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apalexar — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 15:48:28 +0800

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Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 G532LW Gaming Laptop Review

apalexar — Sun, 30 Aug 2020 17:22:40 +0800

Good day everyone and here’s my first review on my first? (*) gaming laptop, Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 series, model G532L-WAZ085T. I did consider other brands too before made my final decision but have decided to stick with ROG, perhaps, for once, would like to have a try and own a ROG laptop regardless of its weak points.
*First laptop was Lenovo Y480, but I doubt that if I could call it a “gaming laptop”

Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 G532LW Tech Specs:

Processor : Intel Core i7-10875H, 8 Cores 16 Threads, 2.3 - 5.1 GHz
Graphics Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile Refresh
Memory : 2 x 8 GB, Micron Tech. DDR4-3200, Dual-Channel
Display : 15.6 inch, Sharp LQ156M1JW09 (SHP14D3), 1920 x 1080 pixel 141 PPI, IPS, glossy: no, Full-HD, 240 Hz, 100% sRGB, 71% NTSC, 74% Adobe RGB, 74% DCI-P3, 53% Rec.2020
Mainboard : Intel HM470
Storage : 1 x Intel SSD 660p 1TB SSDPEKNW010T8
Connections : 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C support DisplayPort™, 1 x HDMI 2.0b, 1 x 3.5mm Audio Jack Mic-in (Combo Jack), 1 x Keystone
Networking : Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201, Realtek RTL8168/8111 Gigabit-LAN, Bluetooth 5
Keyboard : Backlit Chiclet Keyboard with Per Key RGB, 5 Individual Hotkeys
Sounds : 2 x 4.2W speakers + Array Microphone
Size : 2.1-2.49cm (H) x 36cm (W) x 27.5cm (D)
Weight : 2.35 kg
Battery : 66 WH Lithium-Polymer, 4-cell
Operating System : Windows 10 Home 64 Bit Single Language
Warranty : 24 Months
Price : Bought at RM 7500; bundle comes with ROG Strix Impact (P303) Mouse, ROG Backpack, ROG Keystone II with keychain, few pages of manual and huge carton box

Official page : Asus ROG Strix Scar 15/17

Design

The combination of matte black finishing and magnesium-aluminium alloy lid did give me a premium feel when viewing and touching it; not quite sure about the keyboard deck material but it’s quite smooth to touch; while the bottom case is made up of hard plastic. Regarding the fingerprint-resistant, I would say it has pretty impressive result except the deck which I still have chance to leave some fingerprints when my palm sweat a lot, easily to clean with a swipe though. LED bar along the bottom edges of the base and ROG logo LED on the laptop cover are additional points to the design, but to be honest the LED bar is not so obvious when I sit in front it in a bright room, while the LED logo is for others to notice it when using the laptop at public places. The hinges look solid and feel solid too, able to open it with 1 hand. Overall, I am satisfied with the design of this laptop, look stylish but not over, depends on personal perspective though.

[attachmentid=10568637] [attachmentid=10568638]

Display

The laptop comes with 1920 x 1080, 240 Hz IPS screen, no webcam no G-Sync. Laptop without webcam is not a big deal for me as I could count out the numbers I used the webcam on my previous laptop, could be below 5 times if not mistaken. No G-Sync supported would be a downside but guess I will just get an external monitor if really need it. Since most IPS screens have the same common issue – backlight bleeding, would say mine is nearly perfect which only have little bleed at bottom left corner area when brightness set at max level and viewing fully dark scene in a dark room, else it’s unnoticeable at all, lucky me . I’m satisfied with this Sharp brand’s display performance, as it does give me a great viewing experience especially in gaming, for both colour and details.

[attachmentid=10568639]

Keyboard & Touchpad

Chiclet keyboard with N-key rollover, it’s comfortable and smooth to type but it can be difficult to see when there’s insufficient lighting in the room due to combination of grey font with the black key caps, turn on the keyboard RGB light should solve it though. Also, the arrow keys are smaller in size compare to other keys and I always mistype the Shift key instead the Enter, perhaps it’s because of changing from 14” to a 15” laptop. About the hotkeys, it is weird that it has one individual hotkey for operating modes toggle but actually it is able to perform the same by using Fn + F5 . Per key RGB with aura sync definitely improves the visual effect and usually I will set it to rainbow mode, my favourite. Initially I was going to remove this laptop from my list since it doesn’t come with a numpad but later figured out it did come with a virtual numpad which can be activated through the touchpad, scores added for special design. Have been tried to use the numpad to control helicopter in GTA V, no problem at all. Mouse keys are separated from the touchpad and did provide good feedback with inaudible click sound. Laptop stickers seem a bit crooked, perhaps the QC staff responsible for it didn’t do a great job .

[attachmentid=10568640] [attachmentid=10568641]

Connections

The port options available are:

Left side
- 3 x USB 3.2 Type-A
- 1 x 3.5mm Audio Jack (Combo)
[attachmentid=10568642]

Rear side
- 1 x RJ-45
- 1 x HDMI
- 1 x USB 3.2 Type-C
- 1 x AC adapter
[attachmentid=10568643]

Right side
- 1 x ROG Keystone II
[attachmentid=10568645]

Positioning of ports is quite convenience in my opinion since all ports are positioned mainly at left and rear side only. All the USB ports are positioned at left side on this laptop and thus easier for me to access it, my other laptops usually have either 1-2 or 2-1 USB ports positioned at left and right side which make me confuse sometimes. Thunderbolt, card reader and charging laptop via USB-C are not available on this laptop so it will be a disadvantage for those who need it. Personally I think that the ROG Keystone II feature is unique, but not essential, perhaps only the Shadow Drive functions will be useful when it comes to save some personal files which I don’t want others to find out . There’s a piece of magnet on the Keystone so when put it nearer to the slot it will attach itself due to magnetic force.

