The Republic of Gamers arm at Asus is claiming “world’s thinnest” with the introduction of its new Zephyrus S gaming laptop measuring just 0.58 inches at its thinnest point. The company also revealed the Strix SCAR II that crams a 17.3-inch screen into a 15.7-inch chassis.
First, Asus will sell two variants of its new ROG Zephyrus S laptop. The GX531GS model sports Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q discrete graphics chip designed for the best performance in thin-and-light notebooks. It also ships with 8GB of system memory (but supports 16GB) and a 230-watt power adapter. The GPU has its own 8GB of GDDR5 dedicated video memory as well.
Meanwhile, the GX531GM ships with a discrete GeForce GTX 1060 graphics chip with 6GB of dedicated GDDR5 video memory. This system also includes 8GB of system memory but supports a larger 24GB capacity, and relies on a 180-watt power adapter.
With both models, you will see Intel’s Core i7-8750H six-core processor powering a 15.6-inch screen crammed into a 14.2-inch chassis. This screen’s maximum resolution is 1,920 x 1,080 but at a hefty 144Hz refresh rate. It also has a three-millisecond response time and support for 100 percent of the sRGB color space.
As for ports, both models include one USB-C port supporting 10Gbps, one USB-C port supporting 5Gbps, one USB-A port supporting 10Gbps, two USB-A 2.0 ports, one HDMI port and a headphone/microphone combo jack. Wireless connectivity consists of Bluetooth 5.0 and Wireless AC.
Other notable features in this new gaming notebook include a 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD, a second M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD option ranging from 256GB to 1TB, a backlit chiclet keyboard with four RGB zones and support for Aura Sync. This laptop weighs 4.6 pounds and measures 14.17 x 10.55 x 0.58 inches (0.62 at its thickest point).
Unfortunately, the Zephyrus S won’t arrive until September for an unknown price.
If you’re looking for something larger, the ROG Strix SCAR II (GL704) also arrives in September packing a 17.3-inch screen. You will have an option of two “IPS-level” screen variants with a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution: One with a 144Hz refresh rate and another limited to 60Hz.
Backing this laptop are two processor options: Intel’s Core i7-8750H and its Core i5-8300H. Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB) will be your only discrete graphics option while the laptop will support up to 32GB of system memory at 2,666MHz. Storage will include an M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD from 128GB to 512GB and a second 2.5-inch 1TB hybrid drive or hard drive.
For ports, you will see a larger arsenal. There will be one USB-C at 10Gbps, three USB-A at 5Gbps, one USB-A at 10Gbps, one Mini DisplayPort 1.2 jack, one HDMI 2.0 port, one Ethernet jack, an SD card reader and a headphone/microphone combo jack. Wireless connectivity is handled by Bluetooth 5.0 and Wireless AC.
Finally, the Strix SCAR II weighs 6.39 pounds and measures 15.74 x 10.76 x 0.98 inches (1.03 at its thickest point).
Pricing for this laptop will be made available just before it ships next month as well.
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