Framework Desktop

I have a shoebox sized computer (Framework Desktop) running Qwen 3.8 Flash Next. [...]

This. I bought Framework Desktop in November 2025 with almost these exact specs for $2.5k

Wow the prices on these have really come up.. Got my Framework desktop mainboard (Just the motherboard + CPU + soldered 128gb RAM) in Dec 2025 for 1900 EUR

[...] Also I m not sure where you are getting the under 2k value. I bought a Framework desktop 128GB last year and my setup was around 2.7k. [...]

[...] I built a Framework Desktop PC back in November. [...]

I have a framework desktop w/ 128GB that I bought last Christmas and if I’m looking at it right it costs $2000 (CAD) more now because of the RAM shortage (and in any event is apparently out of stock). [...] One last thing, I assume this isn’t exclusive and there will be other builds with this same config same as current Strix Halo?

@atpfm seeing you boost folks for their before/after price hikes for Macs and decided to check out my Framework Desktop that I bought on 11/22/25 and use basically as a beefy “steam machine” in my living room: before - $2,323 with a WDBLACK SSD 2TB after - $4,403 with a Sandisk SN7100 2TB YIKES

A vanishingly small number of people can or would want to go to the hardware expense of running something like GLM 5.3 Flash, much less something like K3. It's probably worth letting the user specify their actual costs in such a tool. I run a Framework Desktop 128GB that I bought before memory prices got crazy; the current retail price is almost double what I actually paid a year ago.

I'd love to see an easy guide to doing this with the Framework Desktop form factor. I didn't buy any of the silly little squares for the front of mine since I figured I could 3D print some later, but six months in still haven't gotten around to it.

I just bought a Framework Desktop. Would have been nice to get it at the introductory price, or perhaps the new 192gb model refresh they’re now teasing, but I settled and got a 64 gb model. At the time, the 128’s price had already risen again, but the 64’s price was still at a lower price. 64 can still easily do a Qwen 4.8 model, so I’m relatively happy with my purchase… plus, it’s price change has caused it to quickly appreciate in value… so I could sell it if my situation ever turned dire lol

[...] My Framework Desktop, however has appreciated in value by 75% since I bought it. [...]

I have a framework desktop, but depending on your need, DGX spark might be better. [...] But framework desktop is a better general computer. [...]

Own a framework desktop 128gb. [...] Haven't tested the new laguna S 2.1 yet. [...] Overall I think it's cheaper and better (intelligence wise) to get a $20 codex sub and always run gpt-5.6-luna than getting a desktop for local inference. [...]

The people who buy a Framework Desktop with 192GB of RAM (or in my case an M5 Max MBP with 128GB of RAM). [...]

It’s a fantastic dev box i got the framework desktop and its awesome as a developer desktop

Was actually pulling on a similar thread as I saw announcement so I integrated it just for fun. Have been only running this on my Framework Desktop but should be runnable elsewhere

Replying to myself, seems this PR was merged into main and it the model does work with a Vulkan backend on my Framework desktop, I’m getting about 220 tok/s prompt processing and 21 tok/s output on the 4-bit quant. This is really a sweet spot imo on this machine between maximizing ram use and still having decent speed due to the expert size. This looks really promising.

My setup is sort of reversed. The powerful machine (framework desktop) is my headless AI machine and M1 mbp is my daily driver. Works well!

I'm running Lemonade on Nixos on my Framework Desktop. I had been trying other tools out before finding Lemonade, but Lemonade really made it plug-and-play.

I run Qwen 3.6 on my Framework Desktop 128GB, and it's very performant. I know Framework has had to raise the price since I preordered mine, but they're still well under half the cost of that Macbook.

I'm on 128GB ram strix halo, bought framework desktop for a few thousand CAD back when everyone was calling framework desktop overpriced

I have a Framework Desktop as primary PC (great cooling, beautiful case with handle) and the Bosgame M5 dedicated for AI use. I was also a bit wary about Bosgame but TBH they've been great and the machine is rock solid, if a little noisier than and not as pretty as the FD. You can just buy from them directly and be fine, best computer deal out there by a mile.

[...] You overpay for the screen and keyboard and battery and whatever, plus you get much worse thermal performance because of basic physics (area vs volume). My Framework Desktop has a Noctua cooler which works really well. [Tangent: all my life I've been downvoted into a smoking hole in the ground, particularly on reddit r/hardware, for questioning the wisdom of laptops for high performance computing, including gaming. [...]

I just started using this model on my Framework Desktop and it's very smart and fast.

I've just started using qwen3.6:35b a couple days ago running on my framework desktop and rather impressed. [...]

My Framework Desktop with 128GB was about half that. I did luck out by buying before RAM prices went crazy, though. [...]

Buy a Framework Desktop with 128 GB instead. It's half the price, and though I bought it for even less before RAM prices went crazy.

I have a Framework Desktop too and 20-25 t/s is a lot better than I was expecting for such a large dense model. I'll have to try it out tonight. Are you using llama.cpp?

I’ve got the Framework desktop with strix halo. You can reserve memory for the GPU, but it’s straightforward at least on Linux to have the GPU dynamically grab memory as needed. I’ve got my VRAM set to 512MB and regularly use 120GB+for AI stuff.

