Asus Rog Strix GL504 gtx 1070 Scar II – Laptop Review
The Asus ROG Strix GL504 Scar II is a 15-inch high-end gaming laptop that aims to satisfy even the most demanding gamers. With its impressive features and powerful components, it’s a contender in the competitive gaming laptop market. Let’s dive into the details and see how it performs.
1. Design and Features
Thin Bezels
Thin bezels are all the rage, and the GL504 doesn’t disappoint. It joins the league of laptops with edge-to-edge designs, including the Razer Blade 15, Gigabyte Aero 15X v8, MSI GS65 8RF, and Schenker XMG Neo 15. The GL504’s slim bezels enhance the overall aesthetics and provide an immersive gaming experience.
Variants
The GL504 comes in two flavors:
- Hero II: Designed for MOBA enthusiasts, it features specially marked QWER keys.
- Scar II: The variant we’re reviewing, distinguished by a camouflage pattern and emphasizing the crucial WASD area for ego-shooters.
2. Specifications
Processor and Graphics
- Processor Options:
- Core i7-8750H or Core i5-8300H
- Graphics Card Options:
- GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB GDDR5) or GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB GDDR5)
Display
- 15.6-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) panel with a 144 Hz refresh rate
- IPS technology for wide viewing angles
Storage and Memory
- 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
- 1TB SSHD (hybrid drive)
- 32GB DDR4, 2666 MHz
Operating System
3. Performance
The GL504 delivers solid gaming performance, whether equipped with the GTX 1060 or GTX 1070. The GTX 1070 variant, paired with the Core i7-8750H, provides excellent gaming experiences and smooth multitasking. However, despite its impressive features, it falls just short of a “very good” evaluation in our test.
Expert Opinion
The Asus ROG Strix GL504 Scar II strikes a balance between mobility and computing power. Its sleek design, powerful components, and high refresh rate display make it an attractive choice for gamers. However, some minor drawbacks prevent it from achieving top-tier status. If you’re after a capable gaming laptop, the GL504 is worth considering, but keep your expectations in check.
Remember, gaming laptops are all about finding the right trade-offs, and the GL504 makes a compelling case in that regard. 🎮🔥
Brian Welch
5.0 out of 5 stars Great gaming laptop with good aesthetics
Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2019
Style: GTX 1070Verified PurchaseEarly Reviewer Rewards(What’s this?)
The Asus ROG Strix SCAR II is a great gaming laptop with good looks.
Options on the model I purchased:
Intel Core i7-8750H Processor
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070
16GB DDR4
256GB PCIe SSD + 1TB SSHD (I replaced the !TB with a 2TB Firecuda SSHD before I even started it the first time)
The top is brushed aluminum with 2 bush patterns and a fair bit of rigidity. My cal of 10 lbs has jumped on the lcosed laptop multiple times with no ill effect seen.
The ROG symbol that looks like chrome but can also be lit up with the RGB led, along with the light bar on the front. The light bar is not distracting at all when using it, contrary to my first thoughts when seeing it.
The keyboard has zones of lighting, it would have been nice if it were per key and with the way it changes color gradually it looks like it could have been with minimal trouble. With that said, it still looks great, and the key travel is enough to feel comfortable and solid. Typing on this is effortless.
The bottom was easy to open and the replaceable parts are all easy to get to. I replaced the hard drive with a 2 TB model in under 10 minutes. The only time consumer was the 11 or so screws, and slowly un-clipping the plastic base.
The screen looks and responds great, all the gaming I have done on it is smooth and tear free with the 1070. I have even connected it to an untrawide 2K 120 Hz monitor and the laptop had no issues driving both displays at the same time.
The SSD boots fast, and all the games I store on the 2TB version of the Firecuda SSHD that installed load quickly. While not SSD speeds the SSHD still is quick enough that you would probably only notice level loads. Possibly a 7200 HDD would be quicker, but would also produce more heat. I would expect the 1 TB that comes with the laptop normally to be just as quick as the 2 TB that I installed.
The laptop can get warm, but produces less heat under load that I expected; however the fans can get quite loud. Typically this is when I am playing games so I do not notice it, but when editing photos there is no background noise to mask the fans.
Battery life when just browsing and playing some videos is about 3 hours or so. Gaming will be less, and I am typically plugged in when using the laptop for games. I did not purchase this laptop for its battery life, so I was not expecting to get 5 hour runtimes with it and am very pleased with how long it lasts.
I would recommend this laptop to anyone who is looking in this price range, or prehaps waiting for the new versions with the Nvidia 20xx cards coming out soon.
Warning: If you get the model that only has a M.2 SSD drive in it (500 GB I believe), it does not have the cable for the secondary hard drive! This cost me a hefty restocking fee (other retailer) due to the fact that I wanted the bigger SSD and was going to put my on HDD in as the secondary drive. When I contracted Asus, they told me they did not have a hard drive cable to sell me. Even with this frustration, I went ahead and purchased another SCAR II after returning the first because I loved everything else about it.
The DL
5.0 out of 5 stars Works well, works better upgraded.
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2020
Style: GTX 1070Verified Purchase
I’ve had this laptop for about a year now and it performs really well. I like playing MMORPGs like Elderscroll Online and I can put settings to the MAX and have ZERO lag. The only issues I’ve had is with the data drive, it’s really slow so transferring pictures and videos takes a long time. However, it was an easy fix. I upgraded the data drive to a Samsung SSD 860 PRO 2TB and then it was even faster than the main hardrive so I upgraded the main to a Samsung 970 PRO SSD 1TB. Then I upgraded the memory with a pair of Kingston Technology 8GB 1600MHz DDR3L just for the hell of it. It’s overkill and futureproofed but now it’s a beast. Nice thing about having both Samsung drives is that you can use Samsung optimization tools for both drives. So far nothing slows down the laptop even multiple MMORPGs and videos all at the same time.
I’ve read that some people don’t like the fan noise and yes it can make alot of white noise but I think it’s actually the varying fan speed noise that is annoying. But the fan can be changed from performance, balanced, or silent mode depending on what you are doing. If you are trying to write a paper or something you’d probably need to just close your games and then it’s a mouse. In general, upgrading the drives made it quieter and produce less heat. But if you are gaming then something like a Cooler Master laptop stand works well to dissipate the heat instead of heating the surface of a table that reflects heat right back into the laptop. My next test will be to hook it up to a big gaming monitor to see how it performs. I’m still shopping around for that.