@Joe_Name
If you wish to use ROCm, you might find this thread useful:
I haven’t actually watched the event. What is this key module that everyone keeps talking about?
Now that I’m watching the LTT video, I’m wondering if I can buy the Framework Desktop case only. It’s a really cool ITX case.
There is a Typo when you go to order a FW 13 Ryzen AI 7 350
“8 Core / 12 Threads” ??? 16 Threads maybe?
They already fixed a different typo with the Ryzen 5 saying 2.8K in the DIY configurator.
It’s literally a key (as in a keyboard key) for the spacers on the sides of the Framework 16 laptop.
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After having a few hours to digest the info and watch/read a few articles/videos and compare prices, I figure I am going to wait to buy the FW16 when it gets the ortholinear keyboard option.
I am really tempted to get the prior generation FW13 AMD at the new lower price, but the price difference is not large enough between it and the pre-order AMD models. If I’m going to have to wait for the pre-order FW13, might as well wait a bit longer for the FW16 and any possible improvements to it that may happen while waiting.
I really like the FW12, but I already have a StarLabs StarLite Mk. V, which is close enough (it’s a tablet with detachable keyboard cover, touchscreen, and pen).
I have zero interest in the FW Desktop. If I’m going to buy/build a desktop for AI or gaming, it will have desktop-class processors, a big cooler, a case large enough to fit a full-length GPU like a 3-fan RTX 4090 or RTX 5090, and a high-wattage power supply. This coming from a guy who has a Teenage Engineering Computer-1 case that is very similar in size to the FW Desktop (they both have a grab handle on top too).
UPDATE: I put down a $100 deposit on the FW 13 pre-order in Batch 2. The CPU jump is too nice, and I think it will be at least a couple of years for FW16 to work out its kinks. Plus, I have zero interest in FW16 until that ortholinear keyboard option is actually purchaseable. Until then, I can use an FW13 with a external Preonic keyboard. Combined, the weight may still be lower than one FW16.
Nirav said that we have a long roadmap and we’re just getting started for the Framework Laptop 16, only 5 times.
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so updates:
framework 13? don’t care. mine is brand new as of nov. and for the moment, overpowered. I consider AI to be an active negative. hopefully by the time I need a new main board for this one the computer industry will have either given up and moved on to stuff that actually works, or made it functional enough to be worth something. I’ll probably buy some of the shiny plastic bits sooner or later though.
framework 16? not a thing. that pretty much pushes my plans for getting one back a year. not interested in buying the current mainboard unless the prices drop hard. I do still plan to get one, but not for a while yet.
framework desktop? pass. I can see some potential for the future, it might be nice to use that for old FW13/16 boards,(if that’s an option) and in a few years when I’m actually looking for a new desktop, the math may work out in favor of getting one, but for now, not for me.
framework 12? unless the price is absurd, SOLD!. I do have to wonder why they switched from DDR5 5600 to 5200, especially since the chips are exactly the same size, and the 5200 seems to be more expensive. 2230 vs 2280 is annoying, but makes sense.
it’ll be a few months before I can afford new shinies, but FW12 is at the top of my list.
There is a reason i said “strix halo equivalent or better”. Also they can get more PCIe lanes from the chipset, as is the case with stuff like X670E etc. Either way, it was a wishlist considering the future development of FW16, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a Strix Halo successor arrived with sufficient PCIe lanes.
Framework Desktop is a product in search of a problem that breaks Framework ethos. For a company that claims to care about sustainability, a soldered ocean boiling CPU and soldered memory goes against that. Based on CEO’s comments about AMD coming to Framework with hypecycle wares and changing Framework’s development timelines and priorities it’s likely AMD also invested in the chassis development or offered some bulk discount on the “AI” 300 series if Framework made a product using the “AI” Max chipset. No self respecting professional creative I know as a peer or friend is pining about if only they had a CPU that could better use for-profit tech from this current hypecycle’s tech that’s trained on illegally stolen material that can’t even hold a copyright on the output. That the CEO references San Francisco scene talking about DeepSeek is very telling that it’s just choosing to chase hypecycle techbros at the direction of AMD rather than actual creatives and consumers across the world. Based on the flood of “fake frames lolllll” comments from gamers in the Youtube stream gamers also look to be of a similar mindset about it being a wash product.
Framework 12 launch is interesting. Brings at least one product into having full chassis colors outside of gunmetal and a 2-in-1 design. Would have been nice to upgrade my 8 year old Yoga into a completely transparent Bubblegum Framework 13 2-in-1, but I’ll have to wait to see if maybe they’ll roll it into next year’s 13 after collecting feedback from the 12’s launch.
