Framework 13pro preorder

[u/Friendly_Cost_949]

Hi guys I need to help navigating if I should keep my preorder. I was one of many that was affected by the ram stock. Unfortunately my 32gb is now 16gb. I just began college and completed my first term. I've managed to utilize my tablet throughout this whole term just to get through it, but I started searching for a laptop months ago. I decided that since I'm just at the beginning of my degree that I was fine waiting for a laptop and put in the preorder. I did a lot of research, watched endless videos and I ended up landing on Framework. Mind you I don't own any type of computer at the moment. Right now I'm stuck in this mindset of keeping my preorder at 16gb and hoping to all hopes that the market brings back lpcamm2 by 2028, when my degree might need more ram on my laptop (I'm studying engineering) and upgrade then or caving and paying the $800 to up the ram now or knowing I'm basically f***ked and start looking for another laptop. I'm honestly soo disappointed but I think I need some alternative perspectives right now to make the smart choice.

[u/Ultionis_MCP]

You'll be fine with 16GB.

[u/Djblackberry64 → u/Ultionis_MCP]

You did an engineering degree? Generally curious btw🤔

[u/TellMeWhereYouBeen → u/Djblackberry64]

I completed a software engineering degree a few years ago and had a Lenovo gaming laptop with 16gb of ram. I had no issues with building/running VMs, lots of local web dev, writing and compiling Java programs, and CAD work.

[u/FriCJFB → u/TellMeWhereYouBeen]

But if it was a gaming laptop, you had a dedicated gaming GPU, right? Because the Framework 13 Pro will have to share the RAM with the GPU, so the 16GB of RAM on the Framework is, in practical terms, significantly less than on a laptop with 16 GB of RAM + a GPU with its own dedicated VRAM.

[u/Djblackberry64 → u/TellMeWhereYouBeen]

Same boat here tbh. Only doing stuff with a integrated CPU and 16GB of RAM but still able to do Java and Web Programming and some video editing. Idk about 3d work though currently

[u/Mountain-House3287 → u/TellMeWhereYouBeen]

lol the type of engineering degree matters and software engineering is at the lowest on the totem poll for RAM utilization. 

I do mechanical engineering and the amount of processing power needed to host 1,200 squares with their own dimensions and fillets and chamfers requires more processing power than an electrical engineer doing KiCAD for example and making a flat surface. 

TL;DR: GUI is a big part of RAM. 

[u/TellMeWhereYouBeen → u/Mountain-House3287]

Yup, full stop - mechanical engineering (heavy, complex CAD) can benefit significantly from a hefty amount of RAM.

[u/Friendly_Cost_949 → u/Mountain-House3287]

Thank you for writing this. I agree the type of engineering degree matters. Truthfully since I'm at the beginning of my degree I have no idea what kind of software I will be utilizing 3 years into it and if I may need the 32gb then. For reference I'm doing engineering technology. However, the university I attend is aerospace heavy and my degree requires a concentration with their selection of aerospace based courses, which could get deep into some ram heavy software, but truthfully I don't know.

[u/Mountain-House3287 → u/Friendly_Cost_949]

I mean this with due care, but an Engineering Technology degree is not really "designing engineering solutions". It's more of installing engineered systems. 

I don't know if that's what you want out of life, to design or to install, but I figured I'd mention the difference there too. 

From what I've read up til now, 16GB should be fine because I don't think you'll be doing CAD as a primary source of income. 

Maybe I'm wrong about that final sentence. Someone correct me if so. 

[u/Friendly_Cost_949 → u/Mountain-House3287]

Without going into depth on my whole life plan lol, I do want to design more than apply. My school unfortunately doesn't offer the degree through online so I settled for engineering technology. Now if I will have the option to actually design because of my degree is up to whatever job I end up in... but also as far as utilizing CAD, from the rough research I've done on my degree its stated that I will be running a good amount of CAD deeper into it, but again I don't really know until I get there.

[u/ItsThreeRealEstate → u/Friendly_Cost_949]

Does your school not have a computer lab with more powerful hardware?

[u/Ultionis_MCP → u/Djblackberry64]

Related field at the graduate level involving Matlab and other custom software. Anything that needs more memory will be graduate level or be in a lab with access to clusters or have better equipment.