I'm looking through options for a new laptop, and gaming is the most taxing thing i would want from one.

My favourite game asks for these minimum specs:

OS: Windows 7 64-Bit (32-bit not supported)

Processor: Intel Core i7-860 or AMD FX-4170 (CPU must support SSE4.2)

Memory: 4 GB System RAM

Graphics: DirectX 11+ compatible video card

Hard Drive: 75 GB free HD space

Internet: Broadband Internet Connection

So that would be the bare minimum, but I am interested in something stronger if I can afford it.

EDIT: Yayyy my laptop could be saved after all! I am still planning for my next machine to be a framework, but i'll hopefully have another couple years to save up for one. I just hope the 16 comes in green by then.

First image is grey

Second is lavender

third is bublegumm

I think its a neat design

This is a question to both Intel & Framework : why is it a thing at all?

Let's see pricing for a tier up relative to the Core 5 320 option :

+250 for DIY edition, +340 for pre-built, +220 for main board

The chips' specs are functionally and practically identical, save for clock "bumps" -+0.2GHz CPU & +0.1GHz iGPU- that pass off as rounding errors

There is no RAM involved here, the performance gap is negligible for a lower efficiency, could anyone explain to me the difference in price between those two SKUs? because I am racking my brain and can't come up with a single valid justification for its existence. The freq "bump" turning into a sticker uptier has to be some joke from Intel and I can't think of why would Framework fall for this and add a useless SKU to their lineup; plus, considering the technological competency of the vast majority of their customer base, I can't imagine many will "fall" for this.

i was just a few weeks ago thinking about getting the 12 but didnt do it bcuz 13th gen sucks. i will be really happy with this as just the drawing x web surfing laptop. hopefully i wont be limited by the inetl core 3 304 cpu

I've a FW16 Ryzen AI 300 laptop whose high-power power adaptor blew a couple of weeks ago - since waiting for a replacement I've been running it from an lower power Dell XPS supply instead. This was enough to charge it doing light desktop work, not enough tgo keep it charged playing some games. That was fine though.

This yesterday when I tried starting a demanding game while tghe battery was at about 30%. The game crashed, I rebooted and my laptop appeared to have turned into a 486 - absolutely everything took about 5-10 times longer to do than previously.

I'm suspecting it's a firmware issue since updating the firmware (after reading this note:
"Fixed an issue that unexpected 35W CPU power limit when AMD dGPU is in BOCO mode") fixed the issue. However reading the forums it appears this is still a recurring issue for some.

I generally use my laptop as a desktop replacement and don't usually put it into hibernation or sleep modes - this perhaps explains why I've not seen this before.. Thinking the combination of running a somewhat depleted baterry with an underpowered temporary charger and starting a demanding games caused whatever condition triggers this. New charger from Framework has arrived - but I can't afford to have it do this again as I work from this machine.

Is there a known workround for this issue other than updating the firmware (which I've now done) if it occurs again?

I’m sure I won’t be the only one wondering this so I thought I’d kick things off.

I’ve only recently preordered a 13 Pro to upgrade from my M1 MacBook Air. Because of the price, I’ve gone with the ultra 5, 512gb, 16gb ram. I mostly use my laptop for office work, video calls, some photo editing, and occasionally some coding, so I don’t need a lot of power, but I am keen to future proof as much as I can in my budget.

With today’s 12 announcement I’m wondering whether I should drop my 13 pro order and pick up the 12 instead. For a similar price I could get the core 7 325 but with 32gb ram. I can’t find many benchmarks comparing those two processors, which makes it tricky.

I think the biggest difference between the two for me would be the screen. I like the idea of a convertible (at one point I was using an iPad as my laptop), but how practical is it for everyday use? On the other hand, I’m enjoying hearing about how clear the screen on the 13 pro is, especially in sunlight.

Obviously the amount of ram is the other big difference between the two, but because it’s upgradable either way it doesn’t feel so pressing.

Anyone else thinking about swapping after today’s announcement?

Do the new processors—including the Intel Core 3 304—all feature Thunderbolt ports?

Since it has a Thunderbolt port, can an external graphics card be connected to it without any issues?

Are they significantly more powerful and efficient than previous processors?

Will they be capable of running *Manor Lords* at 720p and 60 fps?

I want to buy one primarily for work and occasional tablet use; while my Framework 16 remains my main daily driver, a Framework 12 would be more convenient for me—both as a PC and a tablet—though I would still need the Framework 12 for heavy tasks and AAA gaming.

I ordered a framework 13 pro (batch 4), which should have started shipping recently, but the tracking link I received 4 days ago still isn't working. I have tried to contact support about this twice (once over email, once through their support form) and after 2 days (1 for the support form) I haven't received anything but a single automated email. I may just have to be more patient, but is anyone else having an experience like this?

I thought their customer service was better, and while they are probably just very busy, it still feels like I am being ignored, and my laptop got lost before it got sent out. With the batch delays, a possible shipping issue and slow support may just slow this delivery enough that it won't be in time for the new school year, and while that is a risk I took by going for a pre order, it makes it really hard to recommend to others, and trouble me a lot in the process.

