Framework Announces Mini PC for Gaming + 2 New Laptops
Framework, makers of the Framework Laptop 16 for gaming and the Framework 13, and the ONLY repairable, customizable, upgradeable laptop available, announced three new products, one of which will make PC gamers happy.
Check out the full blog below:
Framework Desktop
Today, we introduced the Framework Desktop, a tiny 4.5L Mini-ITX desktop powered by AMD’s massive new Ryzen AI Max processors. Pre-orders are open now, with first shipments in early Q3 2025. When AMD shared the Ryzen AI Max with us, we immediately knew we had to use it. It has up to 16 CPU cores at 5.1GHz boost clock, discrete-level Radeon 8060S graphics, and support for up to an insane 128GB of unified LPDDR5x. That enables 1440p or higher gaming on the heaviest titles, big creative and workstation workloads, and true local AI use cases. This is an absolute monster of a processor, and we shifted our roadmap a year ago to make space for it. In a desktop form factor, we get to unlock every bit of its performance with 120W sustained power and 140W boost while staying quiet and cool.
You may still be wondering, why does Framework need to build a desktop? Aren’t desktops already modular and upgradeable? They are. In fact, the desktop PC ethos is part of what inspired the Framework Laptop to begin with. The desktop world is amazing. There is a broad, long-lived, interoperable ecosystem with hundreds of brands and hundreds of millions of consumers participating. You can build, upgrade, repair, and personalize to the limits of your imagination (and budget, and desk space), and share your amazing creations with all of the other true believers. We want to make this space as accessible as we possibly can by building a desktop that is simultaneously small and simple and incredibly powerful and customizable. Everyone should have the opportunity to experience the culture around PCs and PC gaming first-hand.
With that in mind, we leveraged all of the key PC standards everywhere we could. Framework Desktop’s Ryzen AI Max-powered Mainboard is a standard Mini-ITX form factor with ATX headers, a PCIe x4 slot, and a broad set of rear I/O (including 2x USB4, 2x DisplayPort, HDMI, and 5Gbit Ethernet), so you can drop it into your own case if you prefer. We developed a semi-custom 400W power supply with FSP in a standard Flex ATX form factor. We use standard 120mm CPU fans with a thermal system co-developed with Cooler Master and Noctua, and you can choose to bring your own fan as well if you prefer. We enabled two PCIe NVME M.2 2280 slots for up to 16TB of storage and Wi-Fi 7 through an RZ717 Wi-Fi module.
Framework Desktop brings the PC ethos around customization as well. You can choose between black and translucent side panels, select an RGB fan, and attach an optional carrying handle to bring it with you to LAN parties (or just to your living room). We also designed the front panel of the case to be made up of 21 color-customizable tiles, and we’ve open sourced the design so you can 3D print your own too. We also brought over the Expansion Card system from Framework Laptops, with two slots at the front of Framework Desktop enabling front port customization.
There is one place we did have to step away from PC norms though, which is on memory. To enable the massive 256GB/s memory bandwidth that Ryzen AI Max delivers, the LPDDR5x is soldered. We spent months working with AMD to explore ways around this but ultimately determined that it wasn’t technically feasible to land modular memory at high throughput with the 256-bit memory bus. Because the memory is non-upgradeable, we’re being deliberate in making memory pricing more reasonable than you might find with other brands.
The top-end Ryzen AI Max+ 395 configuration with 128GB of memory starts at just $1999 USD. This is excellent for gaming, but it is a truly wild value proposition for AI workloads. Local AI inference has been heavily restricted to date by the limited memory capacity and high prices of consumer and workstation graphics cards. With Framework Desktop, you can run giant, capable models like Llama 3.3 70B Q6 at real-time conversational speed right on your desk. With USB4 and 5Gbit Ethernet networking, you can connect multiple systems or Mainboards to run even larger models like the full DeepSeek R1 671B.
The base Framework Desktop comes in even lower, with the 8-core Ryzen AI Max 385 configuration with 32GB of memory starting at $1099. All of the systems are DIY Editions, meaning you can choose to bring your own storage and operating system. This is the easiest PC you’ll ever build, and we’ll be publishing step-by-step guides and videos to get you there. Framework Desktop supports both Windows 11 and a range of popular Linux distros like Ubuntu and Fedora, along with gaming-focused OS’s like Bazzite and Playtron. You can also pre-order the Mainboard on its own today, starting at $799. This is truly a game-changing processor from AMD, and we’re excited for you to see what we’ve done with it in the Framework Desktop!
AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series Powered Framework Laptop 13
We’re excited to announce the new AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series-powered Framework Laptop 13, available for pre-order today with first shipments in April. These bring new processors, Wi-Fi 7, a revamped thermal system, a next-generation keyboard, and new Bezel and Expansion Card color options. It looks (mostly) the same on the outside, and we’re glad! It means we can continue to deliver on the promise of longevity by keeping Framework Laptop 13 fully upgradeable and repairable in a thin, light 13.5” form factor. That means that any Framework Laptop 13 owner, going all the way back to the original 11th Gen Intel Core version in 2021, can pick up the new modules and upgrade the computer they already own to the latest technology. We’ve kept all the great improvements from the last generation too, with a 61Wh battery and optional 2.8k 120Hz 13.5” 3:2 matte display.
