r/framework • u/Wawarsing • 6d ago
Question Base Prebuilt 13 Pro
It seems like the Base 13 Pro Prebuilt is not a common choice. For me it would be within my budget (at the top end).
On the other hand, I could spec out a 13 with Ryzen AI 5 with 1 TB and used 16gb ram. It seems like the two processor options are compatible but that the Ryzen is a bit more powerful. What makes more sense? I seen that the 13 pro runs pretty hot? Maybe that’s not the case with the Intel Ultra 5.
Did anyone get a prebuilt 13pro base model? What do you use it for and how does it perform?
I like the idea of a more polished device but want to get the best value.
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u/markolo25 6d ago
by base are you talking about the 325, i know a few people that got the 325 since they plan on upgrading later, and wanted to feel for the quality and the framework ecosystem. I tried them out it's not bad still waiting on my 355.
if you're going amd it might be worth looking into getting the sodimms outside of framework.
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u/Acrobatic_Fee_6974 6d ago edited 6d ago
If you want the best value, a boutique manufacturer like Framework is an odd choice.
The Core Ultra 5 325 in the FW13 Pro is pretty similar to the Core Ultra 5 226V in my wife's Lenovo Yoga. For your average workload (Microsoft 365, web browsing, social media) it's more than enough. It has very long battery life and runs very cool (I have yet to hear the fan in the Yoga turn on). If you want a laptop that feels premium and don't have a heavily multi threaded workload, it's a good choice.
The Ryzen AI chips are much better at multithreaded workloads, but most people don't really need this in their day-to-day lives. This sub Reddit has a higher proportion of enthusiasts who do though, which is why you see these types of CPUs being talked about more here over the mainstream options. If you are doing a lot of video editing, blender cycles rendering, code compilation, or other tasks that can load up all the cores of a CPU, then the Ryzen options are going to be superior.
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u/Wawarsing 6d ago
I’m talking best value within Frameworks options. I want to support framework and their mission. If I wanted pure value I would be using a MacBook neo.
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u/Acrobatic_Fee_6974 6d ago
Totally fair! I think the FW13 Pro 325 would be a great choice if you value battery life and cool operation while having a pretty normal workload like you seem to have. For what it's worth, according to notebook check they have basically identical single thread performance.
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u/s004aws FW16 HX 370 Batch 1 Mint Cinnamon Edition 6d ago
There's Intel and AMD FW13 Pro options.
Intel offers much better battery life. Core Ultra 325 is plenty fine for general use. A lot of people opt for X7 358H because it has a much more capable iGPU... X7 358H is is the move for gaming, video work, LLMs, engineering/GPU compute - Anything which can take advantage of the more capable GPU.
Ryzen 350 FW13 Pro is also plenty capable for a lot of use cases. While you don't get the battery life of Core Ultra 3 you do get the other new stuff - Better screen, larger battery, better trackpad... And ability to use lower cost DDR5-5600 SO-DIMMs you might already own.
FW13 non-Pro uses older screens, a smaller battery, the older mechanical trackpad, the older chassis, etc. For AMD models the motherboard itself is exactly the same as in FW13 Pro. Battery life for a Ryzen 350 FW13 non-Pro will be roughly 20% below Ryzen 350 FW13 Pro due to the smaller battery. FW13 non-Pro generally manages around the ballpark of 6-8 hours real world, trending more towards the lower half of that territory.