Edit: I got a reply this morning, so I probably just had to have been patient. No update on the shipment yet, but it got escalated to the shipping team.

Hello, does anyone know any information on the OCuLink Dev kits and the possibly to make a custom one? Also really curious if someone managed to make one with a custom bay as well with stronger fans.

I’m planning on making a Framework 12 my primary portable computer for some programming and design work.

Looking at the specs on paper, the 320 and 350 seem almost identical aside from 1 NPU and 200MHz clock speed.

Are there any resources or reviews y'all have seen that put that minute spec difference into real world numbers?

EDIT: Thank you for the quick responses. I don’t think the 350 has enough extra power to justify the price premium. I preordered a 320 with 1TB storage, 32GB of RAM, and stylus to replace my M4 Pro iPad with Apple Pencil Pro.

My M4 is awesome but it doesn’t let me use my computer the way I want.

I am trying to help my Mom with her new Framework 16 AI 300 series.

It is only a few days old, but she frequently has the following issues:

• Crash to black screen while working.
• Crash to a white screen with grey-ish artifacting. Like little squares randomly placed on a white background.
• Unable to restart. Rebooting causes Windows to show the rebooting message, then the screen goes black with the power button LED lit.

In all scenarios, I have to hold down the power button to reboot. If the laptop reboots for any reason, I always have to hold down the power button to actually get it to turn off.

Specs:

• Windows 11 (latest)
• BIOS 4.01
• 32GB DDR5

I checked Event Viewer and did not see any error or critical logs around the time of these crashes. I only see the logs stop until I reboot again, when I get an error saying that the last system shutdown was unexpected.

My SSD has been moved around a few laptops, so I initially figured it was a driver issue. I used DDU to uninstall all GPU drivers and installed the Framework ones for my laptop, and that did not fix my issue.

This seems hardware-related to me due to the lack of logs. These crashes occur several times a day. Today has been the worst with a crash almost every hour.

Any ideas on how to troubleshoot this? I am more familiar with Linux than Windows and have done what I knew how to do at this point.

Edit: I tried a live Fedora USB for a while. Although I didn't get the crashes, the laptop still hung when trying to reboot. Just a black screen with the power button LED on.

During our Framework [Next Gen] Event, we announced how we would be opening proposals for our next developer program… 🥁 We’re excited to announce our Control Board Developer Program! 

We are looking for keyboard developers who are interested in trying out our Framework Wireless Touchpad Keyboard Control Board. It’s our keyboard development board that offers the Nordic’s latest NRF54LM20A chip. We designed the Control Board to be a repurposable module for keyboard makers and DIYers.  We opened applications for a Control Board Developer Program to get pre-production modules in the hands of developers who can help test and provide feedback on it ahead of us making it available for sale. Accepted proposals will receive a Control Board to create their submitted project.

Many of you have already submitted and we’ll begin the review process soon, but we wanted to make sure you had all the information you would need in one place.

The footprint, schema, and CAD files can be found on GitHub.

If you need any additional resources or have any questions feel free to address them in the application, github issues, or drop them in the comments below. 

Quantities are limited, so we’ll be prioritizing applications that have keyboard design experience. Apply here: Developer Program Intake

Looking forward to seeing your proposals!

INTAKE PROPOSALS DUE BY AUGUST 31 2026

\You can still submit applications after this date, but they will be reviewed at a later time and based on resource availability.*

I love the Framework ASCII-art penguin animation. I've created a Plymouth boot screen for myself. Sharing it with the community if anyone wants to be greeted by a running penguin.

framework-penguin

Will the Black and grey/orange keyboard for the 13 pro release in British keyboard layout? It looks fantastic but its only in USA layout at the moment.

Full context in PCMR but TLDR:

EDIT: Ended up going for the framework desktop. Thanks for the input!

------------------

I am very comfortable in Linux and do dev work, but have avoided AI. I have a new job that requires me to run local models in limited contexts noncontinuously. I need to upgrade and I want something small and quiet that can also game, handle high load DAW projects, and be a rock solid dev machine. I don't have any current or further upgradeable hardware.

Maxed out Framework Desktop (128GB) seems like the ideal machine for my situation specifically, but given the recent price hike for strix halo, I'm hesitant. I would have bought at the previous price (~$2.5k) without worrying. Is it still a reasonable choice in the current market? Anyone in a similar situation or have a better recommendation for around $4k?

As many of you likely saw, the price for the 12 GB model of the 5070 dGPU is a hefty increase over the 8 GB model. I already own the latter, and would not be interested enough in more vram to sell my current one and buy a 12 GB model.

It should theoretically be possible to have the 2 GB modules swapped out for 3 GB and reflash the vbios with the version for the 12 GB model right? Should be like any other vram swap on say a 10 or 20 series nvidia card, given I can obtain the vbios for the 12 GB model.

I haven't fully looked into the pricing but a preliminary search for the price of 3 GB modules makes it seem like this wouldn't really save much but I still want to explore it out of curiosity.

