Full set of parts to make a FW13?

Framework Laptop 13
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I bought a launch-era FW13 (Intel 11th) and have subsequently upgraded the battery, mainboard, and soon screen. My daughter needs a new laptop, so I’m looking at that collection of parts and wondering what the full set would need to be in order to have a really DIY experience. It’s probably more expensive than buying a refurb B-stock 13, but it would avoid creating some e-waste and be a pretty fun project for us as well, so I thought I’d at least price it out and see what she thinks.

This is the list I have so far (italicized I already have)

  • Screen
  • Bezel
  • Touchpad (kinda, it’s a bit flaky)
  • Mainboard
  • WiFi
  • Memory
  • SSD
  • Lower cover + audio board + speakers
  • Input cover (incl keyboard and trackpad and fingerprint reader)
  • 4x expansion cards (I have a couple extra)
  • Heatsink/fan unit (can you even get these for the 11th gen any more?) – maybe on mainboard, will check
  • Top cover (with webcam and antenna cabling, thankfully)
  • Hinge kit
  • Top and bottom screw kits
  • Webcam module

Am I missing anything there? Has anyone done this before and have tips to share?

E: Updated with advice from @MJ1 and @anon81945988
EE: and @Elliot_Lu ! also added Webcam module!

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Don’t forget the screw packs.

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Oh bless you, I absolutely would have forgotten those and it would have been incredibly frustrating.

It looks like it comes out to about CAD$560 for the remaining parts, versus CAD$680 for a full FW13 11th B-stock. Kinda tempting, though I do wish there were some bulk discount since I’m buying most of a computer but not the expensive bits (mainboard, battery, screen).

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Oh, even better. Thank you!

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7

I’m not certain but from all the videos I’ve seen, I believe the upgraded mainboard already comes with a cooling fan + heatsink.

If you want to buy it separately, then make sure you also get some thermal paste.

Also if you get the Input Cover kit, it includes everything including Keyboard, Trackpad, and Fingerprint reader.

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8

Ah that’s great. This is a house that always has at least two kinds of thermal paste in stock, so I’m OK there. I’ll try to find my old mainboard and see if there is a heatsink/fan on it. I recall the box being slimmer than I would associate with those parts, but then it’s a laptop so thin is the name of the game…

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Are you planning to purchase a new mainboard or just using an old mainboard that needs a new cooler?

The new mainboards all come with a cooler + fan.

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I have an old Intel 11th mainboard that I upgraded with an AMD 7040 one, and I’m hoping to use the old Intel 11th one in the new build. I think it might be in storage with some other stuff though, so I’ll have to grab it tomorrow and see if it has cooling on it.

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Then the 11th gen mainboard should already have the cooler attached to it. there is no need to buy a new cooler as both of the mainboard should already have come with the coolers.

Also if you are do not care much about the portability of the old 11th gen mainboard, you can check out the CoolerMaster Case for the Framework 13 mainboards. It essentially turns your old mainboard into a desktop while you use the new mainboard in the laptop.

And you should also have the old DDR4 modules from the 11th gen mainboard as the 7040 Series Mainboards require DDR5 not DDR4. So likely the only thing you would need to turn it into a desktop would be the case, storage, and maybe a wifi card.

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Yep, I have the CoolerMaster case, which had been my plan for that mainboard until my daughter’s need arose. I do have the DDR4 (still on the mainboard, I’m sure).

This is looking better and better…