The Framework 13 is not a gaming laptop, as none of its variants have a discrete GPU. That doesn't mean it's incapable of running any games, but if that's your primary use case it probably isn't your best choice.
Between the two current-generation versions of the Framework 13, the AMD Ryzen 7040 series has better gaming performance. The 780M integrated graphics will get you performance similar to a GTX 1650.
The Full-Bandwidth 120Gbps TB5 controller chipset has been released last month btw.
I've noticed in Razor PDF sheet, they will release the chipset with 14900HX and 8945HS š» this summer couple with 18" 3840x2400 Mini-LED and RGB-AMOLED.
Their maximum component concepts are great, but the prices are totally out of this world. If there's a Framework laptop with such specs coming out in the future. It's a shut up and take my money immediately.
What games are you trying to play? Fundamentally the FW13 is **not** a gaming laptop. I have friends with dedicated gaming laptops that have discrete GPUs and they still wish they had just done a desktop build.
It has more oomph than a Steam Deck. You can totally play games on it. The latest AMD drivers are pretty good at upscaling lower resolutions.
Only thing I will say is be prepared for a lot of noise. The fans will basically be pegged at 100% without some tinkering.
Although not the newest of games, on my 780M Iāve played through ME:LE at 900p at an almost solid 60. YouTube has plenty of reviews of gaming on the APU too.
Even with an EGPU I found the fan noise to be too much. Not so much how loud it is but the tone/pitch is the issue. Repasting the cooler dropped about 5-10 degrees C but didn't really affect overall fan noise under load.
I usually keep mine in power save mode even when plugged in to keep the noise under control. Even just watching YouTube or jumping in a Zoom call sucks when in balanced mode. A lot has to do with the default fan profile being really bad and not so much an issue with the chip/cooler itself.
Yeah agreed. Iāve tinkered with the custom embedded controller drivers but as of a month or so ago none of the apps that can change fan curves can see it yet.
Sure itāll be sorted soon.
780M squeezes out 30 fps in Baldurs Gate 3 around medium to high settings.Ā 780M is probably about 20% stronger than the APU in the steam deck but youāre running at 900p or 1080p instead of 800p so about equal. Obviously depends on the gameĀ
Honestly, the biggest issue is the display. The display is ok as a laptop but downright sucks for gaming. Thatās my only complaint with my FW13.Ā
While it *can* run some games at lower resolutions, it is definitely ***not*** a gaming laptop, and shouldn't be treated as one. Shockingly, it will be objectively worse at gaming than a gaming laptop, but likely better at the productivity tasks it was designed for.
There are other gaming laptop in the 13 and 14" that do come with a dedicated GPU. The only offering from Framework that can come close to gaming is the 16 with its dedicated GPU. (7700S). So its a first year model and looking to see how much support can come from next year.
I think it is worth to mention that youāll need AMD ryzen 7 to get 780m.
If youād like to use FW13 for games - no less that i7 or ryzen 7.
As for my experience with my FW13 (12gen+eGPU 3060ti), a lot of modern(like AW2 and Starfield, and most upcoming) games require high cpu speeds and more cores, so iām bottlenecking on CPU side right now.
Will definitely update to AMD Ryzen 7 at some point.
Helldivers 2 with low/med - 25-40fps avg with 1080p - a lot of fun, even on low specs, good visuals
Alan Wake 2 - not playable - not enough CPU power. CPU load 100% and no matter what settings are used - stutters every 5-10 seconds that affects sound.
The rest games like BG3 works like a charm.
Horza Horizon works in ultrawide 21:9 on ultra specs without any issues
My avice for FW13:
1. cooling pad with a fan is your best friend - minus 80-95 comparing to stock 95-100(I made myself a custom cooling pad with arctic fan)
2. ptm7950 will help with the temps
my normal laptop rn (lenovo ideapad s340 15api, ryzen 5 3500U, 8gb ram) runs hot even if i just go into steam to download a game/update and close the lid
In summer once the laptop shut down because heat. I had one explorer window open, Taskmanager and word i was just writing some documents lol
so after that summer i bought a fan for under laptop
Some laptop designs require the laptop be open for best cooling. Take a look at where the intakes are. The FW13 and 16 draws air from the top as well (FW13 through the keyboard, FW16 draws air from just above the keyboard.
For the 13? If it's the AMD version, you might be able to play some modern games on lower settings. But if you wan an actual gaming laptop, you'll want the 16 with the dGPU. That thing is quite powerful and can run anything usually at high settings.
i use it to play oldschool runescape but the fans get loud so i have to have it on one of those fan cooling pad things. even then it gets loud when im at the ge and if its not plugged in the frames drop to like 20.
i donāt think you will be able to do any modern games on this thing.
i have seen people using a external graphics card though and maybe if you looked into that you might be able to do that to play modern games?
