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> attempts from other brands at making a modular graphics system in a notebook i.e. Dell. > the off-the-shelf FXBeam connector from Neoconix So that's the co

> attempts from other brands at making a modular graphics system in a notebook i.e. Dell. > the off-the-shelf FXBeam connector from Neoconix So that's the company that makes the Dell Graphics Form Factor (DGFF) connectors[1], and that's why they're called beam connectors in the service manual[2] (search for it on that page; notice how similar the connectors are to Framework's). These have been used in Dell Precision workstations since the Precision 7530 and 7730 (released in 2018). I ought to have realised that surely Dell didn't develop this themselves. > We quickly found that these connectors (on the left in the image) could only reliably be installed once. On removing, handling, and reinstalling, it was easy to bend or break off the small pins. After working with these connectors, they require some finesse, but they're not as fragile as the post makes them out to be. They're essentially tiny LGA sockets. Dell's implementation put the pins on the connectors and the contacts on the board, so the cheaper (and more disposable) component could break more easily. I'm not sure why Framework decided to forgo the connector and try to join both graphics card and motherboard directly together; this isn't addressed in the blog post. That being said, 'beam connectors' still aren't cheap, though; when I asked Dell's service centre for spares, I was quoted something like SGD20/connector. They're roughly the same price on eBay[3]. [1]: https://i.imgur.com/aMal40L.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/aMal40L.jpeg [2]: https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-uk/precision-15-7560-laptop/precision_7560_sm/removing-the-system-board?guid=guid-4a968c20-fdba-4944-b1ab-7dbca12490a0&lang=en-us#:~:text=Remove%20the%20FPC%20beam%20connectors%20from%20the%20computer https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-uk/precision-15-7560.... [3]: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=NGRJG&_sacat=0 https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313...

robotnikman 3y ago
I remember they and other vendors used to use a connector called MXM[1] for their graphics cards, as an attempt to create an industry standard. It looked promising, but seems to have fallen out of favor since then. I don't thing any ne GPU's have been released using MXM since 2019 [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_PCI_Express_Module https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_PCI_Express_Module
- nrp 3y ago
  Yes MXM has been abandoned by the companies that were originally driving it, though there is still some industrial usage. One of the major issues with MXM is that it assumes the add-in cards stack on the mainboard, resulting in a thick system. We developed a custom module solution where the card and mainboard can be co-planar.
nrp 3y ago
The Mainboard and Graphics mode aren't directly attached. They are connected through an Interposer cable that has 4x of the custom FXBeam connectors on an FPC.

robotnikman 3y ago

I remember they and other vendors used to use a connector called MXM[1] for their graphics cards, as an attempt to create an industry standard. It looked promising, but seems to have fallen out of favor since then. I don't thing any ne GPU's have been released using MXM since 2019 [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_PCI_Express_Module https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_PCI_Express_Module

nrp 3y ago
Yes MXM has been abandoned by the companies that were originally driving it, though there is still some industrial usage. One of the major issues with MXM is that it assumes the add-in cards stack on the mainboard, resulting in a thick system. We developed a custom module solution where the card and mainboard can be co-planar.

nrp 3y ago

The Mainboard and Graphics mode aren't directly attached. They are connected through an Interposer cable that has 4x of the custom FXBeam connectors on an FPC.