Framework

We dedicated a lot of our launch presentation of Framework Desktop to the Ryzen AI Max processor it uses, and for a good reason. These truly unique, ultra-high-performance parts are the culmination of decades of technology and architecture investments that AMD has made, going all the way back to their acquisition of ATI in 2006. For our first technical deep dive on Framework Desktop, we’re going to go even deeper into Ryzen AI Max and what makes it a killer processor for gaming, workstation, and AI workloads.

What makes Ryzen AI Max special is a combination of three elements: full desktop-class Zen 5 CPU cores, a massive 40-CU Radeon RDNA 3.5 GPU, and a giant 256-bit LPDDR5x memory bus to feed the two, supporting up to 128GB of memory. Chips and Cheese did an excellent technical overview of the processor with AMD that goes even deeper on this, and we’ll pull out some of the highlights along with our own insights. We’ll start with the CPUs. Ryzen AI Max supports up to 16 CPU cores split across two 4nm FinFET dies that AMD calls CCDs. These dies are connected together using an extremely wide, low power, low latency bus across the package substrate. The CPUs are full Zen 5 cores with 512-bit FPUs and support for AVX-512, a vector processing instruction set otherwise only available on Intel’s top end server CPUs. We’re excited for you to see the multi-core performance numbers these CPUs can do in our upcoming press review cycle!

The GPU in Ryzen AI Max is discrete-class, with 40 RDNA 3.5 Compute Units in the Radeon 8060S configuration. For reference, the discrete Radeon 7700S GPU in Framework Laptop 16 has 32 RDNA 3 CUs. The GPU sits on a separate, even larger 4nm FinFET die from the CPU CCDs. This die also carries the large NPU, video encode/decode blocks, 32MB of additional MALL cache, and the memory and peripheral interfaces. The GPU handles essentially all current PC titles well at 1080p with high graphics settings, and most at 1440p as well.

To feed a GPU of this class, the processor needs a ton of memory bandwidth. Mobile and desktop processors like the Ryzen AI 300 Series used in Framework Laptop 13 top out at 128-bit memory buses, and Ryzen AI Max doubles that to 256-bit at 8000 MT/s, enabling a massive 256GB/s of bandwidth. That is similar to the throughput that the discrete 7700S GPU achieves. With eight 32-bit memory packages, the processor can support a colossal 128GB of LPDDR5x. On Windows, up to 96GB can be dedicated to the GPU, and we’ve seen even higher numbers on Linux, making Ryzen AI Max excellent for AI workloads. We’ll have a dedicated deep dive on the AI use case soon.

One tradeoff on the memory though is that fanning out that giant 256-bit memory bus requires the LPDDR5x to be soldered. When we learned about Ryzen AI Max, our first question for AMD was whether using LPCAMM2 was possible to modularize the memory. Instead of immediately saying “No, it’s not possible,” AMD allocated technical architects and engineers to spend days testing out different layouts and running simulations. They then finally concluded that it was in fact not possible without massively downclocking the memory, which would defeat the purpose of having a wide memory bus and large GPU. We accepted the tradeoff of using soldered memory, and unlike some electronics brands, aren’t using that as an excuse to charge obscene sums for higher memory capacity.

What makes Ryzen AI Max especially interesting in the Framework Desktop is that we were able to unlock every bit of its power. Because we use a desktop-style 6-heatpipe heatsink from Cooler Master and a 120mm fan, we can run it at its maximum sustained power of 120W along with 140W boost, while keeping the system quiet. We were also able to break out 2x USB4, 2x DisplayPort, HDMI, and all three PCIe x4 interfaces, two for M.2 SSDs and one as a x4 PCIe slot. All of this makes it great in the tiny Framework Desktop form factor, but also makes it excellent to drop the Mainboard into any standard Mini-ITX case. This is, after all, a standard PC! It’s just one that uses a one-of-a-kind, monstrous processor from AMD. Pre-orders for Framework Desktop are open now, with new orders shipping in Q3.

We’ve been hinting that this year is going to be huge, and we’re ready to share why… in two weeks on Feb 25th, at our Framework (2nd Gen) Event! We’re holding this launch event live in San Francisco and streaming to our YouTube channel at 10:30am Pacific that day. You can sign up now to get notified when the stream starts. The last time we held a live launch event was in March 2023, when we unveiled Framework Laptop 16 and two new versions of Framework Laptop 13. It’s been amazing seeing the interest in these products and the incredible ways the community has been using and extending on them. We’ve been heads down working for the last two years on an even bigger set of announcements.

For this event, in addition to bringing in press and partners, we’re opening a pool of invites to the Framework Community to attend the event in person, meet the team, and get hands on with our newest products. If you’re a current Framework fan and are in the San Francisco area (or are able to handle your own travel to us), you can apply to attend in this sign-up form. We expect we’ll see a lot more interest than we have available seats in our venue, so we’ll likely need to downselect from applicants.

We will be opening pre-orders on at least one new item that day, so if you’re in the market for repairable, upgradeable, long-lasting consumer electronics products, you may want to create an account ahead of time to be ready. We’ve scaled up our e-commerce infrastructure massively, but we expect the site will still be under heavy load.

