# Framework Desktop APU Boost behavior/power levels **URL:** \ **Category:** Framework Desktop\ **Created:** [August 20, 2025, 7:20pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317 "2025-08-20T19:20:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dunar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8491ac/32.png) [@dunar](https://community.frame.work/u/dunar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 7:20pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/1 "2025-08-20T19:20:24Z")
Received my Framework Desktop on Monday and been quite impressed with the unit. Running some benchmarks I noticed a unexpected behavior related to the power level and boost behavior. The APU does not seem to boost past 115W and will settle on 100W after a short while. Thermals look decent and far away from any throttling. This seems to be at odds with the product spec that states: “Processor power level: 120W sustained, 140W boost power”. I was not able to spot any setting in the firmware or the AMD software that would influence the power limit. Any tips or hints? ![Screenshot 2025-08-20 185655](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/uploads/framework3/original/3X/3/7/37a59f29e176b7a7586f84cc627652ca321ac5a4.png) ![Screenshot 2025-08-20 185703](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/uploads/framework3/original/3X/2/a/2a575b793409ff492f7a1ba4f5f29c591d388984.png) Framework Desktop Max+ 395 128GB Windows 11 Business 24H2 10.0.26100.4946 fresh install Power Scheme: High performance Drivers: Framework\_Desktop\_AMD\_Ryzen\_AI\_Max\_300\_driver\_bundle\_W11\_v101\_2025\_07\_10 BIOS: 3.02 To rule out something OS related I booted a Fedora 42 live environment and tested with s-tui. Same behavior: 115W boost that drops to 100W. ---
**Author:** ![zaidka](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/community.frame.work/zaidka/32/38603_2.png) [@zaidka](https://community.frame.work/u/zaidka)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 8:27pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/2 "2025-08-20T20:27:07Z")
Some of the early reviews on YouTube also seem to suggest 100W sustained TDP. I hope this is a firmware issue that gets fixed eventually. ---
**Author:** ![dunar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8491ac/32.png) [@dunar](https://community.frame.work/u/dunar)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 6:00am UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/4 "2025-08-21T06:00:42Z")
Seems to be consistent across the workloads. During 3DMark Timespy the APU boosts up to 115W, drops to 100W. Loading with cpuz and FurMark .. same 115W with a drop to 100W. LMStudio with a 16/24 layer offload .. 115W with a drop to 100W. Loading with 18 EVE Online clients .. boost to 115W and settles in the 100W range. ![Screenshot 2025-08-21 073505](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/uploads/framework3/original/3X/7/c/7c86f20b925156cf5dc23b3c342da14f1f64f255.jpeg) ![Screenshot 2025-08-21 072003](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/uploads/framework3/original/3X/d/1/d14dc8788d1dc5abf29a8e7b3b854e95d4ab07a8.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Vestas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/22d042/32.png) [@Vestas](https://community.frame.work/u/Vestas)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 12:55pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/5 "2025-08-21T12:55:04Z")
I do hope we’re not about to discover its the PSU which is the limiting factor. Reviews of other manufacturers Max+ 395 mini-PCs show them working at 140W peak, 120W sustained so this is Framework-specific. It’d be VERY interesting to hear from anyone who bought a motherboard only as to whether they see the same with another PSU. This is basically a deal-breaker for me as the entire reason for the Framework Desktop was to enable Strix Halo to be run at its full potential. Edit - Eve clients don’t generally do much if docked up. Park them all outside Jita 4-4 and see what happens 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Bass](https://community.frame.work/u/Bass)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 2:58pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/6 "2025-08-21T14:58:34Z")
First of all I highly doubt that the PSU is limiting anything here, the 400W unit Framework is providing is already at a much higher capacity than any of the other Strix Halo MiniPCs which are generally in the 200W-250W range. I wouldn’t put too much stock into these numbers being measured from software. The numbers I am seeing here are consistent with what some reviewers have shown, however the best way to measure true power consumption is “from the wall”, and what I have seen is that these measurements are more consistent with the 120W sustained / 140W boosts mentioned in the marketing. But even if these numbers did somehow imply that the APU is not being used to its full potential, what exactly would the performance difference be in real terms? Probably very little. ---
**Author:** ![Vestas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/22d042/32.png) [@Vestas](https://community.frame.work/u/Vestas)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/7 "2025-08-21T15:34:11Z")
The apu power draw is easily read and benchmarks on various OS platforms back it up. > [@Bass](#): > > But even if these numbers did somehow imply that the APU is not being used to its full potential, what exactly would the performance difference be in real terms? Probably very little. May as well put it in a laptop then? ---
