1mo ago

How to build a Framework Desktop alternative that's actually repairable and upgradable and MORE powerful, for 35% less $$$

The Framework Desktop is a deep disappointment to me. Framework, the company that got into the business with an explicit purpose of building modular and repairable computers, went into a space where that was the norm (desktops), and introduced a PC that was none of those things, at an exorbitant price. When they debuted it, it was marketed specifically as a gaming machine. As much as I want to support them, I cannot reward them for this specific product, as it abandons their fundamental tenets.
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\ Here's the build. You can see similar builds featured on many YT channels at this point with the new NV10 case and 5060 LP GPU.

Here's one from ETA Prime
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\ And another from "MRGUI on PC"

This build: $1100

Comparable Framework build: $1700

I will concede the Framework is still better at a few things:

Efficiency (I'm not sure that this is to any degree that's worth being factored in)
Being that it's more efficient, it's also quieter
Local LLMs (which no one should care about or be using)
A bit thinner due to not have a dGPU

37 comments

Local LLMs (which no one should care about or be using)
Yeah local LLMs are genuinely the ONLY thing the framework desktop is interesting for. For gaming, it is cheaper, more repairable, more upgradable, and more performant to just build a PC normally.
Why should no one care about or be using local LLMs, though? What a strange thing to say.
- Because being blanket anti-llm is now the cool thing to do
- Because they serve no purpose.
  
  Is that why models on HuggingFace have monthly download counts in the millions?
I saw it more as an AI bro machine rather than gaming-centric. It happens to play games fairly decently though provisions a great deal of gfx die area in doing so.
I agree with you that it's daft for a company like framework to put that out. wouldn't it be lovely if something like strix halo could work on a socketed system, perhaps leveraging a different memory technology than DDR5 UDIMMs
- The whole point of this chip is unified memory, which can only be done using soldered memory. Using DIMMs would mean it must be typical shared memory, like any other APU/iGPU.
  If the framework desktop came with a "normal" CPU/APU with non-soldered RAM, it would just be exactly the same as any other prebuilt desktop.
  
  Then maybe they just shouldn't have made a desktop? It's like I said, this is a market segment that's already extremely repairable/upgradeable, and doesn't require their attention.
  
  I'm aware of that and even though I was alluding to 'other memory technologies', I don't think something like CAMM2 (for example) could work for several reasons.
Not that I disagree with the sentiment here, but I wouldn't call the pricing exorbitant. Saving a third on something by building it yourself is a pretty standard rule of thumb.
- You have to build them both.
  
  Well yes, of course. I suppose 'building' was the wrong word to use in this context. My point was moreso about ease.
  People that don't know anything about compatibility or physical fitment of components find value in offerings like Framework's desktop. Sort of like the difference in buying a bookshelf from Ikea over buying mdf panels from a hardware store. The Ikea costs a bit more, but not having to measure anything during assembly is worth the price of admission to most.
  The hobbyist woodworker might go the route of measuring and cutting panels themselves, but that doesn't make the flat pack option exorbitant.

37 comments