Review editor here. Thank you all for your comments!

Aaron, the score is reflective solely of the machine's performance. It doesn't account for price. If price were not a consideration, this machine is good and would be recommended. However, from a value proposition, there are similar or better machines out there that cost much less. That's why we write up a conclusion of our thoughts; while a laptop may look great on paper, there are more variable facets (like price) that need to be considered.

Overall, the biggest downside to this machine was heat and noise, as some of you mentioned. However, I've recently written up a review of the Asus GL703GE, which uses the same chassis as this machine but swaps out the CPU for a Core i7-8750H and the GPU for a GTX 1050 Ti. In short, gaming performance drops a bit, but heat and noise are MUCH improved. It's still pricey for what it is, though. That review should be published soon.

Quote from: Noblestone on March 05, 2018, 11:00:40
Until they can be bothered to engineer a proper cooling solution they should use Max Q gpu's.

Most gamers would sacrifice a few FPS for less heat and noise.

They should have bothered to engineer a proper cooling system in the first place.

The heating and fan noise issue has been characteristic of the RoG STRIX GL line for a really long while now. I myself own a GL502VM and have undervolted both the CPU and GPU to get much more acceptable temperatures and fan noise (it's way too warm and noisy out of the box).

Until RoG engineers get their head back in the game and design a good cooling system much like what MSI has done with their GE line, recommending a STRIX GL series laptop will always be a toughie for me.

There is a different version of GL703VM that uses the CMN1747 TN panel which indeed has 5ms response time.  That explains the discrepancy; the review unit uses an AHVA panel.

How does a score of 84% indicate a no-brainer, do not recommend verdict?

Next up, GL503VS GTX 1070 "Scar Edition" please.

Until they can be bothered to engineer a proper cooling solution they should use Max Q gpu's.

Most gamers would sacrifice a few FPS for less heat and noise.

I also looking forward to the day when mechanical hard drives are obselete, can't be too long now?