Framework's first desktop PC is giving us the AMD Strix Halo machine we've been craving, and the opportunity to build our own

pcgamer.com:

I'm not sure which I'm most excited about, the idea of a whole new kind of Framework machine, or the fact the company is actually going to make available a Strix Halo motherboard for us to tinker with. On the one hand, a small form factor Framework Desktop is a cute idea, though it is bringing the upgradeable, repairable ethos of its Framework 13 laptops to an area that admittedly is already pretty well served on that front.

But on the other… Strix Halo! We've been super-excited about this AMD-built beast of an APU prospect. It's a proper Zen 4 chiplet processor, with up to 16 cores and up to 40 RDNA 3.5 compute units (CUs). It's that last point that has our PC gaming hearts a-flutter because the Radeon 8060S is an integrated GPU beyond our wildest dreams.

Okay, maybe not our wildest dreams, given what AMD has created with the likes of the PlayStation 5's chip, but still the sort of integrated graphics core which could give entry-level discrete GPUs an existential crisis.

Its problem, however, is one of both price and packaging. Right now, it's being presented as a laptop processor. Or, even worse, in a monstrously expensive gaming tablet, in the form of the Asus ROG Flow Z13. It's our experience with this bizarre device, and its slightly hobbled chip, that had us more convinced than ever that the Ryzen AI Max chips would look their best within a small form factor PC plugged into the mains.

And, as if it's been listening to Jacob, Framework is set to deliver. Its Framework Desktop is a 4.5 liter machine which will ship with a mini-ITX standard motherboard inside it, rocking one of the new Ryzen AI Max processors. Being a desktop system allows Framework to jam the full 120 W of power through it, with 140 W of optional boosted grunt should you want to go all out.

There will be different options available from launch, with the bottom-end Ryzen AI Max 385 system starting at $1,099, going up to a beefy Ryzen AI Max+ 395 version—with a full 128 GB LPDDR5x—for $1,999. So