**Author:** ![Alexandru\_Stan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/community.frame.work/alexandru_stan/32/4278_2.png) [@Alexandru\_Stan](https://community.frame.work/u/Alexandru_Stan)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 4:26pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/8 "2025-08-21T16:26:22Z")
Have you changed your cpu governor to performance or is it still on balance? That could explain the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Bass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Bass](https://community.frame.work/u/Bass)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 5:26pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/9 "2025-08-21T17:26:48Z")
> [@Vestas](#): > > May as well put it in a laptop then? The version of Strix Halo in laptops is generally ran at considerably lower power limits than this, so even if we believe these are the actual power consumption numbers, the real world performance should be considerably better than the laptop counterparts. ---
**Author:** ![dunar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8491ac/32.png) [@dunar](https://community.frame.work/u/dunar)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 5:53pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/10 "2025-08-21T17:53:36Z")
Thank you for the response. As you asked about the cpu governor I assume you ask about it in Linux. I rebooted into a Fedora live environment, default was set to “powersave”. Changing it to performance did not make an impact .. please excuse the screen photo: ![Screenshot 2025-08-21 195111](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/uploads/framework3/original/3X/8/d/8db401d528e584c71705bf94f14bba0eedfd0b0a.jpeg) Most of my tests were under Windows 11 with power scheme set to “high performance”. I verified PERFEPP and PERFEPP1 in the power plan, both are set correctly: ```auto > powercfg -q SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_PROCESSOR PERFEPP Power Scheme GUID: 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c (High performance) GUID Alias: SCHEME_MIN Subgroup GUID: 54533251-82be-4824-96c1-47b60b740d00 (Processor power management) GUID Alias: SUB_PROCESSOR Power Setting GUID: 36687f9e-e3a5-4dbf-b1dc-15eb381c6863 (Processor energy performance preference policy) GUID Alias: PERFEPP Minimum Possible Setting: 0x00000000 Maximum Possible Setting: 0x00000064 Possible Settings increment: 0x00000001 Possible Settings units: % Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000 Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000 > powercfg -q SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_PROCESSOR PERFEPP1 Power Scheme GUID: 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c (High performance) GUID Alias: SCHEME_MIN Subgroup GUID: 54533251-82be-4824-96c1-47b60b740d00 (Processor power management) GUID Alias: SUB_PROCESSOR Power Setting GUID: 36687f9e-e3a5-4dbf-b1dc-15eb381c6864 (Processor energy performance preference policy for Processor Power Efficiency Class 1) GUID Alias: PERFEPP1 Minimum Possible Setting: 0x00000000 Maximum Possible Setting: 0x00000064 Possible Settings increment: 0x00000001 Possible Settings units: % Current AC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000 Current DC Power Setting Index: 0x00000000 ``` ---
**Author:** ![zaidka](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/community.frame.work/zaidka/32/38603_2.png) [@zaidka](https://community.frame.work/u/zaidka)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 7:19pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/11 "2025-08-21T19:19:30Z")
The choice of governor shouldn’t affect the power limits. I think @Alexandru_Stan was referring to the power mode which you can change from the top right menu. ---
**Author:** ![KaRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e480ec/32.png) [@KaRa](https://community.frame.work/u/KaRa)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 7:48pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/12 "2025-08-21T19:48:07Z")
Could you try with HWInfo and look up both CPU Power and look up these 3 under full load ![obraz](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/uploads/framework3/original/3X/0/1/0180260f2c142c644d82151ead5f85a710abcef6.png) it’s quite possible the Power limit is meant for full SoC, not just the CPU. The IOD will take it’s power share. On Desktop it usually accounts for 30W under load, and this counts towards the socket 200W power limit on 9950x for example. ---
**Author:** ![dunar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8491ac/32.png) [@dunar](https://community.frame.work/u/dunar)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 7:53pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/13 "2025-08-21T19:53:42Z")
Thank you for the clarification. Changing the power profile in Fedora indeed makes a difference. Set to performance its the package power does a quick burst to 150W, about 9 minutes of 140W before dropping to 120W under load. ---
**Author:** ![zaidka](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/community.frame.work/zaidka/32/38603_2.png) [@zaidka](https://community.frame.work/u/zaidka)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 8:05pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/14 "2025-08-21T20:05:59Z")
Curious what the CPU temp settles at when under sustained load at 120W? ---
