I’ve already placed my pre-order for the Framework 16 laptop with the AMD cpu. Just curious if there are any plans down the road to include the latest 7945HX3D that was announced recently?
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Sadly Framework’s plans are generally completely opaque before when pre-ordering starts! I believe nrp has mentioned that this is due to them not wanting to let expectations down if complications arise in early stages (where they are more likely to!)
None have been announced, but I doubt it.
The 7945hx3d is essentially a desktop 7950x3d except in a laptop form factor. That has several major downsides compared to laptop chips.
The 3 main downsides are:
- Most AMD desktop CPUs are divided into multiple smaller chips internally. This has the upside of making it cheaper and easier for AMD to scale CPUs to higher core counts, however the downside is that the communication between those multiple chips is somewhat power intensive, which is why most laptop CPUs are a single chip for better battery life.
- Most AMD laptop CPUs use the latest and greatest manufacturing processes (currently TSMC 4nm) to achieve maximum efficiency. Most AMD desktop CPUs on the other hand use slight older manufacturing processes (currently TSMC 5nm and 6nm) for cost savings.
- Most AMD laptop CPUs have resonably powerful integrated GPUs. Most AMD Desktop CPUs on the other hand expect that the user will be using a dedicated GPU and as such have much weaker integrated GPUs, forcing more users to buy a graphics module to get acceptable performance.
All together that means that a 7945hx3d would result in significantly worse battery life, higher heat output (more than the Framework 16’s current cooling system is rated for, likely requiring major changes), and crippled iGPU performance compared to the CPUs Framework currently offers.
It’s possible that Framework could offer it in the future, however I suspect for the time being they are likely focused on other things such as offering more GPU options.
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Not sure why @Kyle_Reis is rambling about desktop processors when the OP is only talking about the new mobile (laptop) processor from AMD.
Anyway, This would be a definite upgrade for me if it ever comes out on a framework mainboard. The AMD 3D chips are amazing for gaming.
As I stated in the first sentence of my reply, the new “laptop” processor from AMD is actually essentially what AMD would normally consider a desktop processor (based on design and features) except designed to be soldered (like a laptop CPU) rather than socketed (like a desktop CPU).
That’s why it matters. Even though it’s marketed as a laptop CPU, the 7945hx3d has all the same disadvantages as using a desktop CPU in a laptop.
Edit to add:
When comparing to their normal desktop CPUs or to Intel desktop CPUs they are quite good.
However in a laptop comparing the 7945hx3d to the 7840hs/7940hs that Framework already offers could easily go either way depending on the game and laptop’s cooling.
Between the reasons I already explained above and the fact that the 3d cache sits between the cores and the cooler the 7945hx3d is likely to have much higher cooling demands than the 7840hs/7940hs.
When constrained to the limited cooling capabilities of a laptop that could result in the 7945hx3d having to slow down to much lower frequencies than a 7840hs/7940hs in order to keep temperatures under control, which will hurt performance.
Also, the 7945hx3d is split into multiple chips internally (like AMD desktop CPUs), which means that the cores and memory controller are on separate chips. This adds additional hops and performance penalties for the cores to communicate with system ram, reducing ram performance. One of the main benefits of cache (incl 3d cache) is that it helps make up for slow ram.
Most AMD laptop CPUs (ex. 7840hs/7940hs) however aren’t split into multiple chips, which means they can communicate with the ram faster. So they effectively already get some of the same benefits as 3d cache achieves (faster access to data that the CPU needs).
Combine all those together I severely doubt that the 7945hx3d would get meaningfully better gaming performance than a 7940hs in thermally constrained situations such as a resonably thin and quiet laptop.
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https://www.amd.com/en/product/13556
Ya, TDP 55W-75W will be challenging. FW16 has a cooling power of 45W. I don’t think 75W is feasible in the current case, so even if they figured how to improve cooling in the formfactor, you would be at the lower end of the TDP.
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Please re-read his comment, he goes into great detail about exactly why he is talking about the AMDs desktop CPUs and the manufacturing methods behind it.
His comments are absolutely relevant to this discussion and he does a very good job of explaining why this particle chip is not likely to be seen in the Framework 16.
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Maybe once Framework is a larger company it will be feasible, but right now the idea is to keep it as simple as possible while maintaining modularity and repairability. Maybe the cooling solution in the Framework 16 could handle the 7945hx3d if it was limited to 50 or 55 watts and the fan curve was really maxed out, but to ensure a parity of experience they would have to include the gpu module because the 7945hx3d has an incredibly bare bones GPU in the form of the Radeon 610m compared the the 7840/7940’s Radeon 780m.
Give framework time to grow and keep making suggestions. What is more in demand is what is more likely to be incorporated into future products.
Sorry I didn’t respond sooner, but thankful for all of the replies. Makes sense that the main factor is cooling limitations, given the compact size of the overall device.
Just got my Framework 16 in with the AMD Radeon™ RX 7700S graphics card, and I can definitely see that it would be challenging to cool a more beefier card, given how loud the fans sound when I max out the graphics on this one.
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