ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D Review: AMD 3D V-Cache Supercharges Laptop Gaming
The ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D has multiple fans, a large vapor chamber, and heatsinks linked by multiple heat pipes inside its chassis to cool its CPU and GPU. ASUS also uses a liquid metal thermal interface material to optimize heat transfer from the chips into the cooling hardware. There's so much venting all around the system and the internal cooling hardware is so efficient, that the fans inside the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 can spin down completely at idle and the machine is effectively silent when not under a heavy lead.
As such, nothing would register on our sound meter in the lab, which has a sound floor in the low 30dBa range, when the system was idling. Although it’s one of the more powerful notebooks currently available, during basic tasks, the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D is very quiet.
As such, nothing would register on our sound meter in the lab, which has a sound floor in the low 30dBa range, when the system was idling. Although it’s one of the more powerful notebooks currently available, during basic tasks, the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D is very quiet.
ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D Thermal And Acoustic Performance
The fans in the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D will spin up when under load, however. So, to get a sense for acoustics and thermals under load, we fired up the F1 2021 and looped its benchmark continuously, after we had already run multiple in-game benchmarks, to warm up and saturate the system's thermal solution. The heat and noise generated by the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D with these tests should be indicative of what a typical, prolonged gaming scenario might produce.
When under load, the fans in the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D spin up and get significantly louder. With our sound meter about 12" from the display, we measured approximately 55.7dBA. That's pretty loud versus mainstream notebooks, but is in-line with some other gaming notebooks we've tested, but quieter than the similarly equipped MSI Titan GT77 HX, which notched about 59dBA.
There's something else we should mention regarding the noise output from the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D as well. Under a full load, when the fans are spinning at full speed, its acoustic signature is similar to many other gaming laptops we've tested, with a pronounced, low-pitched whoosh. In the mid-range, however, a higher-pitched whine was audible, which was a little off-putting to our ears. Thankfully, the fans didn't remain in that range for very long.
Most of the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D's chassis does not get too hot to the touch. The hottest we could find on the surface was near the back, above the GPU, just to the right of center close, skating along the back edge. At that spot we measured about 115.5°F. Once we moved down to the keyboard though, the keys typically registered in the upper 80s or lower 90s. And the touchpad was even cooler. It's only the area directly above the CPU and GPU that pump out the heat.
PCMark 10 Hardware Health Data
The hardware health data gathered during a PCMark10 run, which features content creation and gaming workloads, shows frequencies throughout the run and how this system behaves thermally. As you can see, the Ryzen 9 7945HX3D in the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D will get up into the 90°C+ range with multi-threaded workloads. Like Intel's latest processors, the Ryzen 9 7945HX3D in this machine is designed to use as much thermal headroom as it can to maximize performance, and that means temps are going to creep up fairly high under heavy loads. That's not the case with the GeForce RTX 4090, though, and the Ryzen 9 7945HX3D did run a bit cooler than the Ryzen 9 7945HX -- at least in PCMark, which won't really leverage the 3D V-Cache fully.
3DMark Time Spy Hardware Health Data
With a gaming / graphics workload, that taxes both the CPU and GPU, CPU temps in the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D are a bit more tame than PCMark, with peaks of about 85°C. The GeForce RTX 4090 always remained under 80°C, however. Despite the powerful hardware in this system, its cooling hardware seems up to the task.
ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D (2023): 3D V-Cache For Laptops And Our Final Analysis
To be candid, we have been enamored by this latest wave of high-end gaming laptops. A number of the flagship systems we've tested have all offered significant performance improvements over the previous-generation, in what we consider to be more attractive products overall. Everything from performance to their displays, connectivity, and industrial designs are a step ahead of previous-gen offerings, which ultimately improves user experience significantly.Among all of the high-end gaming laptops we've tested recently, the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D powered by AMD’s Ryzen 9 7945HX3D is one of our favorites, and arguably the most powerful gaming laptop currently available. AMD's Ryzen 9 7945HX3D processor inside this machine is an excellent performer all around; single-thread performance is very good, multi-threaded performance is right up there with the best, and it's a gaming champ. The GeForce RTX 4090 in the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D offered killer performance too, though it didn’t take the top spot across the board versus the larger MSI Titan GT77 HX. The ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D also offers somewhat more tame acoustics and thermals than some competing high-end gaming notebooks. We're not sure of exact pricing just yet, but we expect the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D to drop in competitively as well. It's going to demand a pretty penny, of course, considering its class-leading performance and features, but like the original ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17, we expect the 3D V-Cache enabled version to weigh in relatively competitive.
As you can probably tell by now, we really like the AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX3D-powered ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D. This machine offers a ton of technical innovation all-around. If you’re in the market for an ultra high-end gaming laptop like the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D, you should definitely check this machine out, and others equipped with AMD's Ryzen 9 7945HX3D CPU as well.
