ASUS ROG Strix G18 2021, Core Ultra 9 275HX, 64GB, 1TB SSD, RTX 5070, Black

The ASUS ROG Strix G18 pairs a top-tier Core Ultra 9 275HX with 64GB of RAM and an RTX 5070 for serious gaming and creative performance. The 18-inch 240Hz display is excellent, and the port selection is among the best we've seen. But it weighs 3.2kg and is one of the least portable laptops in our database. At $3,549 USD, it's a desk-bound powerhouse, not a travel companion.

The Core Ultra 9 275HX is the headline act, and it earns its spot. With 24 cores and a boost clock up to 5.4GHz, it's one of the best laptop CPUs on the market right now. For creators, that means faster renders, smoother timeline scrubbing, and less waiting around when you're batch-processing photos or video. The 64GB of DDR5 is also in the 97th percentile, which is overkill for most games but genuinely useful if you're running virtual machines, large datasets, or editing 4K footage with a pile of browser tabs open.

The RTX 5070 with 8GB of GDDR7 is a strong GPU, landing in the 86th percentile. It'll push modern games at 1440p with high settings and keep frame rates well above 100 in most titles, especially with DLSS enabled. The 8GB of VRAM is the one spec that gives us pause. At 2560x1600, some newer games with maxed-out textures are already brushing against that limit. It's fine today, but in two or three years you might find yourself dialing texture settings down a notch. The 240Hz display is wasted on esports titles if you're not hitting those frame rates, but for fast-paced shooters and competitive games, the panel keeps up beautifully.

The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10 is the most direct competitor. It typically offers similar CPU and GPU options, often with a slightly more restrained design and better reliability scores in our database. The Strix G18 counters with a bigger 18-inch display and that 64GB RAM config, which is rare to find pre-installed. If you want a 16-inch screen and a bit more portability, the Legion is the smarter pick. If you want maximum screen real estate and memory out of the box, the ASUS wins.

The Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max is worth mentioning even though it's not a gaming laptop. It absolutely crushes the Strix G18 in battery life and build quality, and the M4 Max is a monster for video editing and creative work. But it can't run most PC games natively, and macOS is a non-starter for some developers. The HP OMEN Transcend 14 and Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro are much more portable options, but they sacrifice the big screen and raw gaming performance. The MSI Prestige is a creator-focused machine that's lighter but less powerful. For pure gaming and Windows-based creative work on a large display, the Strix G18 is hard to beat in this group.

At $3,549 USD, this is not a casual purchase. That's a lot of money for a laptop, even one with this much RAM and a top-tier CPU. The value question really comes down to what you'd spend on a comparable desktop plus a decent monitor. You could build a tower with similar specs for less, but you'd lose the all-in-one convenience and the 240Hz panel. The 1TB SSD is a bit stingy at this price, especially since 64GB of RAM suggests serious workloads that tend to eat storage. You'll likely want to budget for an external drive or a second internal SSD.

Compared to other high-end gaming laptops, the Strix G18 sits in a competitive range. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10 often lands at a similar price with comparable specs, and Apple's MacBook Pro M4 Max is in a different universe for battery life and build quality, though it's not a gaming machine in the same way. The Strix G18's value is strongest if you specifically want a big-screen Windows gaming laptop with a massive amount of RAM and don't mind the weight.

The ASUS ROG Strix G18 is the kind of laptop that makes you clear off a bigger section of desk before you even open the box. It's an 18-inch desktop replacement built around Intel's Core Ultra 9 275HX, a 24-core chip that sits in the 96th percentile for CPUs in our database, paired with 64GB of DDR5 and an RTX 5070 with 8GB of GDDR7. This config is aimed squarely at people who want a single machine for gaming, content creation, and heavy multitasking without reaching for a desktop tower.

ASUS clearly leaned into the big-screen experience here. The 2560x1600 IPS panel runs at 240Hz, which puts it in the top tier for gaming laptop displays we track. The port selection is also a standout, landing in the 98th percentile, with Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1 FRL, three USB-A ports, and Wi-Fi 7. That's a lot of connectivity for a laptop, even a chunky one.

But there's a trade-off, and it's not subtle. This thing weighs 3.2kg and scores in the 1st percentile for compactness. That's not a typo. It's one of the least portable laptops we've ever ranked. If you're planning to carry it to a coffee shop every day, you'll feel every gram. If it's going to live on a desk and occasionally move rooms, the size starts to make sense.

If you need a laptop you can carry every day, skip this one. The 3.2kg weight and massive 18-inch chassis make it a poor fit for students, commuters, or anyone who works from coffee shops. Look at the HP OMEN Transcend 14 or Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro if portability matters, or the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10 for a more manageable 16-inch gaming laptop with similar power.

Battery life is also an unknown here, and with a 24-core CPU and 240Hz display, it's unlikely to be a marathon runner. If you need all-day unplugged performance, the Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max is the obvious alternative, though you'll give up PC gaming. And if you're on a tighter budget, the $3,549 USD price tag is hard to justify when a desktop with similar specs costs less, assuming you don't need the built-in screen and portability.

If you're a gamer who wants a big, fast screen and doesn't plan to move the laptop often, the Strix G18 is a fantastic choice. The 240Hz panel, RTX 5070, and Core Ultra 9 275HX combine for a genuinely excellent gaming experience at 1440p. The 64GB of RAM is a nice bonus that future-proofs the machine for years of multitasking and creative work.

For creators and developers, the story is similar. The CPU and RAM are the stars here, and the 18-inch display gives you room to work without an external monitor. But if you need to carry your laptop to meetings, classes, or coffee shops, look elsewhere. The 3.2kg weight and 1st percentile compactness score mean this is a desktop replacement in the truest sense. It's a desk-bound machine that happens to have a hinge.