For a balance of performance and portability, the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 is a strong contender. It offers a solid upper midrange price point, excellent battery life for all-day use, and a compact design that's easy to carry around. Its AMD Ryzen 7 processor and Radeon 780M graphics are capable of handling a variety of tasks efficiently, making it a versatile choice for general use, light gaming, and business applications. The display, while not the highest resolution, is sharp and color-accurate, suitable for everyday tasks and office work.
On the other hand, if raw power and gaming performance are your priorities and you don't mind a bulkier, more expensive laptop, the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D is the way to go. With its high-end AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX3D processor and Nvidia RTX 4090 graphics, it excels in intensive tasks such as gaming, 3D rendering, and machine learning. The 1440p display with a 240Hz refresh rate and superior color coverage provides an immersive visual experience, especially for fast-paced games and high-resolution content creation. However, its larger size and weight, along with a shorter battery life, make it less ideal for frequent travelers.
In summary, choose the ThinkPad T14 for a blend of productivity, battery life, and portability, suitable for business professionals and students. Opt for the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D if you seek top-tier performance for gaming and demanding applications, and you're willing to compromise on portability and battery life. 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
Very good overall display quality
Advantages of the Lenovo ThinkPad T14
Very good for software development
Very good overall build quality
Very good portability
Good battery life
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
Gaming and AI
9.2/10
6.7/10
9.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.0/10
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
6.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.3/10
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D is excellent for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 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
8.0/10
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.8/10
9.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.0/10
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D is excellent for engineering and design, while the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 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
6.9/10
17.3in
SIZE
14.0in
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
350.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
321.0 nits
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D has a better screen than the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 for general use, gaming and AI, and engineering and design, while the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 has a better screen for content creation.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
3.0 Hours
9.0 Hours
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D has 3 hours of battery life. The Lenovo ThinkPad T14 has 9 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
Very Good
17.3in
SIZE
14.0in
6.6 lbs
WEIGHT
2.9 lbs
1.1in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Lenovo ThinkPad T14 has very good 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
8.0/10
The Lenovo ThinkPad T14 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
$1,241
$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 Lenovo ThinkPad T14 costs $1,241.
The Lenovo ThinkPad T14 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
8.8/10
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Lenovo ThinkPad T14 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
8.8/10
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Lenovo ThinkPad T14 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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How the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D and the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 compare to other laptops
"We like a lot about this laptop. It has many ports, with the inclusion of RJ45-Ethernet as a defining feature. WWAN is upgradable for maximum flexibility and the ThinkPad has many security functions. Working with the ThinkPad input devices is a lot of fun, and Lenovo puts in a serviceable Low Power panel. The AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 7840U delivers a great performance and does not drain the battery fast. Fan noise and temperatures are nothing special, but also far away from bad. With the user replaceable keyboard, the ThinkPad T14 Gen 4 has a special feature rarely present on most modern laptops."
Get a great deal on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D or the Lenovo ThinkPad T14
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 Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
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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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.
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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.
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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.