The Framework, a company well known for its modular, repairable laptops, has just released its first desktop computer. It’s a small desktop PC that exceeds the weight.
The most interesting part is what lies within the device. The framework was one of the first companies to use AMD’s recently announced Strix Halo architecture, also known as the Ryzen AI Max processor. This is an all-in-one processing unit that promises some serious performance.
In other words, the framework has just designed a PC for two types of customers: those looking for a very small gaming PC, or those who want to run large language models on their own computers.
From the outside, the framework’s desktop looks more like a toy than a serious computer. It’s a small 4.5L computer built around the Mini-ITX mainboard, smaller than the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X.
There is a customizable front panel with 21 replaceable plastic square tiles. When you purchase a framework desktop on your company website, you can create your own front panel by selecting the tile color and pattern.
In addition to the regular ports you normally get on the Mini-ITX mainboard, you will also find the framework’s iconic expansion card at the bottom of the device. A wide range of modules are available to choose from, including USB-C or USB-A ports, headphone jacks, SD card readers, or storage expansion cards.
The interior is very simple. There is a mainboard with two M.2 2280 NVME SSD slots for AMD acceleration processing unit, fan, heat sink, power supply and storage.
AMD’s Strix Halo APU is soldered to the main board. The framework offers two different configurations: the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 and the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395. The top configuration comes with 16 CPU cores, 40 graphics cores, and 80MB of cache, while the entry-level configuration comes with 8 CPU cores, 32 graphics cores, and 40MB of CACHE.
But where is the rum? This will certainly be the most divisive design choice, as the framework will offer 32GB to 128GB of soldered RAM. You cannot buy more RAM or upgrade on the street.
“However, there’s one place you have to move away from the norms of your PC. This is in memory. The LPDDR5X is soldered to enable the huge 256GB/s memory bandwidth provided by Ryzen Ai Max,” Framework CEO Nirav Patel wrote on the company’s blog.
“We worked with AMD to explore ways to get around this, but ultimately we decided that landing modular memory in high-throughput on a 256-bit memory bus would not be technically feasible,” he added.
Nevertheless, having a unified memory of 128GB unifies many possibilities when it comes to large language models. llama 3.3 70b can be run without hiccups using Ollama, llama.cpp, and other open source tools for local AI workloads.
Mistral, Nous, Hermes, or other open weight models from Deepseek should also run successfully. The framework sells mainboards without a case. For example, the company has built a mini-rack with four framework desktop mainboards running in parallel for AI testing.
The base model for the Framework Desktop starts at $1,099, with the top-end version priced at $1,999. Like other framework computers, the company promises support for Windows and popular Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, Fedora and its game-centric cousin Bazzite.
Pre-orders are currently open, but shipping will only begin at the beginning of the third quarter of 2025.