Boy howdy, PCs sure are neat when your GPU isn’t actively trying to kill itself in a blazing flame of glory. If you’re not keen on that idea, looking into pre-builts with AMD GPUs may be the way to go, and Framework’s fancy new Desktop PC is right on schedule.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for DIYing your own desktop from parts. Heck, that’s what I’ve always done, and piecing the hardware together is great fun in my book. Choosing appropriate and compatible hardware can be a pain from a layperson’s perspective, though, and it would seem that Framework understands this quite well. The company behind has just announced that it’s working on a very exciting semi-DIY desktop PC as well, and everything points to it being a real hoot.
The Framework Desktop PC is phenomenally neat, but it won’t come cheap
The Framework Desktop PC was just announced as part of the company’s 2nd Generation 2025 launch event. It’s effectively a pre-packaged set of finely tuned parts that the end-user simply needs to put together according to the provided instructions. Framework claims it shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to get your Desktop up and running, which is an impressively short build time if I’m honest. At the same time, the company also notes that the build process is “moderately” difficult, so that’s something to keep in mind if you’re interested in the device.
A wealth of information about the Framework Desktop is available . Two things to note on that front, though. Firstly, it’s not a cheap PC by any stretch of the imagination, starting at just under $2000 US for the base model. Secondly, it’s running some really exciting hardware, such as the fancy new AMD AI Max APU. In a practical sense, this means the Framework Desktop is going to be a remarkably potent workstation and gaming PC and should be capable of pulling its weight no matter what the workload might be.
Here are some selected specs of note:
- APU (accelerated processing unit): AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 / AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395
- NPU (neural processing unit): Up to 50 TOPS @ 32 tiles
- Power draw: up to 120W sustained
- RAM: 32-128 GB of soldered-on LDDR5X-8000 memory
- Ports: 1x HDMI 21, 2x DP 21, 2x USB-C, RJ45 (5 Gbit), 2x USB-A 3.2, 3.5mm combo plug
There’s loads to like about this setup, but remember that all Framework Desktops also support all standardized Framework Laptop expansion modules, allowing you to add even more utility to your handy little rig, to say nothing of the lovely customizable front-end.
Setting the Desktop’s machine learning capabilities aside for a moment, Framework claims that the base $2000 spec of the PC should net you an average of 67 FPS at 1440p/Ultra in Monster Hunter Wilds, though admittedly with frame-gen technology enabled. Still, it’s a very competent result for something as small and handy as this PC.
Now, I’m not saying that the Framework Desktop is a phenomenal bang for your buck. You could feasibly build a substantially faster rig with an Nvidia GPU for about the same price if you wanted to. That’s what I did, though I skipped the blazingly fast RTX 5000 series for obvious reasons. Framework’s stuff is really neat, however, and the company’s laptops have held up from the very start, so there’s merit in choosing this particular device. Just note that the first couple of batches of the Framework Desktop have already sold out, so you may wait a while before yours ships out.
Published: Feb 26, 2025 02:27 pm