Review: Framework Laptop finally gets an AMD Ryzen config—and it’s pretty good

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Review: Framework Laptop finally gets an AMD Ryzen config—and it’s pretty good
arstechnica.com
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Then you would use an external gpu

So every time you move say from home to school you'd have to bring an external device? What's the point of that?

Yeah mean like how you’re bringing the laptop?

I’d also recommend an external drive of some sort, and a keyboard/mouse

By your logic then why aren't you just suggesting to pack and bring a desktop PC everywhere?

So someone needs the extra gpu power from a dGPU in a handy form factor like laptop and you suggest an external gpu for... what benefit? I don't get it. Seems like you've just made the moving around part more cumbersome for no extra benefit.

If you think moving around a laptop + gpu dock is more cumbersome than moving a desktop around then good on you

Compared to laptops with a built in dGPU then the benefits are lifespan, power, affordability

If you think moving around a laptop + gpu dock is more cumbersome than moving a desktop around then good on you

We were talking about why someone would get a laptop with a dGPU...

Compared to laptops with a built in dGPU then the benefits are lifespan, power, affordability

I'm getting the opposite results for power and affordability when looking at articles. Though for power it's just same as dGPU vs eGPU which probably wouldn't be the case, you could get a proper desktop GPU but that would also use more energy, so not ideal. Also the solutions seem pretty costly.

But the point is that there's definitely a good reason to have a laptop with a dedicated GPU. You want graphics power but you also want it in a laptop form factor for moving it around. Say you'll need it for school so you'll be moving it around five days of the week. eGPU might work if someone really doesn't want a dGPU and needs the GPU power, but it doesn't seem like the handiest solution. You might not want to deal with carrying more stuff and having to set it up almost daily. Just getting a dGPU would be much simpler.

What do you need a dedicated GPU in school for?

CAD stuff, GIS with fuckhuge aerial imagining stuff so far for just me personally, I'm sure other fields have ton of other stuff.

It has more power due to heating constraints

And being able to replace/upgrade the desktop gpu in your egpu gives it a longer life

I assume you would use a computer bag regardless

And you shouldn’t need that power every time you take out your laptop

You might not need full on desktop power though and since carrying a laptop might already be a pain you don't want to carry anything other than what's strictly necessary. Not to mention setting up the thing on your desk, some might not want to do that.

I'll give you that there's benefits to an eGPU but it's pretty situation dependant and what you value that decides which one you should go for. In any case you probably understand now why someone might want a dGPU though, even if you yourself would go for an eGPU.

Just the eGPU dock will cost you like $300

At that point, might as well get the Framework 16 with the 7700S for $400 more, since it's a slightly downclocked 7600XT which is already selling for $270 so it's a $130 markup compared to buying an expensive eGPU dock first

both are upgradable

You’re replacing not upgrading

Also if a new laptop is only $400 more than the graphics card in it then it’s not one you want

Framework 16 has an upgradable GPU, you're only replacing the GPU to upgrade the laptop. The laptop without the GPU is $1400 or so depending on the configuration

the $400 price is the price of the GPU module, when AMD releases more powerful mobile GPUs you can upgrade to a newer, more powerful module

How does the gpu heat not damage the rest of it?

The module includes the fans and heatsink, each GPU module is responsible for its own cooling so there might be even longer modules that jut out from the back more for more cooling

Unless it's one of those that has an oculink connection, you wouldn't have enough bandwidth on the USB 4 port to be able to game on it at full speed

Personally, I would never game on a laptop? It's an expensive way to get cruddy performance.

I've paid $14 for 7 hours at a net cafe, would have saved money if I had a gaming laptop when I was away from home.