Structure’s primary specialty is its dedication to modular, upgradeable, repairable laptop computers. The jury’s still out on early 2024’s Framework Laptop 16 and mid-2025’s Framework Laptop 12, neither of which has actually seen a hardware refresh, however up until now, the business has actually launched half a lots versions of its flagship Framework Laptop 13 in less than 5 years. If you purchased among the originals right when it initially released, you might go to Framework’s website, purchase a brand new motherboard and RAM, and get a considerable upgrade in efficiency and other abilities without needing to alter anything else about your laptop computer.

Structure’s laptop computers have not been embraced as industry-wide requirements, however in numerous methods, they appear developed to show the versatility and modularity that has actually drawn me to desktop PCs for more than twenty years.

That’s what makes the Framework Desktop so odd. Not just is Framework browsing into an item classification where its primary development and specialty is absolutely unneeded. It’s really doing that with a desktop that’s less upgradeable and modular than any offered self-built desktop PC.

The Framework Desktop has a great deal of intriguing style touches, and it’s immediately a much better buy than the strange AMD Ryzen AI Max-based mini desktops you can purchase from a number of no-name makers. Aside from being more thoughtful of PC market requirements, the Framework Desktop asks the exact same concern that any gaming-focused small PC does: Do you care about having a little maker so much that you would pay more cash for less efficiency, and for a system you can’t update much after you purchase it?

Style and assembly

My DIY Edition Framework Desktop showed up in a cardboard box that was currently as little or a bit smaller sized than my normal desktop PC, a tiny ITX construct with a devoted GPU inside a 14.67-liter SSUPD Meshlicious case. It’s not a big system, particularly for something that can fit a GeForce RTX 5090 in it. 3 of the 4.5-liter Framework Desktops might fit inside my construct’s case with a little area leftover.

The PC itself is buried a number of layers deep in this box under some side panels and whatever fan you select (Framework uses RGB and non-RGB alternatives from Cooler Master and Noctua, however any 120 mm fan will fit on the heatsink). Even for the DIY Edition, the bulk of it is currently put together: the motherboard remains in the case, a big black heatsink is currently set down atop the SoC, and both the power supply and front I/O ports are currently connected.

The hopeful DIYer generally requires to set up the SSD and the fan to start. Putting in these parts provides you a good refresher course in how the system fits and splits up. The main M. 2 SSD slot is under a little metal heat spreader beside the primary heatsink– loosen up one screw to eliminate it, and install your SSD of option. The system’s opposite panel can be gotten rid of to expose a 2nd M. 2 SSD slot and the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module, letting you set up or change either.

Raise the little manages on the 2 leading screws and loosen them by hand to eliminate them, and the case’s leading panel slides off. This supplies much easier access to both the CPU fan header and RGB header, so you can link the fan after you install it and its plastic shroud on top of the heatsink. That’s basically it for assembly, aside from moving the different panels back in location to close the important things up and re-installing the leading screws (or, if you purchased or printed one, including a manage to the top of the case).

Structure consists of a beefier variation of its normal screwdriver with the Desktop, consisting of a bit that can be taken out and reversed to be changed in between Phillips and Torx heads. The iFixit-style set up directions are plainly composed and consist of lots of high-resolution sample images so you can constantly inform how things are supposedto appearance.

The front of the system needs some assembly, too, however all of this things can be eliminated and changed quickly without opening the remainder of the system. The front panel, where the system’s personalized tiles can be snapped on and popped off, connects with magnets and can quickly be pried far from the desktop with your fingernails. At the bottom are slots for 2 of Framework’s USB-C Expansion Cards, the exact same ones that all the Framework Laptops usage.

By default, those ports are restricted to 5 Gbps USB transfer speeds in the BIOS, something the system states lowers cordless disturbance; those with all-wired networking and devices can probably make it possible for the complete 10 Gbps speeds without disadvantages. The front ports ought to support all of the Expansion Cards other than for display screen outputs, which they aren’t wired for. (I likewise had problems getting the Desktop to boot from a USB port on the front of the system while setting up Windows, however your mileage might differ; utilizing among the rear USB ports fixed the problem for me.)

