Your typical desktop PC has lengthy been customizable and simple to repair. So, why is Framework Laptop—the corporate finest identified for its ultra-upgradable laptops—increasing into this well-established market?
It’s straightforward to grasp after you see, contact, and take a look at out the Framework Desktop, which the corporate simply introduced. The product stands other than a typical tower desktop PC as a result of it’s compact, well-built, and transportable sufficient to suit it right into a backpack. And its concentrate on processing and graphics energy, by way of a much-anticipated Ryzen AI chip, might put it properly forward of a lot of the mini PC crowd.
How the Framework Desktop Feels
The compact design is a part of the enchantment to the Framework Desktop, which is simple to hold with one hand. (Framework will even promote an optionally available deal with.) It’s basically a Mini-ITX-form-factor desktop that feels prefer it weighs round 10 kilos.
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The product can also be sturdy, with each half fastidiously packed into the chassis. The truth is, the enclosure is so efficient at enclosing that I initially struggled to open it. The highest of the case has two flip-top fasteners that you just untwist, letting you entry the innards of the PC. The entrance face itself is simple to take away; it attaches by way of magnets.
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“We designed the Framework Desktop to be the simplest PC you can construct,” Framework’s founder and CEO, Nirav Patel, mentioned on the Framework Desktop’s reveal occasion.
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Most desktop PCs are already upgradable and repairable to a better or lesser extent, so Framework included some parts that help you customise the Framework past the norm. For one, the PC’s entrance panel options a number of small plastic tiles you’ll be able to exchange individually to point out off completely different colours, symbols, and logos—virtually like Jibbitz for Crocs sandals…
(Credit score: Framework Laptop)
The corporate additionally consists of two of its Growth Card bays alongside the underside fringe of the case; these settle for customizable I/O modules that allow you to change out which ports the PC chassis has at a given second. (Right here, we have twin USB-C.)
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Going Contained in the Framework Desktop
On the draw back, the Framework Desktop doesn’t have sufficient area for a devoted graphics card. As an alternative, it depends on an built-in AMD Radeon 8060S GPU, which is a part of its AMD Ryzen AI processor (extra about that in a second). As well as, the LPDDR5x RAM has been soldered onto the motherboard, so clients received’t have the ability to swap in new reminiscence.
However exterior of that, patrons can anticipate a PC with a typical mixture of ports and a few commonplace parts. The (non-modular) port loadout on the again is 2 USB4 Kind-C, two USB-A, two DisplayPorts, an HDMI output, and a 5Gbps Ethernet jack. The cooling for the system was developed in live performance with Cooler Grasp and Noctua, and is anchored by an oversize 120mm CPU fan in Noctua’s signature beige and maroon. (You may see it with the aspect off, dominating the inside.)
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The motherboard, in accordance with Framework, is a typical Mini-ITX design with a laptop-grade Ryzen AI Max CPU built-in. (Framework notes that it makes use of commonplace headers and can work in different Mini-ITX cases.) It has a PCI Specific x4 slot (although the Framework case has no bracket for mounting any enlargement playing cards) and two PCIe NVMe M.2 slots for as much as 16TB of storage and Wi-Fi connectivity (the latter by way of an M.2 module).
(Credit score: Framework Laptop)
The ability provide is uncommon; it is a semi-custom 400-watt unit within the Flex ATX, versus SFX, kind issue.
Advisable by Our Editors
In fact, the massive take a look at would be the Framework Desktop’s efficiency, contemplating the AMD Ryzen AI Max chip inside was really designed for laptops and tablets. To try to allay this concern, Framework’s occasion in San Francisco had a number of Desktop items set as much as host an old-school LAN celebration, they usually gave the impression to be working easily.
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In the course of the occasion, AMD added that its Ryzen AI Max chip is so potent that it guarantees to run any sport you would like at as much as 1440p with excessive element settings. (We’re wanting ahead to testing it in upcoming PCs like this one, and the 2025 Asus ROG Flow Z13.) Taking part in Elden Ring on a Framework Desktop on the LAN, graphics high quality and body charges held their heads surprisingly excessive. I am now excited to see how the Framework Desktop fares in opposition to gaming PCs with discrete GPUs. Keep tuned for our full evaluate of the Desktop; we’re wanting ahead to the Ryzen AI Max in it and in choose laptops and tablets.
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The Takeaway: An Attention-grabbing Mini PC Worth Proposition
Within the meantime, Framework is accepting pre-orders for the Framework Desktop, with shipments scheduled for Q3. (The Framework web site had a several-minutes-long queue for hours following the corporate’s occasion.) Framework might be asking $1,999 for the highest Framework Desktop configuration, which incorporates AMD’s tip-top Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor and 128GB of reminiscence.
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Throughout its unveiling, Framework identified that this top-end configuration is greater than $2,000 cheaper than a equally configured Apple Mac Studio. The bottom mannequin, however, is priced at $1,099 for an eight-core Ryzen AI Max 385 with 32GB of RAM. Come again to PCMag for our full evaluate of the Framework Desktop because the launch time will get nearer.
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About Michael Kan
Senior Reporter