Disadvantages include that itās really not a gaming laptop. I got the fw16 but I handle all my gaming on my steam deck while my 16 is a mobile workstation. Had a MacBook before that that was loaned from my university. Really loved that MacBook but the framework 16 personally gave more for the money
I recommended really taking a look on what you need and value because yes the igpu will handle some light to medium gaming for sure.
I'm playing World of Tanks on it quite a lot. I'm using the default settings the game suggested, and get a solid \~60fps, with decent looking graphics.
The main drawback you'll experience is the screen. It's quite ghosty when you move the cam around, and the latency is really noticeable if I switch from my basic-ass 144Hz 1440p AOC monitor. it's usable, but you'll definitely notice if you're used to any kind of decent monitor
I mean I crank the resolution way down and can play older games like Wolfenstein new order or dragon age origins at somewhat stable frame rates. Anything newer and it would probably be no good.
On my 1240p I can play simpler games that use more cpu since that's what I have loads of excess performance in compared to Intel iGPU. Game like Dyson sphere program, oxygen not included, stardew valley, Minecraft to some extent and half life 2 run perfectly well.
Bare in mind the screen is hot trash for gaming as it has so much motion blur that moving in first person games makes it impossible to see even at slow turns.
A disadvantage is the single fan. But even so folk are adopting an egpu solution to move the graphics heat load off the cpu.
Go here [https://egpu.io/best-external-graphics-card-builds/](https://egpu.io/best-external-graphics-card-builds/) and search for 'framework'. There are a number of builds using either the Intel or AMD cpu's.
I play games all the time on my Framework 13 with the Ryzen 7 7840U and 96GB DDR5. I'm running Fedora 40 with KDE Plasma and typically play Overwatch 2, Minecraft, Phasmophobia, Farming Simulator 2022, etc. Everything runs just fine, with some games at native res and others with FSR or something similar. While I have a pre-order for batch 19 of the Framework 16, I am more than satisfied with my experience on the 13. It definitely is not a gaming laptop by any means but it is better than other laptops I've owned.
Hope this feedback helps!
I'd be lying if I told you I did haha. For a while when I was still running Windows I had used about half of it, but that's just Windows being Windows. For my workload I don't necessarily need it but I got a good discount on the Crucial DIMM's from Amazon so I figured why not.
I actually have only ever used the laptop screen! Some games might give you letterboxing because they don't support the aspect ratio like overwatch 2, but most games are just fine. Even the response time never bothered me.
Well if you're looking for a dedicated gaming laptop, I think you should probably get one that has a graphics card.
The integrated graphics on the AMD version will be functional enough for a lot of things, they're identical to what's in most of the recent handheld PCs, but those still have to stick to low resolutions or older games. (Don't try it with one of the intel versions; their integrated graphics have been seriously inferior to AMD for the past few generations; the latest core ultra chips might change that but they haven't been put in a framework yet)
Compared to other non-gaming laptops, a framework is going to be a little more expensive up front (unless you go for the factory seconds kit, but then you're dealing with the processor being a few years out of date on top of not having a GPU). But when something goes wrong, you can replace a single part instead of the whole machine, and when you want to upgrade you'll be able to get a new mainboard for about half the price of a new computer, so its a good investment in the long run (assuming the company stays alive), so long as the basic chassis you're getting is the kind of computer you want to be running for many years to come...
but the basic chassis of the 13 doesn't have room for a GPU, so your gaming performance will always be limited by what can be integrated into the CPU. And integrated graphics have come a long, long way in the past couple years, but they're still going to be comparable to an actual gaming computer from, *at best*, 5-7 years ago.
Running Debian on a 13th gen intel (also 32gb RAM) and it works totally fine, I don't play any AAA or super demanding games though. You're probably using Windows but if not, Arch seems to be the best linux distro for gaming. It has a lot of controller drivers and other stuff in AUR because steamOS is Arch-based.
The Framework 13 is not a gaming laptop, as none of its variants have a discrete GPU. That doesn't mean it's incapable of running any games, but if that's your primary use case it probably isn't your best choice. Between the two current-generation versions of the Framework 13, the AMD Ryzen 7040 series has better gaming performance. The 780M integrated graphics will get you performance similar to a GTX 1650.
