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The Framework Desktop is a beast

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Re: The Framework Desktop is a beast

#11

Post by onli »

sethops1 wrote: post #3
Jtsummers wrote: post #2

> In some ways, the Framework Desktop is a curious machine. Desktop PCs are already very user-repairable! So why is Framework even bringing their talents to this domain? In the laptop realm, they're basically alone with that concept, but in the desktop space, it's rather crowded already. Yet it somehow still makes sense. And even more curious, Framework Desktop is deliberately less repairable than their laptops. They…

The RAM is soldered on all Halo Strix platforms because physics is getting in the way. With pluggable DIMMs the memory bandwidth would be halved, at best.

He is still right. It is a desktop PC that is less repairable than all other desktop PCs, from a brand that is known to champion repairability. They had a reason for it, but could've chosen to not create more throwaway things.

Re: The Framework Desktop is a beast

#12

Post by colejohnson66 »

wishinghand wrote: post #10
sethops1 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The RAM is soldered on all Halo Strix platforms because physics is getting in the way. With pluggable DIMMs the memory bandwidth would be halved, at best.

Why is that? Why would soldering the connections vs plugging them in affect how much data per second they transfer?

Sockets have resistance and crosstalk, which affects signal integrity.

Re: The Framework Desktop is a beast

#13

Post by suspended_state »

Jtsummers wrote: post #2

> In some ways, the Framework Desktop is a curious machine. Desktop PCs are already very user-repairable! So why is Framework even bringing their talents to this domain? In the laptop realm, they're basically alone with that concept, but in the desktop space, it's rather crowded already. Yet it somehow still makes sense. And even more curious, Framework Desktop is deliberately less repairable than their laptops. They…

> They soldered on the RAM. Which makes it a very strange entry for a brand marketing itself as the DIY dream

This was also my first thought when discovering this new model, but I think it was a pragmatic design decision.

The questions you should ask yourself are:

- which upgradable memory module format could be used with the same speed and bandwidth as the soldered in solution,

- if this solution exists, how much would it cost

- what's the maximum supported amount of ram for this CPU

Re: The Framework Desktop is a beast

#15

Post by kristianp »

> There's at least a little flexibility with the graphics card if you move the board into a different case—there's a single PCIe x4 slot on the board that you could put an external GPU into, though many PCIe x16 graphics cards will be bandwidth starved.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/08/review-framework-des...

Re: The Framework Desktop is a beast

#16

Post by tejtm »

wishinghand wrote: post #10
sethops1 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The RAM is soldered on all Halo Strix platforms because physics is getting in the way. With pluggable DIMMs the memory bandwidth would be halved, at best.

Why is that? Why would soldering the connections vs plugging them in affect how much data per second they transfer?

mind the gap

Re: The Framework Desktop is a beast

#18

Post by trenchpilgrim »

Jtsummers wrote: post #2

> In some ways, the Framework Desktop is a curious machine. Desktop PCs are already very user-repairable! So why is Framework even bringing their talents to this domain? In the laptop realm, they're basically alone with that concept, but in the desktop space, it's rather crowded already. Yet it somehow still makes sense. And even more curious, Framework Desktop is deliberately less repairable than their laptops. They…

The CEO mentioned in an LTT video that they worked with AMD to try to make CAMM memory work and hit some technical problems.

Re: The Framework Desktop is a beast

#19

Post by trenchpilgrim »

onli wrote: post #11
sethops1 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The RAM is soldered on all Halo Strix platforms because physics is getting in the way. With pluggable DIMMs the memory bandwidth would be halved, at best.

He is still right. It is a desktop PC that is less repairable than all other desktop PCs, from a brand that is known to champion repairability. They had a reason for it, but could've chosen to not create more throwaway things.

The 128GB version wouldn't be throwaway, since that's the maximum the platform as a whole supports anyway- more memory than that would require a new mainboard and CPU at the same time.
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