[attachmentid=10568646] [attachmentid=10568647]

Keystone II Functions:
- Keystone Bind Account
- Docked Keystone Behavior (Special keyboard light and sound effect after key is docked, effect only stay a while once plugged in)
- Quick Access (HyperFan Mode Switch, Quick Launch or Restore profile configurations)
- Shadow Drive
- Recover Key
- Hides all Windows and mutes audio / Lock Windows account (Applicable by removing Keystone, but huh? Hides Windows and mutes audio? )

[attachmentid=10568648]

Communication

Nothing special about the communications since latest laptop models 2020 comes with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5, but it is worth mentioning that I did get significant download speed improvement with Wi-Fi 6 compare to Wi-Fi 4 or 5 I used previously. In old days, with 100Mbps internet bandwidth (2.4GHz), I’m only able to reach download speed max around 5MB/s and usually stuck at 3~4MB/s, but now, my average download speed is able to reach 12MB/s (max I saw 13MB/s recorded) thanks to Wi-Fi 6 ! From some other reviews it was mentioned that the M.2 WLAN module is removable, so I believe that it’s upgradable in future.

Performance

Well, let the pictures tell the story here.

CPU Temp usually stays around 50°C when performing some low load tasks (e.g. Chrome browsing) in silent mode:
[attachmentid=10568649]

GPU Info:
[attachmentid=10568651]

All tests below were performed in Turbo mode (no manual undervolt/overclock), room temperature recorded at 31°C.
*Results/Scores are just for reference, might not 100% accurate.

CINEBENCH R20 Scores:
[attachmentid=10568652]

PCMark 10 Scores (Demo):
[attachmentid=10568653]

AS SSD Benchmark Results:
[attachmentid=10568654]

3DMark Scores (Demo):
[attachmentid=10568655] [attachmentid=10568656]

Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0 Results:
[attachmentid=10568657]

Unigine Superposition Benchmark Results:
[attachmentid=10568658]

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Benchmark Results & GPU-Z with gameplay (Above 30 mins run):
[attachmentid=10568659] [attachmentid=10568660] [attachmentid=10568661]

Forza Horizon 4 Benchmark Results & GPU-Z with gameplay (Above 30 mins run):
[attachmentid=10568662] [attachmentid=10568664]

GTA V, max settings, FPS at 50~120 depends on scenes (Above 30 mins run):
[attachmentid=10568665] [attachmentid=10568666]

Fan noise only get louder when it's reaching full speed but still acceptable for me as it doesn't produce some high pitched noise but instead quite smooth actually. For temperature, the keyboard and deck area are never let me feel uncomfortable warm so far except the area near to the venting, might due to hot air released. This is much more better compare to those days which it's difficult for me to press and hold W,A,S,D buttons above 10 seconds when playing GTA V (GPU GT650M V2) even with minimum settings. The charger is noticeably warmer and could be hard to hold after playing games for some times, guess it could be the normal issue for all gaming laptop charger due to power draw ? So far the sound quality with two 4.2W speakers is decent and better compare to average one in my opinion.

Conclusion

Overall, I think it's quite a good buy for me but for those who is paying focus on cooling might need to consider other options as it's not so possible to maintain the GPU temperature below 80°C when playing high-end game with max settings for few hours, perhaps sitting in an air conditioned room would help but never try it .
Some users did comment about Asus QC issue and hopefully mine unit will not having the same situation, I do have some luck in purchasing electronic stuffs and so far haven't got those break within warranty period.

Finally special thanks to [@ZM Fong] for buying opinion and guiding me to do some stress tests last week, and also thanks to Lowyat forum sellers who're willing to answer my question regarding this laptop model.

Feel free to correct me if you found anything wrong info above.
Have a nice day.

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apalexar — Sun, 17 May 2015 18:21:31 +0800

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[WTS] Tomb Raider, Payday 2

apalexar — Fri, 09 May 2014 18:52:59 +0800

[H] Tomb Raider 2013 [W] RM 10
[H] PAYDAY 2 [W] RM15

payment via cimb

references: Tomb Raider
references: PAYDAY 2

pm if interested

[WTA] Wireless Headset

apalexar — Tue, 06 May 2014 12:30:13 +0800

Hi all,

I am looking for a wireless headset which can be use for both laptop and phone (optional).

Mainly looking for wireless headset with ear cup

Suggestions are welcome

Thanks for help

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apalexar — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 00:07:45 +0800

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apalexar — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 16:23:46 +0800

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Home Internet Packages

apalexar — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 21:40:39 +0800

Hmm, there have been some internet packages offered by streamyx, unifi, maxis, p1 and time in Malaysia. Just want to ask if there is home internet packages offered by other than I listed above?

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Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 G532LW Gaming Laptop Review

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