First, the biggest change is of course our move to AMD’s new Ryzen AI 300 Series processors, which bring a fantastic jump in performance. These use Zen 5 CPU cores along with Radeon RDNA 3.5 graphics. In addition to 6-core Ryzen 5 and 8-core Ryzen 7 configurations, for the first time, we also have a top-end Ryzen 9 HX 370 option that brings 12 CPU cores at up to 5.1GHz boost and 16 GPU cores. That means you can play modern game titles at a surprising framerate. Historically, this level of graphics performance would have needed a discrete GPU, and it’s amazing to see it now in an ultraportable, efficient laptop. Because this processor also has a 50 TOPS NPU, it supports Copilot+ and an increasing number of ROCm-compatible open source AI toolkits.
Alongside that performance, we’ve kept the system quiet and cool with a revamped thermal system. This now leverages one large 10mm heatpipe and Honeywell’s awesome PTM7958 phase change thermal interface material. Also on the Mainboard, we’ve kept support for two slots of DDR5-5600 memory, upgradeable to 96GB, and one PCIe 4 M.2 2280 storage slot, upgradeable to 8TB. We’ve additionally brought connectivity up to Wi-Fi 7 using AMD’s RZ717 module. Finally, on the four Expansion Card slots, the rear two support USB4 and both of the front two now handle USB 3.2 plus DisplayPort, enabling up to four simultaneous display outputs.
One other quality of life change is on our new second-generation keyboard. We kept the same awesome-feeling 1.5mm key travel and worked with our keyboard partner Lite-On on a new key structure on the wide keys (e.g. spacebar and shift) that reduces buzzing when your speakers are cranked up. For our pre-built configurations pre-loaded with Windows 11, we have updated keyboard artwork with a Copilot key. Don’t worry though; as always we have our DIY Edition where you can bring your own memory, storage, and operating system. These come with an alternate set of keyboard artwork options with no Windows logo for all of you using Linux and BSD. We continue to prioritize Linux, with official support for Ubuntu and Fedora and community support for a broader set of distros.
One last area we’re especially enthusiastic about is expanding color customization options. We’re bringing transparency back to consumer electronics! We kicked off new injection molding tooling to re-enable the Translucent Bezel, and we’re taking this opportunity to add Translucent Purple, Green, and Black too. We have a new set of Translucent USB-C Expansion Cards to go with them as well. The combination looks truly fantastic and reflects back to a golden age of consumer electronics industrial design.
We can’t wait to see what you think of our latest updates. AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series starts at $899 (USD) for DIY Edition and $1099 for pre-built systems. You can pre-order the new Mainboard on its own starting at $449. This is our seventh iteration on Framework Laptop 13, and we’re excited to continue making it better every year. To make Framework Laptop 13 more accessible, we’re also keeping previous generation AMD Ryzen 7040 Series systems in production, starting at a newly discounted price of $749. All of these products are available to pre-order or order today, shipping to all 32 countries we deliver to.
Framework 12
Today, we shared an early preview of the new Framework Laptop 12, a durable, repairable, upgradeable, 12.2” touchscreen convertible notebook. This computer is the purest manifestation of our vision and product philosophy at Framework, and is in many ways the product I started the company to create. We build products to fix what we see as a broken industry, and few categories are as emblematic of the problems with consumer electronics as entry-level laptops. They tend to be janky, locked-down, disposable, underpowered, and frankly, boring machines. Shamefully, these are the products that PC brands market for use by students and young people around the world. Instead, we believe these are the people who most need thoughtfully designed, long-lasting computers.
That brings us back to Framework Laptop 12. We designed this computer from the start to take all of the upgradeability and longevity of Framework Laptop 13 and bring it into a smaller, lower cost, more flexible, and more colorful form factor. We’re introducing it in five bold colorways, each with an optional color-matched stylus. The two-tone look isn’t just for show, either. We overmolded shock-absorbing TPU over rigid PC/ABS plastic with an inner metal structure for robustness. In the event you ever do manage to break it, it’s also our easiest product ever to repair. We took all of the design for repairability learnings from Framework Laptop 13 and 16 and pushed them even further in Framework Laptop 12. We’ll be sharing more on that on the path to launch.
We also designed this laptop to be unusually powerful for its class. Instead of using a typical small-core processor, we brought in the full 13th Gen Intel Core processor in i3 and i5 variants. We enabled support for up to 48GB of DDR5-5200, 2TB of NVMe storage, and Wi-Fi 6E, all of which are modular and upgradeable. We also customized the 1920×1200 display to deliver >400 nit brightness along with touch and stylus support. As always, we’re supporting both Windows 11 and Linux too.
Even though we had students in mind when we began developing this product two years ago, we found as we iterated through prototypes that every adult who tried it wanted one too! I’ll personally be switching to a Framework Laptop 12 as my primary laptop now that we’ve announced it. We’ll be sharing much more detail on specifications and pricing as we get closer to the launch of Framework Laptop 12. We’ll open pre-orders in April, with first shipments in mid-2025. This is a defining product for us, and we can’t wait for you to try it.
About the Author
Adrian Gunning Adrian lives in Melbourne Australia and has a huge passion for gaming, technology and pop culture. He recently finished his a Bachelor of Journalism and is currently focusing on games journalism. When not writing and playing video games, Adrian can be found in Comics 'R' Us debating the pros of the DC Universe and cons of the Marvel Universe.
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