Asus has wowed with design ever since it revealed the Asus ROG Zephyrus alongside the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Max-Q. Now Asus has gone and made the laptop even slimmer, calling it the world’s thinnest gaming laptop. A $2,199 model with a GTX 1070 Max-Q will launch in September exclusively on Amazon, while a $2,099 laptop with a GTX 1060 will cost $2,099 in mid-October.
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX531GS | Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX531GM | Asus ROG Scar II GL704 |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-8750H | Intel Core i7-8750H | Intel Core i7-8750H |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB) | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q (8GB) | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB) |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 2,666MHz | 16GB DDR4 2,666MHz | 16GB DDR4 2,666MHz |
| Storage | 1TB PCIe NVMe | 512GB PCIe NVMe | 1TB 5,400rpm HDD + 256GB PCIe SSD |
| Display | 15.6-inch, FHD, 144Hz, 3ms | 15.6-inch, FHD, 144Hz, 3ms | 17.3-inch, FHD, 144Hz 3ms |
| Size | 14.2 x 10.6 x 0.6 inches | 14.2 x 10.6 x 0.6 inches | 15.7 x 10.8 x 1 inches |
| Weight | 4.6 pounds | 4.6 pounds | 6.4 pounds |
| Price | $2,099 | $2,199 | $1,699 |
Both versions of the Zephyrus S use an 8th generation Intel Core i7-8750H and up 8GB of on-board RAM. The $2,099 model has a GTX 1060 and a 1TB NVMe SSD, while the $2,199 has a GTX 1070 Max-Q and a 512GB NVMe SSD. Pre-orders will open on August 1.
Like the original Zephyrus, the keyboard is at the very edge of the deck. But there are also some notable new design elements. There are a bunch of red lights behind the ROG logo in the lid, and two tail lights by the exhaust ports are synced with the keyboard over Aura Sync. At its thickest, the laptop is 15.8 millimeters, down to just under 15mm at its thinnest. To disperse heat, there are four heat sinks inside (two push heat out the side, the other two out the back) and five heat pipes, and there are thinner thermal fins and more fan blades.
The 15.6-inch, 1080p display has thinner bezels this time around, and now boasts a 144Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time. There’s also a new speaker system with front-facing stereo speakers in the hinge.
Asus is also launching its new software, Armoury Crate, alongside the Zephyrus S. This replaces the Asus ROG Gaming Center with a new design, as well as easy access to system settings and Aura Sync all in one place. It can switch between profiles on a per-game basis, and also comes works with mobile apps for Android and iOS.
The company is also announcing the Strix Scar II GL704, an 17-inch version of the 15-inch GL504 with a thin-bezel display with a 144Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time — the first with a 17-inch screen. It will also ship with Armoury Crate when it goes on sale for $1,699 in the back half of September.
