This Laptop let’s you swap out it’s processor AND Graphics Card
It’s the dream that’s eluded PC gamers for so long…
Chances are, if you’re someone who even vaguely follows PCs and Laptops, you know that most desktop computers can have almost everything replaced and upgraded. Be it the typical stuff like RAM or the hard drive down to more intricate parts like the processor itself or even the whole motherboard. It’s why despite computers getting more convenient, integrated and smaller (I mean you can fit a full PC into something smaller than a lunchbox these days), there’s still a market for bigger, beefier machines that users like gamers love to continually tinker with and upgrade. But you may also have noticed that laptops…. Don’t really have this option. In their need to be svelte and stylish, most laptops, even gaming or creator ones, will only probably swap out things like RAM and maybe the storage (both no longer an option on a MacBook), while things like the graphics card and processor are locked in from day one. Thankfully there’s a company that’s made its whole mission making laptops modular and upgradable like desktops; Framework. And with their new gaming focused Framework 16, they’re about to do the same for gaming PCs.
The Framework 16, as you’ve probably guessed, is a 16-inch gaming and creativity focused new machine from the company, which essentially makes buying a gaming Laptop no longer a once-off decision where you have to choose which exact spec you buy (graphics card, processor, RAM) and can instead but a machine you continually update and upgrade as the years go by. It’s a concept that seems pretty straight forward, yet despite many attempts at it, has failed dismally in the past. Some workstation laptops from the likes of HP had upgradable processors but that quick became a pointless endeavor for them while Alienware’s more recent Area 51 laptop allowed an upgradeable CPU and GPU by using desktop parts, yet even that project died almost as quick as it got legs. Yet Framework, over the past 2 years, has shown that they’re all in on the modularity business. Their Framework 13 has become the DIY alternative to the MacBook Airs and DELL XPS 13’s of the world, offering a similarly thin and light chassis, while having almost everything upgradable from the processor and motherboard right down to the screen and the ports the laptop comes with.
The 16 wants to be the same for gaming laptops by adding (on top of everything aforementioned), a swappable dedicated GPU module that comes with its own fans so you don’t have to worry about your cooling setup keeping up. For now, the supported graphics card option is an AMD Radeon RX 7700s , which is a pretty middle of the road GPU, but still more than enough for a PC like this and more importantly, a great starting point for this system. The key factor here is that is Framework sells a more powerful GPU , you can put that in there too, be it AMD or NVIDIA.
Same goes for actually swapping out the AMD processor for an Intel one. Add in the ability to easily swap the ,machine’s covers, move the trackpad to the side or the middle, especially since a new, larger trackpad can be bought, bring in a numpad or RGD keyboard (because duh, gaming machine) and you can see that the level of freedom this machine gives you goes beyond it being a cheap way to keep up with gaming trends as the years go by. In fact if you haven’t already watched The Verge’s video above to see how awesome this thing, you definitely should.
Now does this make the Framework 16 the greatest gaming laptop on the market? Well, if modularity and upgradability are your top priority, probably. But if not, well, not so much. You see there’s a reason HP stopped making it’s workstation PCs modular and why Alienware’s Area 51m didn’t work out: they’re very expensive projects to maintain. Both companies just noticed it was cheaper for them to sell new PCs to a person instead, as they regain those costs better and that model comparably didn’t need as many special features to make it more expensive. This is unfortunately where Framework is finding themselves because if you look at the Dave2D program below, there’s definitely some pointing out of why this model to building PCs costs both the manufacturers and the users, making the Framework quite expensive for what should be a cheap alternative to gaming PCs. Of course , this could just be because this is still relatively new, custom tech hence its cost and with time, Framework really might make all this cheaper. Especially since with their growing popularity, whose to say Framework doesn’t push Dell/Alienware and HP to get back into the modular game and perhaps use Framework’s open source designs to cut down on the R&D costs. All this would help the cost problem to all but disappear. And honestly it’s hard to say there’s any other big problem after that.
Either way, flaws and all, it’s undeniable that the Framework 16 is essentially a dream come true. This is what people have been wanting laptops to be for decades now and one company finally had the guts to essentially forget everything that held bigger players back (profits, complexity etc) and brought a product line built exactly on that promise of everything being upgradable, replaceable and swapable. We definitely hope they have nothing but success in continuing to make it a reality.
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