Asus has unveiled a 17-inch variant of the ROG Strix Scar 2, rounding off its 2018 line of semi-pro gaming notebooks, here’s everything you need to know about it.
The Scar 2 17 GL704 sits alongside the 15-inch Scar 2 laptops Asus unveiled at Computex in May.
Like it’s smaller siblings the new 15-inch version its aimed at semi-serious gamers who regularly play FPS shooters.
Outside of its increased size the laptop is all but identical to the other ROG Strix 2 notebooks. It has the same two-tone brushed metal finish and RGB ROG Strix logo on its back and RGB strip along the its bottom.
All three also have full RGB keyboards with a soft touch, rubber finish around the keys. The design is a little ostentatious for our liking in Trusted towers, but will likely be a hit with the “l33t” crowd.
Thankfully the 17-inch model retains the impressive hardware of its siblings. The key highlight is the IPS screen’s 144Hz refresh rate and 3Ms response time.
Other laptops, such as the Razer Blade 15 and Gigabyte Aero 15, have the same refresh rate, but slower response times, according to Asus. The is means the laptops should be slightly more reactive, though we’ll have to test them before we can confirm this claim.
The 17-inch version has a suped up ROG RangeBoost antenna setup. The RangeBoost tech is a custom four antenna system that Asus claims intelligently scans rooms and adjusts its settings to find the best signal in any environment. Asus quotes the system as being “the fastest seen on any laptop right now”.
Outside of this the specs are fairly like-for-like between the 15 and 17-inch models. The only big difference is the lack of a GTX 1070 GPU option on the new 17-inch ROG Strix Scar 2 in the UK.
You can check out how the 17-inch Scar 2 compares to the 15-inch models in the table below.
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| Spec | Strix Scar 2 17 GL704 | Strix Scar 2 GL504GM | Strix Scar 2 GL504GS |
| CPU | 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8750H | 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8750H | 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8750H |
| Screen | 17.3-inch FHD IPS panel, 144Hz refresh, 3Ms response time | 15.6-inch, FHD, IPS panel, 144Hz refresh, 3Ms response time | 15.6-inch, FHD, IPS panel, 144Hz refresh, 3Ms response time |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5 VRAM | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5 VRAM | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 with 8GB GDDR5 VRAM |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 | Up to 32GB DDR4 | Up to 32GB DDR4 |
| Storage | 256GB SSD PCI-e 1TB 2.5-inch Hybrid HDD (FireCuda) | 256GB PCI-e SSD, 1 TB SSHD | 512GB PCI-e SSD |
The only issue we have with the specs are that they’re about to become previous gen. Nvidia just unveiled its new Nvidia Turing GPU architecture and is expected to launch founders edition, next-gen GeForce cards at Gamescom in Germany next week.
Intel’s 8th Gen line is also coming to the end of its life cycle. The company’s expected to unveil its Intel 9th Gen CPUs in the very near future.
Asus ROG Strix Scar 2 price and release date
The 15-inch ROG Strix Scar 2 laptops are available now. The 17-inch version is expected to launch in mid-October. You can see pricing for the UK versions in the table below.
| Strix Scar 2 17 GL704 | Strix Scar 2 GL504GM | Strix Scar 2 GL504GS |
| £1699.99 | £1899.99 | £2299.99 |
Excited about the new 17-inch Asus ROG Scar 2, or are you going to wait and see what Nvidia has in store at Gamescom? Let us know on Twitter @TrustedReviews
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.