Framework, the modular computer company, has made a surprising yet impressive move by announcing its first desktop PC, which beautifully straddles the line between cute and badass. The tiny 4.5-liter mini-ITX PC is powered by AMD's most powerful APU ever, the Strix Halo, and comes with up to 128GB of unified LPDDR5x memory.

The desktop PC's design is a marvel, featuring 21 interchangeable and 3D printable tiles that allow users to customize their front panel. Additionally, the PC has a standard-size mini-ITX motherboard, a custom thermal system co-developed by Cooler Master and Noctua, and a semi-custom 400W Flex ATX power supply co-developed by FSP. The system is relatively cable-light, with seemingly perfect-length cables, and users can choose between black or translucent side panels. An optional LAN party carry handle is also available.

While the PC's design is impressive, its specifications are equally noteworthy. The Strix Halo APU provides actual gaming chops, and the system comes with onboard 5Gbps Ethernet, two USB4 ports, two DisplayPort ports, one HDMI port, and two M.2 2280 NVMe SSD slots for up to 16TB of storage. A Wi-Fi 7 module is also included, along with two full-size USB-A ports and a headphone jack at the rear.

Framework claims that the desktop PC is capable of running giant, capable models like Llama 3.3 70B Q6 at real-time conversational speed, thanks to the local AI chops and 128GB of memory on the highest-end Ryzen AI Max Plus 395 Plus configuration. The company also expects AI enthusiasts to be interested in the PC's capabilities, particularly in a rack-mounted, daisy-chained configuration.

In terms of gaming performance, the Strix Halo APU is roughly around the performance of an Nvidia RTX 4060 mobile chip, according to Antonio's experience with the Asus Z13 gaming tablet. AMD gaming architect boss Frank Azor provided 1080p benchmarks at high settings, showing that the PC can play games at 1440p at 60fps with AMD's FSR upscaling, although it may struggle with the most demanding games.

The prices of the desktop PCs are relatively competitive, with a top-of-the-line model featuring 16 CPU cores, 40 graphics cores, 80MB of cache, and 128GB of memory costing $1,999. A more affordable option with 8 CPU cores, 32 graphics cores, 40MB of cache, and 32GB of memory is available for $1,099. Users can also purchase a mainboard alone for $799, providing their own mini-ITX case and power supply. Framework CEO Nirav Patel suggested that the $1,999 model compares favorably to an Apple Mac Studio, which can cost over twice as much for the same 128GB of RAM.

Framework's desktop PCs and mainboards are available for preorder today, with plans to ship in Q3. The company also introduced a new AMD-powered version of its Framework Laptop 13 and the new Framework Laptop 12, its first budget laptop, its first touchscreen, and its first convertible, at the same event.