With multiple FL13 mainboards, the Cooler Master case, and FL16 coming…will the next product line be mini PCs? I mean, you’re kind of already 25% there. Maybe start by selling the case, board, RAM and SSD as an assembled product like the FLs. (I see you already have the case & board bundle)
If Framework ever plan to get into the mini PC space, please have slightly larger and quieter HSF option…and a slightly bigger case. (i.e. creating a 2-tier mini PC product line; thin and not-so-thin). With better CPU boost.
Companies like Beelink and Minisforum have been doing rather well lately (on Youtube)…but they suck at long term BIOS updates and component / case reuseability. I believe Framework can have a slice of the pie there.
Why not start, and end, with that?
Is there something major that a FW mainboard just couldn’t ever do, requiring them to create separate mini PC hardware? Considering FW-13, FW-16 or foreseeable future boards.
Framework keeping it as is, mainboards serving both purposes, seems better in line with their goal of reducing waste.
I’m not sure that an assembled system in the Cooler Master case could be sold as it currently exists. It’s a plastic case with no visible metallization, so it likely offers little or no RF shielding. As a result, the assembled system is likely to be unable to achieve FCC Class B certification. Selling DIY components doesn’t have the same requirements.
I’d love to be wrong! Or it might be possible to produce a version of the case that can pass, though it might have to sacrifice the see-through front so it could add a metal layer.
Why not having a metal case? With better cooling? And maybe even an internal power supply?
I would be happy with some space for a battery, would save me an UPS.
I can’t find USB4 NIC adapters without Thunderbolt (TB); as I do understand the AMD 7840U chipset does not support TB at all.
In my opinion TB is anyhow a dead horse, which will die sooner or later. Nevertheless, do you know some other adapters?
Thunderbolt 4 is based on USB4, which itself is based on Thunderbolt 3.
For the most part if something advertises compatibility with one of those it will usually work with all 3. USB4 does make a lot of features optional that would be required to advertise Thunderbolt, however the AMD Framework Laptops do support most of those optional features. The most notable exclusion is that only some of the modes of running multiple monitors over USB4 are supported, which means that multi-monitor setups only work with some docks on the AMD Frameworks.
The usb4 on the amd board mostly supports thunderbolt with a few rough edges (and a missing dp channel but that’s not very relevant for a nic).
TB4 is basically USB4 without the uncertainty (all the good stuff in USB4 is optional), a second DP channel and a an intel cert. USB4 and usb-c in general are technologically amazing but they are so flexible no one knows what a port or a device need or can do, in the case of thunderbolt you know it supports everything (well tb3 did have the half assed mode but that’s not allowed with tb4 anymore). With the windows requirements for USB4 it my be less necessary.
Well the cheap option would be one of those usb → 2.5Gbit adabters, you can get those for <20$, the next more expensive option is using one of those 200+$ tb3 10gbit ones.
There is also plan b and c of course which is using a m.2 to pcie adapter to use a regular pcie nic or using a cheap egpu enclosure to use one via thunderbolt (did that for a bit to test my new fiber internet before i built the router).
I do hope someone does make a plain usb3 10gbit to 5 or 10gbe (even if it may not reach full bandwidth due to overhead) at some point, the usb3 to 2.5gbe ones are pretty nice allready.
