One gaming laptop we never miss out on reviewing generation after generation is the ROG STRIX Scar series. This year particularly, the Scar goes big – it’s funny because it has always been huge, to begin with. But when I say big, it is big. Because this 18” monstrosity of a laptop gets a new display which is the game changer, along with some minor comebacks and removal – here’s the ROG STRIX Scar 18 G834 First Look.
ROG STRIX Scar 18 G834 First Look
That 18” Nebula HDR Display is Magnificent

Gone are those small display STRIX Scar and comes a laptop with a whopping 18” Display smack right in the same form factor of the 17” body. ROG has gone with a 16:10 aspect ratio, which means more vertical real estate and a bezel so thin that it looks immersive. One of the key improvements in the display is their introduction of the ROG Nebula HDR display with their STRIX, which was once exclusive to the Zephyrus Duo only.
This Mini LED display with a QHD resolution is going to blow you away. Since it’s a gaming monitor, you get a 240Hz refresh rate with a 3ms response time and a DCI-P3 colour gamut of 100%. Since it is an HDR-certified display, it does hit the higher peak nit brightness of 1100. Your content is going to be a whole lot richer, the deep true blacks are going to output very well.
A New Thermal Design for improved Cooling

ROG has swapped the dual fan cooler for a Tri-fan cooling system and a full-width heatsink. It isn’t as same as the ROG STRIX Scar SE which uses a Vapor Chamber cooling instead, also happens to be an absolute beauty. But this new thermal system is supposedly better in dissipating the heat very well and the new fans are designed to push the dust out of the fans in a way that it doesn’t clog up.
Webcam is back, and goodbye Keystone
This is very hilarious. The previous two generations of Strix laptops had more than enough room for a webcam but it completely ditched it – which is such a ridiculous move. But ROG realized it was a big mistake, so the new ROG STRIX Scar 18 G834 or even the 16 has a webcam on the top – fitted into that thin bezel.
If you do look at the keyboard area carefully, it no longer has the Keystone feature – which means it’s good as dead. That feature allowed users to create this shadow drive partition which can only be unlocked and locked with that magnetized stone. But during our time, we barely used it anyway. But hey, the Armor Caps customizability is still present – so that’s good.
New Specification for the Year
New year, deserves new specification – and since this is a thick laptop, there’s no need for ROG to cap the performance. It runs on Intel Core Processor with a rated TDP of 65W, followed by an NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPU with a maximum TGP of 175W. It does come with MUX Switch and NVIDIA Advanced Optimus. It comes configured with an absolutely tasty 2+2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD at RAID0 and 64GB DDR5 RAM.
Conclusion
The ROG STRIX Scar 18 G834 has always been the epitome of raw performance out of a laptop that has the capacity to handle it. While the changes are granular and there isn’t anything that goes over the board, except for that RGB lighting, this laptop is immaculate. One thing is for sure, we are reviewing this soon – because it’s a ritual at this point for us to review every Scar ever made. So, definitely stay tuned to us – we mean it.
By the way, if you want to pre-order it – it is going for RM 18,999 – so, click here.