Standards, often

What puts the Framework Desktop above tiny PCs from Amazon or the numerous video gaming NUCs that Intel and Asus have actually launched throughout the years is a dedication to requirements.

For factors we’ll check out later on, there was no other way to develop the system around this particular AMD chip without utilizing soldered-on memory. The motherboard is a routine mini ITX-sized motherboard. Other ITX boards will suit Framework’s case, and the Framework Laptop’s motherboard will suit other systems (as long as they can likewise fit the fan and heatsink).

The 400 W power supply complies with the FlexATX requirement. The CPU fan is simply a routine 120 mm fan, and the installing holes for system fans on the front can take any 92 mm fan. The 2 case fan headers on the motherboard are the exact same ones you ‘d discover on any motherboard you purchased for yourself. The front panel ports can’t be utilized for display screen outputs, however anything else should work.

Couple of components of the Framework Desktop are really exclusive, and if Framework failed tomorrow, you ‘d still have a great deal of versatility for purchasing and setting up replacement parts. The issue is that the soldered-down, non-replaceable, non-upgradeable parts are the CPU, GPU, and RAM. There’s at least a little versatility with the graphics card if you move the board into a various case– there’s a single PCIe x4 slot on the board that you might put an external GPU into, though lots of PCIe x16 graphics cards will be bandwidth starved. Left in its initial case, it’s an easy-to-work-on, standards-compliant system that will likewise never ever be any much better or get any faster than it is the day you purchase it.

Hope you like plastic

The interior of the Framework Desktop is constructed of strong metal, attentively formed to offer simple access to each of the ports and elements on the motherboard. My primary beef with the system is the outdoors.

The front and side panels of the Framework Desktop are all constructed of plastic. The clear side panel, if you spring for it, is made from a thick acrylic rather of tempered glass (probably due to the fact that Framework has actually drilled holes in the side of it to enhance air flow).

This isn’t completion of the world, however the sort of premium ITX PC cases that the Desktop is taking on are mainly made from nicer-looking and nicer-feeling metal instead of plastic. It simply feels remarkably low-cost, which was an undesirable surprise– even the plastic Framework Laptop 12 felt strong and premium, something I can’t truly state of the Desktop’s outside panels.

I simulate the style on the front panel– a grid of 21 little square plastic tiles that users can reorganize nevertheless they desire. Structure offers tiles with straight and diagonal lines on them, plus specific tiles with various logo designs or styles printed or embossed on them. If you set up a fan in the front of the system, you’ll wish to adhere to the lined tiles in the leading 9 x 9 area of the grid, which will enable air to travel through. The tiles with images on them are strong– putting a number of them in front of a fan most likely will not injure your air flow excessive, however you will not wish to utilize a lot of.

Structure has actually likewise released fundamental design templates for both the tiles and the leading panel so that those with 3D printers can make their own.

PC testbed notes

We’ve compared the efficiency of the Framework Desktop to a lot of other PCs to offer you a sense of how it accumulates to full-size desktops. We’ve likewise compared it to the Ryzen 7 8700G in a Gigabyte B650I Aorus Ultra mini ITX motherboard with 32GB of DDR5-6400 to reveal the very best efficiency you can anticipate from a likewise sized socketed desktop system.

Where possible, we’ve likewise consisted of some numbers from the M4 Pro Mac mini and the M4 Max Mac Studio, 2 compact desktops in the exact same basic rate variety as the Framework Desktop.

For our video game criteria, the devoted GPU outcomes were collected utilizing our GPU testbed, which you can check out in our most current devoted GPU evaluation. The incorporated GPUs were certainly checked with the CPUs they’re connected to.

Efficiency and power

Our Framework-provided evaluation system was the highest-end alternative; it has a 16-core Ryzen AI Max +395 processor, 40 graphics cores, and 128GB of RAM. At $1,999 before including an SSD, a fan, an OS, front tiles, or Expansion Cards, this is the very best, most costly setup Framework deals. The $1,599 setup utilizes the very same chip with the exact same efficiency, however with 64GB of RAM rather.