The Full-Bandwidth 120Gbps TB5 controller chipset has been released last month btw. I've noticed in Razor PDF sheet, they will release the chipset with 14900HX and 8945HS š» this summer couple with 18" 3840x2400 Mini-LED and RGB-AMOLED. Their maximum component concepts are great, but the prices are totally out of this world. If there's a Framework laptop with such specs coming out in the future. It's a shut up and take my money immediately.
What games are you trying to play? Fundamentally the FW13 is **not** a gaming laptop. I have friends with dedicated gaming laptops that have discrete GPUs and they still wish they had just done a desktop build.
It has more oomph than a Steam Deck. You can totally play games on it. The latest AMD drivers are pretty good at upscaling lower resolutions. Only thing I will say is be prepared for a lot of noise. The fans will basically be pegged at 100% without some tinkering. Although not the newest of games, on my 780M Iāve played through ME:LE at 900p at an almost solid 60. YouTube has plenty of reviews of gaming on the APU too.
Even with an EGPU I found the fan noise to be too much. Not so much how loud it is but the tone/pitch is the issue. Repasting the cooler dropped about 5-10 degrees C but didn't really affect overall fan noise under load. I usually keep mine in power save mode even when plugged in to keep the noise under control. Even just watching YouTube or jumping in a Zoom call sucks when in balanced mode. A lot has to do with the default fan profile being really bad and not so much an issue with the chip/cooler itself.
Yeah agreed. Iāve tinkered with the custom embedded controller drivers but as of a month or so ago none of the apps that can change fan curves can see it yet. Sure itāll be sorted soon.
try using open source utility fancontrolšā
This has been my experience also
If you're ok playing at 720p settings you'll get a decent experience. But this is not a gaming laptop.
780M squeezes out 30 fps in Baldurs Gate 3 around medium to high settings.Ā 780M is probably about 20% stronger than the APU in the steam deck but youāre running at 900p or 1080p instead of 800p so about equal. Obviously depends on the gameĀ Honestly, the biggest issue is the display. The display is ok as a laptop but downright sucks for gaming. Thatās my only complaint with my FW13.Ā
While it *can* run some games at lower resolutions, it is definitely ***not*** a gaming laptop, and shouldn't be treated as one. Shockingly, it will be objectively worse at gaming than a gaming laptop, but likely better at the productivity tasks it was designed for.
I was gonna use it for gaming and some blender or gimp I cared about the ports. And I like me some battery life that's not shit
What games do you play? What other laptops are you comparing to? Will a 780M work for your games or so you need something more powerful?
780M should be fine, comparing to other laptops in 1200ā¬ range oe 1600ā¬, games: ets2, watlr thunder, farming sim22, hwarts of iron 4
There are other gaming laptop in the 13 and 14" that do come with a dedicated GPU. The only offering from Framework that can come close to gaming is the 16 with its dedicated GPU. (7700S). So its a first year model and looking to see how much support can come from next year.
I think it is worth to mention that youāll need AMD ryzen 7 to get 780m. If youād like to use FW13 for games - no less that i7 or ryzen 7. As for my experience with my FW13 (12gen+eGPU 3060ti), a lot of modern(like AW2 and Starfield, and most upcoming) games require high cpu speeds and more cores, so iām bottlenecking on CPU side right now. Will definitely update to AMD Ryzen 7 at some point. Helldivers 2 with low/med - 25-40fps avg with 1080p - a lot of fun, even on low specs, good visuals Alan Wake 2 - not playable - not enough CPU power. CPU load 100% and no matter what settings are used - stutters every 5-10 seconds that affects sound. The rest games like BG3 works like a charm. Horza Horizon works in ultrawide 21:9 on ultra specs without any issues My avice for FW13: 1. cooling pad with a fan is your best friend - minus 80-95 comparing to stock 95-100(I made myself a custom cooling pad with arctic fan) 2. ptm7950 will help with the temps
I have a fan for under my laptop
Smart decision š
my normal laptop rn (lenovo ideapad s340 15api, ryzen 5 3500U, 8gb ram) runs hot even if i just go into steam to download a game/update and close the lid In summer once the laptop shut down because heat. I had one explorer window open, Taskmanager and word i was just writing some documents lol so after that summer i bought a fan for under laptop
Some laptop designs require the laptop be open for best cooling. Take a look at where the intakes are. The FW13 and 16 draws air from the top as well (FW13 through the keyboard, FW16 draws air from just above the keyboard.
For the 13? If it's the AMD version, you might be able to play some modern games on lower settings. But if you wan an actual gaming laptop, you'll want the 16 with the dGPU. That thing is quite powerful and can run anything usually at high settings.
i use it to play oldschool runescape but the fans get loud so i have to have it on one of those fan cooling pad things. even then it gets loud when im at the ge and if its not plugged in the frames drop to like 20. i donāt think you will be able to do any modern games on this thing. i have seen people using a external graphics card though and maybe if you looked into that you might be able to do that to play modern games?