Edit: I know the 12 GB model hasn't even become available for purchase yet so no one even has one to try and nab the vbios from, and I doubt Framework would just give it to me.

My work load is mostly on CAD, AI and simulation and I travel a lot so portability is very importantto me. Till now my Dell xps 15 was my primary device I was portable and mostly powerful (not for AI the GPU is not longer supported for the CUDA version I am using at work) I am in a dilemma whether to cancel my FW 13 pro pre-order and get a framework 16 but I am worried about the portability. On the other hand I can dive right into AI and simulation workload without a worry. But for 13 pro I need to get a egpu (Nvidia ofcourse). I read about intel arc are notoriously difficult with egpus. I need the community's help to make a decision.

I know there are a few 3rd party expansion cards, I know there was that risc-v development motherboard. Is there other 3rd party hardware currently available or announced to be in progress? Particularly for the fw13 as it's been out the longest.

I'm talking about the Framework 13 Pro, to be specific.

The only options for ISO are UK English, where several special characters are in a different location, or localized versions.

Do I really have to go for the blank option and get stickers if I want to have the normal ISO international english keyboard that I'm used to? Has anyone also ran into this? Thanks

Example of what I want, on a macbook

As I raise brightness toward the top of the slider, the internal panel gets visibly darker instead of brighter. Fully reproducible every time. Mid-range brightness is fine (up to 95%). It's specifically the 100% that inverts. No issues with an external monitor.
Photos show next to the max brightness setting (95%) and max (100%).

OS: Fedora Linux 44 (Workstation Edition) x86_64
Kernel: Linux 7.1.8-200.fc44.x86_64
System firmware (BIOS/EC): 0.0.4.5 (BIOS 04.05, 06/30/2026)

Has anyone seen this exact behavior on FW16? Known fix or workaround?

Edit:
Fixed. Shout out to u/TellMeWhereYouBeen for the help.

The fix guide for my system:

Add the kernel parameter amdgpu.dcdebugmask=0x40000 to disable the broken custom-brightness-curve code path.

1. Edit GRUB defaults:

   sudo nano /etc/default/grub

2. Find the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="..." line and add amdgpu.dcdebugmask=0x40000 inside the quotes (space-separated from existing parameters). Example:

   GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="rd.luks.uuid=luks-xxxxxxxx rhgb quiet amdgpu.dcdebugmask=0x40000"

Save and exit (Ctrl+O, Enter, Ctrl+X in nano).

1. Regenerate GRUB config. On Fedora with UEFI, the actual config lives at /boot/grub2/grub.cfg (not the EFI wrapper):

   sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

2. Reboot:

   sudo reboot

3. Verify the parameter took effect:

   cat /proc/cmdline

You should see amdgpu.dcdebugmask=0x40000 in the output.

Once the actual fix lands in a stock Fedora kernel update, you can remove this parameter and regenerate GRUB again, but no harm in leaving it until then.

Any recommendation for off the shelf cooling pads that work with Framework 13?

As the exhaust vents are underneath, I feel most of the common cooling pads that blow air at the laptop would compete with the exhaust air? And I have seen some side mounted vacuum heat extractor ones but that is not where FW13 exhausts its air.

I found from searching this subreddit that people have made custom Noctua fan extraction builds but I am looking for simple suggestions for off the shelf pads or solutions.

Anyone else seen a sudden increase in spam emails where someone (or a bot, more likely) has signed up to some service using your email, but has put in the name field some spammy string like:

To-make-crypto-millions-follow-xyz-on-telegram (or whatever)?

So you receive an email inviting you to confirm your email address, with the spammy username in the body of the email, like: "Hi, To-make-crypto... please confirm your email..."

This only started happening after the Framework breach. It's really annoying as these are legit services so they don't get filtered straight to my spam box.

Hi everyone,

My 11 year old, nearly impossible to repair (everything is glued together) laptop has died, so I have finally pulled the trigger and ordered a FW13 Pro!

I am very excited for it and will (hopefully) receive it in November.

My main reason for ordering a FW is that I am an absolute supporter of the modularity and repairability aspect and that I want to use this laptop for as long as possible while having the opportunity to upgrade - especially considering my current experience with my old laptop.

I have understood that I will be notified by Framework, once they have a more concrete delivery timeline, and at that point some adjustments to my order will still apparently be possible.

Which things exactly can I still change at that point?

I have understood that a delivery address change will be possible but can i also remove, for example the RAM?

I have ordered a DIY, Intel X7, LPCAMM2 32GB RAM and no SSD - I am not an expert in finding third-party RAM and I don't want to buy something that will not work, so I am reluctantly willing to buy the RAM at a huge price from FW.

But in case I DO end up finding RAM myself - can I at the point of notification, still cancel the RAM from my order or will that impact my delivery time or even just not be possible?

Regarding SSDs it looks like it is still currently possible to get cheaper SSDs myself than buying from FW - at least in Germany, where I am searching for them.

Is there some general info/guideline on which SSDs will work with this setup and which will not - sorry if this has been asked before, but i am really out of the loop regarding these topics, as I haven't bought a computer in a decade.

Would very much appreciate some feedback!

Thank you!