The Framework Desktop, Interesting Inside And Out
A Stand Out System
The exterior of the Framework Desktop looks like nothing else on the market, though a dedicated LEGO enthusiast may have built a system that somewhat resembles it. While you can pay extra for a clear side panel made of thick acrylic, Ars Technica went with the basic model which has plastic front and side panels. The interior of the case is metal, so don’t think that the Framework Desktop is entirely plastic. The front panel has a grid with space for 21 small square plastic tiles which you can arrange in any style you like and can even design and print out your own should you wish.
Ars was a little disappointed to discover the CPU and RAM were all soldered on to the mini-ITX motherboard inside the Framework Desktop, as would be a dedicated GPU if you opted to add one. The 400W PSU conforms to the FlexATX standard and the model Ars picked up featured a 16 core Ryzen AI Max+395 processor with 40 graphics cores, and 128GB of RAM.
The performance details and more can be found in the full review.
Framework’s laptops haven’t been adopted as industry-wide standards, but in many ways, they seem built to reflect the flexibility and modularity that has drawn me to desktop PCs for more than two decades.
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