashes, but even after that some of my softwares that i need for work would still crash. It sucks cause the laptop is so visually appealing and plays video games great, but i need it more for work and its not serving its purpose for that.

The performance of this laptop is incredible. 4 stars because they changed to a proprietary charging port. Only 100w USBC charging.

For a premium laptop at a very expensive price, it has by far the worst sounding speakers I've ever heard and I'm talking compared to even desktop speakers I used on my 486DX2/66 back in the day. I thought they were defective until I read all of the other people complaining about how bad they are. I've also been plagued with countless blue screens and I've heard nightmares about ASUS' RMA process. No advanced replacement option and people waiting a month to get their laptop fixed. I wish I would've chosen something better.

I changed my Strix 18 ti the strix scar 18 and they both rock but the scar stands out for the 5090 and the micro led screen love it previously was a owner of legion 7i and love the scar way more its a great gaming rig

It died after around 4.5 months of use. Otherwise I liked it a lot. However, I don't like it now that it died. Yes, it was approved for warranty replacement, but that doesn't count for anything. What happened was one day, I was playing a game. Then the screen showed lines all over it in yellow, then green, then blue, and on it went. I hard powered it off and back on. The Nvidia GPU was DEAD. I was able to use programs with the integrated graphics, but the second I switched the computer to discrete GPU...the computer never came back after that. All it ever did was power on for 20-30 seconds and then power off.

Good Laptop, however mine had a defect, CPU temperature spikes to 104 C every time I opened my browser and watched youtube and up to 109 C still only doing menial tasks, I tested it side by side with My G750jm from 11 yrs ago and the old computer never spiked above 85 C even while struggling to get 5 fps playing World of Warcraft at full Graphics. I took it to Geek squad showed them and they said this is not normal so I am returning it, apart from that I really liked this laptop and I am not happy I have to return it. If you buy this I suggest you download HWiNFO64 and watch the CPU package temperature,

I’ve owned both the 2023 and 2025 versions of the ROG Strix Scar 18 (4090 and now the 5090). Both have the same serious issue where, under load, all USB and Thunderbolt ports stop working, even the built-in keyboard, touchpad, and Wi-Fi cut out until the system is forced off. I bought the new 5090 version assuming ASUS fixed the problem, but it’s exactly the same. The worst part is that ASUS support refuses to help because I purchased through Best Buy. They keep telling me to “contact Best Buy for warranty service,” but Best Buy can’t fix BIOS or firmware-level problems. I’m deployed overseas with the U.S. Army, so walking into a store isn’t an option for me anyway. I tried contacting ASUS corporate directly and even their CEO’s office form online but no response. For a laptop that costs this much, you’d expect better reliability and actual support from the manufacturer. I really wanted to love this system, but after two generations of the same problem and zero accountability, I’m done with ASUS until they fix this at the firmware level.

Great just what I thought but better! Would recomend to everyone!

This Laptop is a beast. I'm coming from a RTX 3080 the performance is crazy good. Go ahead throw the lastest AAA game at it Ultra it does not break a sweat.