Not who you asked, but I've got a Framework desktop (strix halo) with 128GB RAM. [...] Qwen3.5-27b is a bit slower at about 24tok/sec but that's a dense model.

The Framework Desktop has a Ryzen 395 chip that is able to allocate memory to either the CPU or GPU. [...]

I have a 128 GB Strix Halo tablet (same as the other commenter here with the Framework Desktop). [...] It's a 100% replacement for free ChatGPT/Gemini. [...] Gemma does have reasoning, and I have used the reasoning mode for some tax & legal/accounting advice recently as well as other misc problems. [...]

I run qwen3.5 122b on a Framework Desktop at 35/ts as a daily driver doing security and OS systems and software engineering. Never paid an LLM provider and I have no reason to ever start.

I've been using Qwen3.8-27B locally and wow, this thing is VERY impressive. Started with the full BF16, but honestly it was too slow on my Framework Desktop, but the Q5 (MTP) version is just fast enough to be usable and has been more enjoyable then Sol or Opus 5. Probably not as effective for...

i got a framework desktop for running local qwen and deepseek, but then immediately filled it with other service VMs cuz it's such a nice little server now i need to get a minisforum or thinkstation just to free it up again ––

i have used both to run thousands of microvms on a single framework desktop if you're interested in scale

I got my second Framework desktop based AI rig set up. I made this one pretty ❤️🏳️‍⚧️

I bought a framework desktop recently to play with open weight models locally, and the difference in how useful 6 months old models vs. 2 months old models are is quite stark.

Ive been using pi-agent a bunch with Qwen 3.6 31b a4b I think it is. Works really well, and fast t/s on my Framework Desktop with 128Gb. Qwen 3.6 27B is slower, but slightly better results. [...]

Okay, my newly minted AI assistant, Iris, can now reach me on my phone when I'm out of the house. She's running on a framework desktop motherboard using qwen3.6-27B. Shout-out to @astrra.space and @luna.pds.witchcraft.systems for inspiration and ideas!

I know it's not affordable for everyone but when I started to run out of tokens in a single prompt with Claude Code I got a Framework Desktop and now run local Qwen 3.6-35B with OpenCode as a harness.

Awhile back, I bought a Framework Desktop to use as a homelab server with the intention of one day installing a local LLM. [...]

eternally lucky i got the chance to get a maxxed out Framework Desktop before everything hit. absolute workhorse that even when im done as a main desktop will be a brilliant server workhorse for the next 15 years if not more.

If I rephrase your earlier post, and based on the AMD post: If you take four Framework Desktop 128 GB Strix Halo motherboards at a previous low and currently-unattainable price, and ignore the cost of storage, power, networking, and cases, and then take an older model that's just about competitive with Opus 4.5, and then you quantise that model down to Q2KXL and ignore the performance degradation below Opus 4.5 this will cause, and then you compare the cost of this with the highest tier of Claude subscription that includes much newer models which are far more able than your Opus 4.5 benchmark, then you might have some sort of break-even inside a year. Yes, there's a new AMD hardware generation coming, but it's going to be as heinously expensive as the current one has become, and it's still got relatively low memory bandwidth. [...]

I’ve been using local models on a Framework desktop. [...]

[...] I own the Framework desktop board. I knew all of its limitations before I bought it, and it's ok to play with on a hobby level, but it isn't much more than a Radio Shack toy. [...]

I have the Framework Desktop with 395+ 128gb RAM Today I am pretty happy with it. LLMs are finally good enough (fast enough with MTP+MoE, but also just much better in capability) that I can fit local ones into real tasks, and I've used image generation with invokeAI to do some genuinely useful things like rendering concepts for a renovation. [...] Up until end of Q1 2026 it felt like a total waste of money largely due to AMD. ROCm was unusable all of last yera; there was an entire month where PyTorch crashed just trying to multiply two matrices due to AMD Linux driver issues. [...] Prompt processing is definitely an issue, and diffusion is very very slow. [...] Realistically most files are not large enough that it's a huge deal, but it does make large-scale agentic work slow.

[...] But I've been trying to use Qwen 3.6 and Gemma 4 on my framework desktop mainboard (Strix Halo) as much as possible. [...]

Interesting over the price increase rollover now the setup fee is around 110 euros. The machine itself is basically useless for any type of realtime inference, no matter what the marketing page states, but I still use it for prototyping LLM integrations and running comparisons across MoE models. If only the alternatives to framework desktop wouldn't be so poorly built, I might swap it out for a local machine which has more ram but comparable performance for stuff like gpt-oss-20b (around 70tok/s)

[...] I'm currently shopping for a local LLM setup and between something like the Framework Desktop with 64-128GB of shared RAM or just adding a 3090 or 4090 to my homelab so I'm very curious what hardware is working well for others. [...] Not exactly a speed demon with LLMs but it can load large ones (which run even slower as a result) and that wasn't really my intent. [...] It's next to impossible to make your money back on local (regardless what you buy) so I'd just say "go for whatever amount of best you're willing to put money down for" and enjoy it.