I’m thinking about buying the 16 as I want a new Linux-compatible laptop and I like the whole idea behind Framework. I do a little bit of gaming but honestly just what my Steam Deck is capable of, so I was planning on buying it without the GPU for the moment.
Looking at the two processor choices, they seem very similar on performance. I’m not sure I can justify the $200 price difference, especially with the hope of a future upgrade to a newer generation.
Any other thoughts?
Recently my company ordered 400 laptops for most employees from framework. Our IT guys says its the best laptop out there.
I could see why IT guys would say that, because it’s WAY less of a hassle to repair them. Something IT guys will have to do a lot with 400 end users to support.
They’re certainly not the fastest/most performant laptops out there though.
Most people dont need the kost performant. Theres a reason why in the leasing world, the most common laptops are thinkpads, lattitudes and macbooks at essentially their base SKU.
Source, i work e-waste in the bay area so I know exactly what companies are giving workers/schools
9-5 dont need high performing laptops. 9-5 are in the office to work, not game.
I’m in the same boat. I want a neat laptop for on-the-go productivity. At home I have a very powerful/overkill gaming setup which handles all my gaming. I personally stuck with the cheaper CPU as I don’t see any advantages the $200 is gonna get me as it is upgradable and very similar in performance anyway. GPU you can always get later, if in need of one, which is great!
Yeah, I’m kind of hoping that I can “leapfrog” upgrades. Buy a GPU when the next gen comes out, then a new main board in a generation or two after that, etc…
Is that how it works? I didn’t know they would upgrade the current parts just have replacement available.
Yeah, it’s kind of their whole schtick. The 13 is upgradeable from the 11th gen Intel all the way up to the 13th or even the AMD main board.
Nice, maybe i will pick one up to replace my current desktop as its running a 3rd gen i3 lol.
Yeah, especially when your main thing would be gaming. The GPU (even dedicated) will most likely be the biggest bottleneck here.
I ended up going with the base CPU since it seemed identical. Now I’m trying to figure out what sort of eGPU setup to go with to minimize bottlenecking (setup will be replacing my desktop).
Curious, why eGPU instead of the GPU option they sell?
Portability, mainly, and I want to leave the slot available in case they add other uses for it, like an extended battery. I may regret that choice and end up getting the GPU anyway, but for my use case it seems like it might be perfect.
Is the GPU the same in both?
From what I can see both the integrated and dedicated cards are the same no matter the processor. That said, I know Intel used to call every iGPU for a generation the same thing and they would have significantly different GPU performance across different professors, so I don’t know.
If they’re the same, then I’d get the cheaper one. There are likely specs somewhere that list the number of compute units in each for you to double check.
It looks like it’s the same 12 CUs but 2.7GHz vs 2.8GHz. Ultimately though I think I’d rather save the $200 and go with a GPU sooner.