For a balance of performance and portability, the Dell XPS 13 Plus is a strong contender. It offers a high-resolution OLED touchscreen with vibrant colors and a taller aspect ratio, making it excellent for general use and content consumption. Its compact size and lightweight design enhance portability, ideal for on-the-go professionals. While it's suitable for light gaming and creative tasks, it may not match the Asus's raw power for intensive gaming or engineering workloads.
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D, on the other hand, is a powerhouse designed for high-end gaming and demanding engineering applications. Its larger screen with a higher refresh rate is ideal for fast-paced action, and the dedicated Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU provides top-tier performance in 3D rendering and machine learning tasks. However, its size and weight make it less travel-friendly, and the battery life is significantly shorter than the Dell's.
If you prioritize performance for gaming or engineering tasks and don't mind a bulkier, less portable laptop, the Asus is the way to go. However, if you value a lighter, more portable device with a superior screen for everyday tasks and can compromise on heavy-duty performance, the Dell XPS 13 Plus is the better choice. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D
Excellent for engineering and design
Excellent for gaming and AI
Advantages of the Dell XPS 13 Plus
Very good for software development
Very good overall build quality
Excellent portability
Very good battery life
Best in class speakers
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
Gaming and AI
9.2/10
6.4/10
9.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.8/10
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
6.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.7/10
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D is excellent for gaming and AI, while the Dell XPS 13 Plus is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
9.1/10
8.2/10
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
9.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.8/10
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D is excellent for engineering and design, while the Dell XPS 13 Plus is very good.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Screen Quality
8.3/10
8.4/10
17.3in
SIZE
13.4in
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
350.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
374.0 nits
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D has a better screen than the Dell XPS 13 Plus for gaming and AI, while the Dell XPS 13 Plus has a better screen for general use, engineering and design, and content creation.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
3.0 Hours
10.0 Hours
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D has 3 hours of battery life. The Dell XPS 13 Plus has 10 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Poor
Excellent
17.3in
SIZE
13.4in
6.6 lbs
WEIGHT
2.7 lbs
1.1in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has excellent portability, while the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D has poor portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.4/10
8.5/10
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has very good build quality, while the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$3,500
$1,849
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
$4,000
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D has a price of $3,500 and the Dell XPS 13 Plus costs $1,849.
The Dell XPS 13 Plus and Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D are both very good for general use.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Content Creation
8.2/10
8.3/10
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
The Dell XPS 13 Plus and Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D are both very good for content creation.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
7.9/10
8.3/10
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Dell XPS 13 Plus to be very good for software development, while the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D is good.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
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We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D and the Dell XPS 13 Plus compare to other laptops
"The XPS 13 Plus is powerful, but has its drawbacks. Dell did not only update the processor generation, but also decided to offer two completely different models from now on. The XPS 13 Plus gets the faster Intel Alder Lake-P chips, and the Core i7-1260P in our review unit offers good performance figures. However, the device once again shows the problems of the current Intel CPUs, because the high performance requires a lot of power. This affects the battery runtime as well as temperatures, so the new model (even with the Optimized power profile) is louder than the older model."
Get a great deal on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D or the Dell XPS 13 Plus
About ASUS
ASUS, a Taiwanese electronics brand, is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. The majority of their laptops are targeted towards personal use or gaming. Their most popular product lines include the budget-friendly VivoBook, more premium ZenBook, and their TUF and ROG gaming laptops, the latter of which has a reputation for excellent gaming performance.
About Dell
Dell is a highly recognizable American technology company, and is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. Their laptops are very popular for both personal and professional use, and they also own the Alienware brand which makes mid to high end gaming laptops. Their premium XPS range of laptops offer great build quality and portability, while Latitude and Precision laptops are known for reliability, repairability and performance for business users.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
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Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.