Say hello to Strix Halo.
Why is the ram soldered? Soldered cpu is unfortunately a standard nowadays in laptops and sffs, but they rarely die, (actually I never met a cpu which died during normal usage), but ram is a thing which should be replaceable. I wouldn’t expect this from framework.
Linus Tech Tips did a video, they had someone from framework and they actually gave a straight answer:
AMD worked with framework to try and implement user upgradable ram, but even with CAMM modules the signal integrity wasn’t good enough.
I’m pretty sure motherboards with integrated graphics and removable memory exist. “Good enough” is such an explicit unit of measurement.
They sure do since I have one, literally from AMD.
What all these articles really are too generous with is the GPU performance this compromise was done to get. It’s… OK at best for the price. Reviews of products with the same chip/GPU have made specific mention of the weak GPU. What this actually is, and what AMD markets it for, is a small AI workstation. An AI workstation without CUDA is sadly not going to be a great experience for most. I think Framework made a mistake with this product.
While a desktop with 16 CPU cores, 40 graphics cores, 80MB of cache of the 395 Plus chip, and 128GB of memory will cost $1,999 — not including bring-your-own storage and OS — you can pick one with 8 CPU cores, 32 graphics cores, 40MB of cache and 32GB of memory for $1,099. There’s also a 395 Plus with just 64GB of RAM for $1,599. Or, you can buy a mainboard alone for $799 if you provide your own mini-ITX case and power supply, too.
The high end SKU variant does not seem cost efficient considering you have to bring your own SSDs and you will need large ones since there is no SATA for HDDs.
The lower end SKU seems decent enough if you’re fine with moving over to an iGPU for graphics (a realistic option with Strix Halo).
HDDs? Srsly? Besides, throwing a 4TB NVM in there should be enough for most, shouldn’t it? Or are games more demanding these days? At worst over could use an external drive but that’s not ideal. Anyway, for that money I can build a very decent PC myself.