Five years in, we’re confident that we’re on a fast path to achieving our mission to remake consumer electronics. We’re eager to continue supporting and scaling the ecosystems around our current products, and we’re ready to bring this mission and product philosophy to even more of the world, one category at a time. It’s going to be an awesome day, and all of us in the Framework team can’t wait for you to see what we’ve been working on!

For a hint at what we'll be announcing, head to the event page.

We’re happy to share that DeepComputing’s DC-ROMA RISC-V Mainboard for Framework Laptop 13 is now in stock and shipping in the Framework Marketplace. This is very much a developer-focused board to help accelerate maturing the software ecosystem around RISC-V, so we recommend waiting for future RISC-V products if you’re looking for a consumer-ready experience. We shared more detail on the Mainboard in an earlier blog post and video, but as a quick summary, this is powered by a StarFive JH7110 processor that uses the open source RISC-V ISA. The team at DeepComputing designed it to drop directly into a Framework Laptop 13 chassis or Cooler Master Mainboard Case. They have published setup guides for the hardware and for installing Ubuntu and Fedora.

To make it easier to jump into using a new partner-developed Mainboard or reusing an old one, we’re also introducing the Framework Laptop 13 Shell today. This is a complete Framework Laptop 13 chassis with everything except for the Mainboard, memory, storage, and Wi-Fi. We’re eager to continue making Framework products excellent platforms to extend on. Modularity and open source documentation is good for everyone!

We have a few other updates to share as well:

• We now have massive 8TB WD_BLACK SN850X drives in stock, configurable with our DIY Edition laptops and available in the Marketplace. That means that on Framework Laptop 16 with a Dual M.2 Adapter, you can put in up to 26TB of storage!
• We recently open sourced the mechanical design of the Framework Laptop 16 Graphics Module Shell, and we’re already seeing new modules in development! We’re also starting to see some really exciting Input Module designs come out of the Community, like an e-paper display module.
• We’re continuing to make the entry pricing for Framework products more accessible. For the remaining quantity of 11th Gen Factory Seconds systems with German and British English keyboards, we’ve reduced pricing to a new low of €639 and £549. We also ended up with a limited quantity of Crucial-branded DDR4 modules through a purchasing mix-up, which we’re selling at a discounted price through the Framework Outlet. Conveniently, these are compatible with the Factory Seconds systems.
• We published a couple of new roles on our jobs page, and we’d love to have you or anyone you know help us deliver on this mission!

I saw this on the reddit community and just had to post! If there's a giant "this computer is mine" reason to get a Framework computer, this might be proof of it!

Cory Doctorow is a champion of right-to-repair, digital freedom, and consumer rights. You may have heard of a term he coined a couple of years ago--"enshittification" to describe the pattern where SaaS companies degrade the quality of their service once you're locked in.

Anyway, he was on this Greymatter podcast recently--It's cool to hear that he has a Framework 13" laptop and has repaired it and upgraded it multiple times!

https://www.greymatter.show/episodes/s1e109-cory-doctorow-the-intersection-of-storytelling-and-technology

https://fosstodon.org/@frameworkcomputer/113630037657479706

Hey so it looks like the original creators and mods of this community deleted their accounts, which explains the mystery of their not having said anything for some time :)

The admin of lemmy.ca has made me moderator for now. I hope in the future we'll see others step in to the role as well, as they are willing and able.

I've updated the logo to a higher res (official) image, and added a short community sidebar explainer as follows:

An unofficial community of enthusiasts and fans of the Framework hardware company, known for its modular laptops and other products.

Does that represent us? Any thoughts or additions to consider?

I've been surprised at how hands-on disassembly makes my daughter understand computers better. The fact that she can pull out the memory or SDD, or point to the giant battery, or ask what's under the fan seems to have made her much more curious and interested in learning about computers.

Has anyone else had a teaching moment through being able to open up their laptop easily?

I'm curious if the swappable ports, upgradable and repairable hardware, or some other aspect of the laptop design unlocked something specific for you?

For example: I was surprised to find out that gaming was easier with my mouse when I had the option to move the old USB-A port to the left-hand side, so the mouse cord loops around the back of the laptop and doesn't get in the way. I know, I could get a cordless mouse, but I guess I like classic hardware :D

Another example: There was a bug in the Linux kernel a year or two ago where high DPI screens would go dark intermittently when you had only 1 memory stick (SO-DIMM) in single-channel mode. I think they eventually fixed it, but to speed things up and get a working system for myself right away, I was able to order a 2nd SO-DIMM module and upgrade to 64GB of RAM in dual-channel mode. Gratefully, the problem was solved.

If you have a Framework, have you had similar or perhaps weirder unlocks?

I'm curious what you think our niche is here. There're obviously some much larger communities that focus on Framework hardware. But who are we, and why are we here?

For me, I'm trying to break my Reddit addiction and want to contribute my knowledge to the commons, rather than one corporation's pocketbook.

When I first bought my Framework, I started https://linuxtouchpad.org/ to organize and learn about how to improve Linux support for its touchpad. I feel like I helped a little bit, but not as much as I would have liked.

Intros? Why are you here?

I've been waiting for a few months for the marketplace to get an International English Linux keyboard in stock, as well as the 61Wh battery (both for 13") to upgrade.

Does anyone know what their intent is there? Do you just wait for a bunch of people to batch up with the "Notify Me" list, or do they intend to just keep a few of everything in stock and it's been a bad luck streak for me?

If you're running Windows, what version and why? If Linux, what distro?