5 ms·

Any plans to sell this or other mainboards separately?

nrp 5y ago
Yep, the Mainboard is available as of today: https://frame.work/products/mainboard?v=FRANFG000A https://frame.work/products/mainboard?v=FRANFG000A
- delusional 5y ago
  When you select the different models of mainboard the order of the "Included", "Specs", and "Additional Information" options switch places. Just a minor UI thing.
- bobsmooth 5y ago
  $400 for a powerful SBC with consumer-level support and drivers is a pretty great price.
  - ac29 5y ago
    Sure but outside a laptop, laptop processors make much less sense. $400 gets you a motherboard and a desktop class processor that is significantly faster.
    - yellowapple 5y ago
      That desktop motherboard and CPU likely requires more power, more cooling, and a bigger case. I can see the "Framework motherboard as SBC" idea catch on for everything from set-top boxes (Steam Machines could make a comeback this way) to a poor man's blade server.
    - fomine3 5y ago
      It's better for SBC. Also laptop iGPU is better than desktop.
    - rrss 5y ago
      Being able to just buy something that works when you get it is a big plus IMO. I’ve tried a few times in the last year and finding parts (that are actually available) for a sub- $500 small-form-factor system seems to be beyond my capabilities :)
      - bubblethink 5y ago
        You need to get on to aliexpress for stuff like that. Plenty of router type boxes in that price range. Even lenovo, Dell, etc. sell some of these labelled as IoT gateways.
    - toast0 5y ago
      Laptop processors make sense when space is at a premium, even if it's not a mobile device. But if space isn't an issue, desktop parts are usually a better choice; you can usually power limit desktop cpus to laptop levels if power usage or heat are a constraint.
    - antattack 5y ago
      "the average Core i5-1135G7 in our database is just as fast as the Core i5-10400H, Core i5-8300H, and Ryzen 7 3700U in multi-core benchmarks. The CPU acts even nicer when under single-core load, reaching similar heights as the Ryzen 7 5600X and Core i7-8700K." https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i5-1135G7-Processor-Benchmarks-and-Specs.467754.0.html https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i5-1135G7-Processor...
- moondev 5y ago
  Does the mainboard require the keyboard and screen modules to function? Or could one fully use it "standalone" providing they supply their own usb-c power, memory, storage + external keyboard+monitor? edit - looks like it can. the 3d printable case is slick, wish it was sold in the store: https://frame.work/blog/mainboard-availability-and-open-source-release https://frame.work/blog/mainboard-availability-and-open-sour...
  - nrp 5y ago
    It works fully standalone. Technically the only required items beyond the Mainboard itself are DRAM and a power source (USB-C or a Framework Laptop Battery).
    - eurleif 5y ago
      Any word on when the batteries will be available? They've been "coming soon" for a while. I imagine there's a supply chain issue behind that -- not faulting you guys -- but it's kind of painful still not being able to replace the one part of my laptop that's guaranteed to wear out.
      - nrp 5y ago
        They are actually physically at our warehouse. The constraint has been the fulfillment logic to ensure they don't ship out from the warehouse by a method that allows air shipment. This is in progress, but in the meantime, we can manually take battery orders (an order containing only a battery) through our support form.
        yellowapple 5y ago
        > The constraint has been the fulfillment logic to ensure they don't ship out from the warehouse by a method that allows air shipment. Best of luck with that. I know with UPS even the Ground services include the possibility of going via air if the destination is even slightly disconnected from the US mainland (and I distinctly recall having to program ERP/WMS logic for blocking ORM-D shipments entirely to the Catalina Islands' zip code because UPS would accept the ORM-D-marked package, try to load it on a plane for that last hop, and then send us nastygrams about us being the ones somehow at fault for it); I don't think FedEx is any different in that regard. It's definitely possible to ship batteries via air, but it has to be marked air cargo only and the fees are probably too steep to be worthwhile unless you're shipping a bunch at a time.

nrp 5y ago

Yep, the Mainboard is available as of today: https://frame.work/products/mainboard?v=FRANFG000A https://frame.work/products/mainboard?v=FRANFG000A

delusional 5y ago
When you select the different models of mainboard the order of the "Included", "Specs", and "Additional Information" options switch places. Just a minor UI thing.
bobsmooth 5y ago
$400 for a powerful SBC with consumer-level support and drivers is a pretty great price.
- ac29 5y ago
  Sure but outside a laptop, laptop processors make much less sense. $400 gets you a motherboard and a desktop class processor that is significantly faster.
  - yellowapple 5y ago
    That desktop motherboard and CPU likely requires more power, more cooling, and a bigger case. I can see the "Framework motherboard as SBC" idea catch on for everything from set-top boxes (Steam Machines could make a comeback this way) to a poor man's blade server.
  - fomine3 5y ago
    It's better for SBC. Also laptop iGPU is better than desktop.
  - rrss 5y ago
    Being able to just buy something that works when you get it is a big plus IMO. I’ve tried a few times in the last year and finding parts (that are actually available) for a sub- $500 small-form-factor system seems to be beyond my capabilities :)
    - bubblethink 5y ago
      You need to get on to aliexpress for stuff like that. Plenty of router type boxes in that price range. Even lenovo, Dell, etc. sell some of these labelled as IoT gateways.
  - toast0 5y ago
    Laptop processors make sense when space is at a premium, even if it's not a mobile device. But if space isn't an issue, desktop parts are usually a better choice; you can usually power limit desktop cpus to laptop levels if power usage or heat are a constraint.
  - antattack 5y ago
    "the average Core i5-1135G7 in our database is just as fast as the Core i5-10400H, Core i5-8300H, and Ryzen 7 3700U in multi-core benchmarks. The CPU acts even nicer when under single-core load, reaching similar heights as the Ryzen 7 5600X and Core i7-8700K." https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i5-1135G7-Processor-Benchmarks-and-Specs.467754.0.html https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i5-1135G7-Processor...
moondev 5y ago
Does the mainboard require the keyboard and screen modules to function? Or could one fully use it "standalone" providing they supply their own usb-c power, memory, storage + external keyboard+monitor? edit - looks like it can. the 3d printable case is slick, wish it was sold in the store: https://frame.work/blog/mainboard-availability-and-open-source-release https://frame.work/blog/mainboard-availability-and-open-sour...
- nrp 5y ago
  It works fully standalone. Technically the only required items beyond the Mainboard itself are DRAM and a power source (USB-C or a Framework Laptop Battery).
  - eurleif 5y ago
    Any word on when the batteries will be available? They've been "coming soon" for a while. I imagine there's a supply chain issue behind that -- not faulting you guys -- but it's kind of painful still not being able to replace the one part of my laptop that's guaranteed to wear out.
    - nrp 5y ago
      They are actually physically at our warehouse. The constraint has been the fulfillment logic to ensure they don't ship out from the warehouse by a method that allows air shipment. This is in progress, but in the meantime, we can manually take battery orders (an order containing only a battery) through our support form.
      - yellowapple 5y ago
        > The constraint has been the fulfillment logic to ensure they don't ship out from the warehouse by a method that allows air shipment. Best of luck with that. I know with UPS even the Ground services include the possibility of going via air if the destination is even slightly disconnected from the US mainland (and I distinctly recall having to program ERP/WMS logic for blocking ORM-D shipments entirely to the Catalina Islands' zip code because UPS would accept the ORM-D-marked package, try to load it on a plane for that last hop, and then send us nastygrams about us being the ones somehow at fault for it); I don't think FedEx is any different in that regard. It's definitely possible to ship batteries via air, but it has to be marked air cargo only and the fees are probably too steep to be worthwhile unless you're shipping a bunch at a time.