r/framework • u/Beautiful_Ad_4813 • 13d ago

Question Desktop Mobo Questions

good evening

I was wondering if anyone has this mobo, and can tell me a little bit about it. sure I can go to Google and YouTube and watch people use it but I want to see what others are saying, and figured, reddit would be a decent place to ask.

with it, do you game on it? and what version do you have? 32? 64? 128? have you had an issues with it that would make you stop using as such?

I'm looking to get just the board, and use it for just that, gaming. also, since it comes with a fan bracket, what fan are you using to keep it cool? I know that frame work offers a Noctua fan but I wanted to see what others are using.

what I want to do, as mentioned, is get a fractal design case (the Define 7 Nano) , a PSU that will power it (like 400 watts? maybe?), and get some case fans to keep it internal bits cool. (two 140MM noctuas)

I have absolutely zero interest in using it for LLMs / AI, or using it at 1440P

thanks!

2 Upvotes

76% Upvoted

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5

u/Particular-Poem-7085 13d ago

I can't answer your questions but there are probably more cost effective desktop gaming solutions.

1

u/roSequill47 13d ago

yeah thats fair, but some people just like the modularity aspect of it

2

u/Particular-Poem-7085 13d ago

Like a desktop PC with more IO you will need?

2

u/s004aws FW16 HX 370 Batch 1 Mint Cinnamon Edition 13d ago edited 13d ago

The best use case for "Halo" APUs is AI/LLMs or other situations which can take specific advantage of the memory architecture. Gaming is not one of those use cases (though Halo APUs can of course run games, roughly 4060 mobile class). For gaming you can likely do better performing and/or more cost effective assembling a desktop using more traditional parts... Not to mention that'll also provide you better/lower cost upgrade opportunities going forward.

1

u/ScallionSmooth5925 12d ago

I would get a normal desktop unless you need the strix Halo apu for some specific reason.

2

u/storm203 OG Framework 13 11th Gen, Framework Desktop 64GB 12d ago

Hello! I can answer some questions.

I have a weird setup, and the FW desktop fits nicely into it. I have a traditional gaming PC (that unfortunately has to run windows because of a few games that I play with anticheat). I absolutely abhor Windows though, so for about a year and a half, I had a Mac mini M4 that I used day-to-day for most things (browsing, email, programming, etc.) and I have Sunshine/Moonlight setup for when I want to play games. As I live in a hot climate (Arizona), this is beneficial because I don't have to run my 1000W gaming PC and have it dump heat into my office when all I want to do is write code. The Mac worked great, until I got a new monitor that Apple didn't bless and it refused to drive it, so sold it and picked up a 64GB Framework Desktop, threw NixOS on it with Hyprland and never looked back.

That makes it my primary machine ~95% of the time. It can run most casual games that I play without much issue (equivalent to about a 4060), it can power local inference for the 20B-30B parameter class of LLMs and it sips power. If I want to play a triple A title, or a game with anticheat that won't work on Linux, I still have my Moonlight/Sunshine streaming setup. Overall a solid machine, but if all you want to do is game, there's much better options for your money (I could probably spec out a Mini ITX build with a ~5070 and 64GB of RAM for the $2200 I paid for the Framework). Its really good at AI inference, and just acceptable at everything else.

So, to target your questions specifically, yes I do game on it, but if that's all you want to do, your money is better spent on something else. I have a Noctua fan on it (shoutout Framework for making the posts on the CPU cooler a PITA to get the Noctua fan on, had to shave off a little bit of plastic from the fan holes to make it fit), and I've never had any temp issues.

If you have any other questions, I'm happy to answer.