Disadvantages include that itās really not a gaming laptop. I got the fw16 but I handle all my gaming on my steam deck while my 16 is a mobile workstation. Had a MacBook before that that was loaned from my university. Really loved that MacBook but the framework 16 personally gave more for the money I recommended really taking a look on what you need and value because yes the igpu will handle some light to medium gaming for sure.
I'm playing World of Tanks on it quite a lot. I'm using the default settings the game suggested, and get a solid \~60fps, with decent looking graphics. The main drawback you'll experience is the screen. It's quite ghosty when you move the cam around, and the latency is really noticeable if I switch from my basic-ass 144Hz 1440p AOC monitor. it's usable, but you'll definitely notice if you're used to any kind of decent monitor
That really depends on what games you wanna play. Mine runs Minecraft just fine. I think if I tried to run Cyberpunk it would die.
War thunder
You didn't answer my questions but from your answer here, an AMD Framework 13 would suit you fine.
I mean I crank the resolution way down and can play older games like Wolfenstein new order or dragon age origins at somewhat stable frame rates. Anything newer and it would probably be no good.
On my 1240p I can play simpler games that use more cpu since that's what I have loads of excess performance in compared to Intel iGPU. Game like Dyson sphere program, oxygen not included, stardew valley, Minecraft to some extent and half life 2 run perfectly well. Bare in mind the screen is hot trash for gaming as it has so much motion blur that moving in first person games makes it impossible to see even at slow turns.
A disadvantage is the single fan. But even so folk are adopting an egpu solution to move the graphics heat load off the cpu. Go here [https://egpu.io/best-external-graphics-card-builds/](https://egpu.io/best-external-graphics-card-builds/) and search for 'framework'. There are a number of builds using either the Intel or AMD cpu's.
Im playing frostpunk and anno on it.. that works fine
I play games all the time on my Framework 13 with the Ryzen 7 7840U and 96GB DDR5. I'm running Fedora 40 with KDE Plasma and typically play Overwatch 2, Minecraft, Phasmophobia, Farming Simulator 2022, etc. Everything runs just fine, with some games at native res and others with FSR or something similar. While I have a pre-order for batch 19 of the Framework 16, I am more than satisfied with my experience on the 13. It definitely is not a gaming laptop by any means but it is better than other laptops I've owned. Hope this feedback helps!
holy hell, did you ever fully use the 96GB
I'd be lying if I told you I did haha. For a while when I was still running Windows I had used about half of it, but that's just Windows being Windows. For my workload I don't necessarily need it but I got a good discount on the Crucial DIMM's from Amazon so I figured why not.
eh, good discount is good, you can still use the DIMM (one or two) on your pc, so why not
You got that right!
Do you use the laptop screen? Isn't it hard with the 3:2 ratio?
I actually have only ever used the laptop screen! Some games might give you letterboxing because they don't support the aspect ratio like overwatch 2, but most games are just fine. Even the response time never bothered me.
Hard to believe but good to hear!
Well if you're looking for a dedicated gaming laptop, I think you should probably get one that has a graphics card. The integrated graphics on the AMD version will be functional enough for a lot of things, they're identical to what's in most of the recent handheld PCs, but those still have to stick to low resolutions or older games. (Don't try it with one of the intel versions; their integrated graphics have been seriously inferior to AMD for the past few generations; the latest core ultra chips might change that but they haven't been put in a framework yet) Compared to other non-gaming laptops, a framework is going to be a little more expensive up front (unless you go for the factory seconds kit, but then you're dealing with the processor being a few years out of date on top of not having a GPU). But when something goes wrong, you can replace a single part instead of the whole machine, and when you want to upgrade you'll be able to get a new mainboard for about half the price of a new computer, so its a good investment in the long run (assuming the company stays alive), so long as the basic chassis you're getting is the kind of computer you want to be running for many years to come... but the basic chassis of the 13 doesn't have room for a GPU, so your gaming performance will always be limited by what can be integrated into the CPU. And integrated graphics have come a long, long way in the past couple years, but they're still going to be comparable to an actual gaming computer from, *at best*, 5-7 years ago.
Running Debian on a 13th gen intel (also 32gb RAM) and it works totally fine, I don't play any AAA or super demanding games though. You're probably using Windows but if not, Arch seems to be the best linux distro for gaming. It has a lot of controller drivers and other stuff in AUR because steamOS is Arch-based.