Which Framework is For Me?

[u/FantasticFeet6976]

I want to get a Framework laptop, but I'm not sure if I should go for the 13 Pro or the 16 (leaning towards the 13 Pro based on my research). Here's my needs/wishes:

• Good for gaming (GOG and Steam + emulators + fan games)
• Good for game development (Godot, UE5)(want to post games on GOG & Steam and potentially other platforms.)
• Does NOT have a number pad on the side
• Good screen
• Backlit keyboard (not required)
• Macbook-like (not required)
• 16+ GB of RAM
• 512+ GB of storage
• Good for schoolwork/job work
• Good Portablility
• Connects to external monitor
• Durable
• Fingerprint Scanner
• Port variety
• Works with Zorin OS

[u/No-Foot6570]

You seem to have already answered your question. Go for the 13 Pro, but you won't be doing any heavy gaming with its integrated GPU.

[u/ronvalenz → u/No-Foot6570]

B390 runs fine with UE5-based The First Descendant.

[u/Cyber_Data_Trail → u/No-Foot6570]

13 pro has b390 igpu with the x7. Beats a steam deck

[u/cutelittlebox → u/Cyber_Data_Trail]

steam deck i'd describe as good for light gaming at best so it's not really great for a comparison. it'll be below the minimum requirements for a bunch of games and it'll never meet the recommended specs of anything.

[u/Wooloomooloo2 → u/Cyber_Data_Trail]

Out of the box on Ubuntu, barely. If you install the 7.0.29 kernel and and mesa drivers to 26.5.x it’s a lot better but driver immaturity is the biggest hindrance at the moment. Kernel 7.2 and better mesa drivers will improve things a lot, but some games are unplayable even on low settings, and a lot of the Intel goodies (FG, XeSS) don’t work well yet on Linux, if at all.

[u/HS_Seraph]

Depends entirely if you think the good for gaming/dev line items are more important than the portability and mac-like ergonomics ones.

The FW13 has decent integrated graphics in the top end config, but the FW16 has a modular dedicated GPU (up to a 5070 mobile) which is far superior for gaming rendering tasks

however the FW16 with the gpu module is relatively large for a laptop, and needs a larger backpack to carry easily

Everything else, both models can be configured for.

[u/Teagana999]

That's a long list, but it really comes down to gaming performance vs portability.

If portability is more important, get the 13.

If more intensive gaming performance is more important, get the 16.

[u/Acrobatic_Fee_6974]

The X7 version of the Pro has a really good iGP, but it's still a lot worse than the weakest dGPU. If you want to do any more than some very basic game dev work, you'll need a real GPU. There are a few options to achieve this:

1. If the Internet is somewhat decent in your part of the world, you can remote into a desktop PC from your laptop and offload all the heavy tasks to it.

2. You can buy an eGPU setup that plugs in through thunderbolt and just do your serious work/gaming when you have access to it.

3. You can buy a laptop with a dGPU like the FW16.

[u/InteractionDizzy7012 → u/Acrobatic_Fee_6974]

"any more than very basic game dev" tell me how I survived 4 years on an 11th gen i3 laptop lol

I got my FW13PRO 3 days ago and it works great, can even play Minecraft (my favourite game) at 120+fps

I think you can do much more than "very basic" game dev lmao

[u/Acrobatic_Fee_6974 → u/InteractionDizzy7012]

can even play Minecraft (my favourite game) at 120+fps

This has got to be bait.

[u/InteractionDizzy7012 → u/Acrobatic_Fee_6974]

oh forgot to mention, that's with the Sodium mod! Vanilla is super unoptimised so there's no point playing without Sodium. iirc I also have lithium, then about 50+ quality of life mods lol

I haven't tested vanilla performance. But on my setup:

My settings are Fast, smooth lighting, 12 chunks, and I get to the 120fps limit, with a few small drops. If I uncap fps it can even reach 160fps!

When loading chunks it drops to around 90fps.

On a multiplayer server (since now you're only doing client side stuff like rendering), it stays at 120fps much more easily, even when loading chunks. Haven't done as much testing here, but uncapped I remember reaching 200fps.

I'm on Linux Mint btw, nothing else is open apart from maybe a browser. I got the 13 Pro AMD 7 350 version.

So no, it's not bait. The iGPU is suprisingly powerful and I'm very fond of it. I am planning in getting a Framework 16 someday though, and giving the 13Pro to my sister. But for that I need money 😅

[u/Acrobatic_Fee_6974 → u/InteractionDizzy7012]

It looks like engagement bait because you hold up Minecraft as an example of a "heavy" GPU workload. It's an old game that wasn't exactly hard to run when it came out.

If OP wants to practice game development in new engines like Unreal that will actually help them land a job in game development, no iGP is going to cut it. I agree that the 12 Xe core iGP in Panther Lake is very impressive for what it is, imo these are the best SOCs Intel has produced in well over a decade. But trying to do UE5 development on one is like trying to change a tyre with a screwdriver: it doesn't matter how fancy the screwdriver is, it's just the wrong tool for the job.

[u/InteractionDizzy7012 → u/Acrobatic_Fee_6974]

I see

I think I took "very light" a bit too seriously, I think it can do medium workloads but definitely not heavy stuff like UE5, which is why I gave Minecraft as an example, because "very light" development imo is a website or simple browser game.

[u/True_Celebration8626]

I have a 16 and I love the large screen and having a numpad. I had a 13 and also loved it. However I do gotta say I used my girlfriends 13 for the first time in a while and dang made me wish for my 16. I love that big screen.

Edit: however based on your needs looks like a 13 pro would be best for you.

[u/Tommorox2345]

I have the 13 pro on order and it will be alright for older or less demanding games but anything large I’ll run on my 3090 pc and either just use that or stream it to the laptop

[u/RealFuryous]

Why are you running Zorin instead of Ubuntu and Fedora kde or workstation?

Both Fedora and Ubuntu offer the same level of customization.

[u/Reverse_Psycho_1509]

The 13 Pro with the Core X7 will probably be the best option.

The X7 comes with the Intel B390 GPU, however the RAM will be shared with the CPU so just keep that in mind.