All 16 of those CPU cores are based upon the Zen 5 architecture, with none of the smaller-but-slower Zen 5c cores. Its overall TDP is likewise restricted to 120 W in overall, which will hold it back a bit compared to socketed 16-core desktop CPUs like the Ryzen 9 9950X, which has a 170 W default TDP for the CPU alone.

In our screening, it appears clear that the CPU throttles when being entrusted with extensive multi-core work like our Handbrake test, with temperature levels that surge to around 100 degrees Celsius and hang out at around or simply under that number throughout of our trial run. The CPU plan utilizes right around 100 W usually (this will differ based upon the tests you’re running and for how long you’re running them), compared to the 160 W and 194 W that the 12- and 16-core Ryzen 9 9900X and 9950X can take in at their default power levels.

Those are socketed desktop chips in big cases being cooled by big AIO watercooling loops, so it’s barely a reasonable contrast. The Framework Desktop’s CPU is likewise rather effective, utilizing even less power to achieve our video encoding test than the 9950X in its 105 W Eco Mode. This is the repercussion of focusing on a little size– a 16-core processor that, under heavy loads, carries out more like a 12-core or even an 8-core desktop processor.

The benefit is that the Framework Desktop is quieter than many desktops either under load or when idling. By default, the primary CPU fan will shut off completely when the system is under light load, and I typically saw it parking itself when I was simply searching or moving files around.

Based upon our video gaming tests, the Framework Desktop ought to be a proficient 1080p-to-1440p midrange video gaming system. We observed comparable efficiency from the Radeon 8060S incorporated GPU when we evaluated it in the Asus ROG Flow Z13 tablet. For an incorporated GPU, it’s head and shoulders over anything you can get in a socketed desktop system, and it quickly ran 3 or 4 times faster than the Radeon 780M in the 8700G. The soldered RAM is irritating, however the additional speed it allows assists attend to the memory bandwidth issue that starves most incorporated GPUs.

Compared to other desktop GPUs, however, the 8060S is simply great. It’s typically a little slower than the last-generation Radeon RX 7600 XT, a card that cost $329 when it released in early 2024– and with an efficiency struck that’s somewhat more noticable in video games with ray-tracing impacts on.

The 8060S accumulates OK to older midrange GPUs like the GeForce RTX 3060 and 4060, however it’s comfortably beaten by the RTX 5060 or the 16GB variation of the Radeon RX 9060 XT, cards presently readily available for $300-to-$ 400. (One issue for the 8060S– it’s based upon the RDNA3.5 architecture, so it’s missing out on ray-tracing efficiency enhancements presented in RDNA4 and the RX 9000 series).

All of that stated, the GPU might be more fascinating than it searches paper for individuals whose work require gobs and gobs of graphics memory however who do not always require that memory to be connected to the blazing-fastest GPU that exists. For individuals running specific AI or artificial intelligence work, the 8060S’s combined memory setup implies you can get a GPU with 64GB or 128GB of VRAM for less than the cost of a single RTX 5090 (Framework states the GPU can consume to 112GB of RAM on the 128GB Desktop). Structure is marketing that usage case quite thoroughly, and it provides a guide to establishing big language designs to run in your area on the system.

That memory would likely be evenmore beneficial if it were connected to an Nvidia GPU rather of an AMD design– Nvidia’s hang on the workstation graphics market is at least as tight as its hang on the video gaming GPU market, and numerous apps and tools support Nvidia GPUs and CUDA first/best/only. It’s still one possible advantage the Framework Desktop may use, relative to a desktop with a devoted GPU.

You can’t state it isn’t special

In one method, Framework has actually done the very same thing with the Desktop that it has actually made with all its laptop computers: discovered a specific niche and constructed an item to fill it. And with its standard-size parts and basic ports, the Framework Desktop is a clear cut above every Intel video gaming NUC or Asus ROG thingamajig that’s ever existed.

I’m constantly impressed by the imagination, consideration, and attention to information that Framework gives its builds. For the Desktop, this is partly balanced out by just how much I do not care for the majority of its inexpensive plastic-and-acrylic outside. It’s still attentively developed on theinsidewith as much regard for requirements, modularity, and repairability as you can get, as soon as you surpass that entire thing where that the significant practical parts are all irrevocably soldered together.

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