Announcing the Framework Laptop 13 powered by AMD Ryzen™ 7040 Series Processors (Really this time)

Framework Team
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AMD Ryzen processor

When we announced the Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen™ 7040 Series) in March at the Framework Next Level Event, we were only able to share a very limited set of information on what is powering it. With the processors now officially unveiled by AMD, we’re able to share much more detail. We’re using Ryzen 5 7640U and Ryzen 7 7840U processors, both of which offer incredible CPU and GPU performance. These are both pre-orderable today, with batches shipping as early as Q3 this year.

The Ryzen 5 7640U processor has 6 CPU cores clocked at a base frequency of 3.5GHz and up to a max boost of 4.9GHz, while the Ryzen 7 7840U has an amazing 8 cores and 16 processing threads clocked at a base of 3.3GHz and up to 5.1GHz max boost. These are all Zen 4 cores, which feature AMD’s fastest processor technology ever. These chips are fabricated on TSMC’s 4nm process node, meaning that even with such high performance, they are also extremely efficient. We’ve designed the thermal system to be able to handle the processors at up to 28W continuous load if you need to do some heavy crunching too.

AMD Ryzen 5

Ryzen-powered Framework Laptop users are also in for a treat when it comes to graphics performance. The Ryzen 7040 Series processors feature the latest generation AMD Radeon 700M Series graphics, the first AMD RDNA 3-based integrated graphics. The Ryzen 5 7640U has Radeon 760M graphics with 8 Compute Units while the Ryzen 7 7840U has Radeon 780M graphics with 12 Compute Units. This means the Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen™ 7040 Series) can handle a range of modern game titles directly.

If you want to use an eGPU, you can do that too! This is because the Framework Laptop 13 with Ryzen™ 7040 Series processors has two fully capable USB4 ports, with the back left and back right Expansion Cards slots. The front left Expansion Card slot can handle both USB 3.2 and DisplayPort Alt Mode, while the front right Expansion Card can use USB 3.2. This does mean there is one Expansion Card slot that can’t support the HDMI or DisplayPort Expansion Cards, and most OS’s will provide a warning if you forget. You can charge your Framework Laptop through any of the four Expansion Cards as well.

Like always, we’ve designed the Ryzen™ 7040 Series-based Mainboard for maximum flexibility. You can upgrade your existing 11th Gen or 12th Gen Intel Core Framework Laptop using the new Mainboard, and you can use the Mainboard as a standalone computer, putting it in the Cooler Master Mainboard Case or 3D printing your own. If you’re upgrading your Framework Laptop to the new Mainboard, remember that you’ll need DDR5 SO-DIMMs up to DDR5-5600, along with a Ryzen-compatible RZ616 or similar WiFi card. All of these are pre-orderable in the Framework Marketplace today!

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Glad to finally find out the specs of them, and they sound amazing!

Question though: do these utilize the AI portion that was announced earlier this year?

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Finally an official announcement!

Looks like Framework’s launch cycles are getting faster.

Guess I am hoping for Meteor Lake to be released end of this year for comparison between the 7840 APU and an i7 Meteor Lake.

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Awesome! Can’t wait to see numbers on battery life.

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Now that the full specs are out, can you share whether the Framework boards will support ECC? This is down to wiring and firmware support as the CPUs themselves do support it.

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Called it, not that there were many options anyway.

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Yup!
I’m just happy it isn’t the R5 7540U though!

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Any change that there might be an AMD-based Chromebook? I realize these are just announced and it would require a new motherboard too. Just wondered if that’s in the plans at all.

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Nothing announced for future Chromebook plans at this time. Should that change, we’ll let the Community know.

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Thanks for providing these updates!

two fully capable USB4 ports, with the back left and back right Expansion Cards slots. The front left Expansion Card slot can handle both USB 3.2 and DisplayPort Alt Mode, while the front right Expansion Card can use USB 3.2. This does mean there is one Expansion Card slot that can’t support the HDMI or DisplayPort Expansion Cards, and most OS’s will provide a warning if you forget.

Please forgive my ignorance here :slight_smile: are these ports Thunderbolt-compatible?

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Thunderbolt4 is usb4 with all optionals required and an intel cert, the usb4 in the amd chips is usb4 with all optionals but no intel cert (likely won’t get one either XD).

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I have some questions regarding the Framework Laptop 13 with the 7840U.
Are we going to get an option with LPDDR5X memory?
What is the max supported DDR5 RAM speed, is the BIOS unlocked to use in the future faster RAM as becomes available?

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I’d very much like to see benchmarks for the Radeon 760M; so far it doesn’t seem like it offers that much of an improvement over the 660M graphics, which aren’t much better than Iris Xe graphics with 80EU.

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Just out of curiosity, will this AMD have the AI chip that was announced in January?

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That would need to be soldered, so probably no.

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Yes, both chips have it on the die.

Almost impossible, it’s directly opposite to their ethos. That being said, the slowdown from the soldered 7500 to 5600 has shown to be around 10% max, not deal breaking.

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This is extremely exiting for an ultrabook-style laptop! I am so extremely excited for my Batch 2 pre-order! Obvously this won’t do high or ultra graphics on some newer AAA titles, but for some quick fast gaming or more fun work on the fly, this is very very good news. Yet again has Framework worked to get the best possible that they can for their customers and I am all for it!

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Why is the RAM so slow? 5600MHz is woefully inadequate for this APU.

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That’s the price we have to pay to have socketed ram instead of soldered, and I pay it gladly.

From the benchmarks that are out so far the performance hit isn’t as bad as expected.

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if you feel that 5600MHz is not fast enough for your use case and having socketed RAM isn’t a good enough tradeoff, I’m sure there will be other laptops with faster memory.

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