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answered my own question, DDR5 5200 is because it’s 13th gen intel, mine is ultra core, so, while annoying that I can’t just pop out the second 48gb chip from my 13 for the 12, it’s not just an excuse to make me spend more
AI ethical concerns are real. Calling it is all hype is not a fair assessment. Most models are basically a portable repository of human knowledge you can ask general questions to. When working on projects that require privacy googling stuff is a real no no. Healthcare also comes to mind. Current “AI”, transformers really, has some very splid use cases the issue is most people want to think of it like general purpose human level artoficla reasoning, shich is not.
I have been running in in a DIY self hosted server and on my FW13 for a while and when used the right way it makes me a lot more productive.
A lot of the marketing went the gaming route I think as a hedge. I think that was the wrong approach because who wants a $2k ps5? But a small machine learning/workstation/side gaming might be niche but makes sense.
When building desktops I try to make them as silent as possible the fan noise is way too distracting and I can’t wear headphones for 8+ hours when working. Im the sort of person that works best in sprints one day I might do nothing the next a finish my week’s tasks in a 8+ workday.
If i want 90+gb of vram at a reasonable price I gotta buy old hardware which will probably also be slowish compared to newer. 4080s/90s have been way too expensive, workstation GPUs too. The 5000 series had a paper launch and it is 3k plus a piece if yiu can find one.
I would argue the 395+ is desktop performance with a lot of the negatives taken off. I really dont want a tower mid tower size portable space heater.
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AI hype is a pretty fair assessment. If Air Canada is found legally liable for their enterprise tier “AI” chatbot lying about their own return policy to customers or law firms being fined over fake AI generated cases, why should anyone trust and pay an unnecessary premium for an “AI” branded CPU to lie to them about healthcare best practices or anything else? Any sensible company with a half decent legal team and a brand reputation has been finding out they are not immune from the liability and shilling their use of “AI” to investors is not worth the cost. General consumers are also not interested in “AI” if surveys are to be believed.
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Very few people actually think that you’re discontinuing the 16—you were pretty clear on that in the keynote. The problem is that “we have a long roadmap ahead” gives literally no other information. I don’t know whether you’re releasing the next update in three months or three years, and I need that information to inform my behavior as a buyer. If it’s three months, I’ll wait. If it’s three years, I need to buy another laptop. Giving nothing of substance means your prospective buyers are just burning goodwill until a date comes out, and there’s a sizable number of people who WANT a 16 but will be forced to buy something else because they have no timeline guarantee and need to buy a laptop at some point in the near future.
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This is it exactly, then hearing how the roadmap got a shuffle for the desktop instead leaves me as a FW16 owner in the dark and wondering if we paid the price so desktop could exist.
I have no problem with the desktop personally, and the FW12 seems rather nice, but the inclusion of FW16 in the event was showing others work, and a single key module most of us do not care about.
The upside is I have no buyers remorse for having grabbed my FW16 just under 6 months ago and continue to love it, just feels a bit of a disappointing showcase as a FW16 owner, but I continue to look forward to the future of framework as a company, which makes me feel better about my FW16, so the products shown are probably the right course overall, just still sucks a bit for us.
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Does anyone have details on AMD giving away a hundred of those framework desktops? I’m a support crew member with the open source immich project and I’m helping one of the devs with implementing rocm support in immich. The dev I’m helping is attempting to patch ONNX’s longstanding issue with parallelization and caching but doesn’t have an AMD GPU so I’m testing these changes.
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hm, was hoping for bit different things…
the new mainboard for the FW13 is cool and rhe ryzen 9 would be the way ro go if my FW wouldnt be so fresh…
but i was hoping hard for a eGPU (case) and some new expansion cards… (and no… a new transluzent case is not a new card…)
In general way too much AI nonsense…
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The new desktop was clearly a contract work for AMD, as Nirav said, they squeezed it in in their road map and he isn’t happy about the soldered RAM either. AMD needed a partner to bring their new SOC to live and they teamed up with Framework. This is good news for Framework, even if they don’t sell much of these desktops, because this means, they will have early access to future AMD products to integrate in their laptops.
All in all, it wasn’t a “huge” event for costumers, but the team up with AMD was huge for the company.
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The new desktop, let’s be honest about this, is nothing but a fancy gaming device.
It is designed to allow people buying it under the pretext of “needing” it for a secret important AI project. 
But it will end up as a gaming desktop PC, you know.
Unfortunately it is also damaging Frameworks brand. Let’s hope this product will remain the exception.