**Author:** ![dunar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8491ac/32.png) [@dunar](https://community.frame.work/u/dunar)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 8:12pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/15 "2025-08-21T20:12:18Z")
Settled around 79°C, 23°C ambient in the room. ---
**Author:** ![zaidka](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/community.frame.work/zaidka/32/38603_2.png) [@zaidka](https://community.frame.work/u/zaidka)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 8:16pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/16 "2025-08-21T20:16:29Z")
Fantastic, thank you! ---
**Author:** ![dunar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8491ac/32.png) [@dunar](https://community.frame.work/u/dunar)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2025, 7:54am UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/18 "2025-08-22T07:54:26Z")
The equivalent settings are the power scheme and/or power mode. Both were set to “High performance.” Changing to “Balanced” dropped the package power under load to ~55–60 W. I ended up resetting the power schemes, and that made all the difference: boost peaks to 150, ~140 for extended periods, and ~120 sustained for 60+ minutes. The boost behavior is now comparable to Fedora with the power mode set to Performance. I looked at a few YouTube reviews, and it seems I’m not alone: [https://youtu.be/D7BehyQVVbU?t=1259](https://youtu.be/D7BehyQVVbU?t=1259) It might be an artifact of the Windows + driver installation. I’ll try to replicate it over the weekend. Thank you for the rubber ducking. Steps taken: `powercfg -restoredefaultschemes` Reboot, open Settings → System → Power, and change Power mode to “Best performance.” P.S. I can now answer the “what exactly would the performance difference be in real terms?” question: about 12% in synthetic benchmarks and ~8% faster in my real-life workload. ---
**Author:** ![Vestas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/22d042/32.png) [@Vestas](https://community.frame.work/u/Vestas)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2025, 3:11pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/19 "2025-08-23T15:11:49Z")
Thank you very much for coming back with the info. It does rather beg the question as to why Windows power scheme levels are set this way - I presume you did a fresh install etc? My guess is the drivers set it for sustained usage of 100W as they assume its a laptop. Also means a lot of those reviews are invalid as they don’t show peak performance under Windows. Edit - it could be the Adrenaline package on Windows which is doing it. If it reverts to the lower sustained TDP then that’d be my bet. ---
**Author:** ![Jiral](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@Jiral](https://community.frame.work/u/Jiral)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2025, 3:40pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/20 "2025-08-23T15:40:47Z")
I have seen the same power level behaviour under Linux (openSuse Tumbleweed) without changing any power management settings from stock. Short boost to 115W and then continuous 100W TDP. In my case however that suits me really well. Generally I think 100W is at the upper end of an efficiency sweet spot of that APU. It is nice to read that I merely loose 8% real world performance while saving around 20% power and heat. Given that my 395 is in a fully passive case, these things matter in my case. ---
**Author:** ![dunar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8491ac/32.png) [@dunar](https://community.frame.work/u/dunar)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2025, 4:14pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/21 "2025-08-23T16:14:44Z")
It was a clean install of 24H2. Driver install/update order might have something to do with it, Windows Update updated quite a few after the initial setup. Resuming from standby also seems to “reset”/change to the 115/100W profile sometimes despite the mode being set to “High Performance”. Switching to Balanced and then back to High Performance does the trick. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the benchmarks are a bit off tho. ---
**Author:** ![Vestas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/22d042/32.png) [@Vestas](https://community.frame.work/u/Vestas)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2025, 4:19pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317/22 "2025-08-23T16:19:59Z")
Indeed and I’m surprised Framework aren’t on this a bit more in terms of reviews. > **[Best mini PC of the year? AMD Strix Halo, 128 GB RAM & Radeon RX 8060S...](https://www.notebookcheck.net/Best-mini-PC-of-the-year-AMD-Strix-Halo-128-GB-RAM-Radeon-RX-8060S-reviewed-in-the-Bosgame-M5.1087793.0.html)** > > Notebookcheck tests the Bosgame M5 with AMD's new Strix Halo APU, powerful Radeon RX 8060S, 128 GB RAM, and a 2 TB SSD - a mini PC with impressive gaming and workstation power in a compact format. Pretty sure the Framework Desktop would get 90%+ easy, but not if its defaulting to “laptop” high performance levels. I mean they do want to sell this stuff don’t they 😉 [Next page](https://community.frame.work/t/framework-desktop-apu-boost-behavior-power-levels/74317.md?page=2)