Crafting a Framework Desktop: The Mainboard & GPU Enclosure Build!

[@ElevatedSystems]

I just watched 3D Printing Nerd's 3D Printing a Lamborghini Aventador video, and I now I have a crazy idea for this case. Carbon Fibre and resin on order. Stand By. 😀

[@davisbradford7438]

Remember to wear proper PPE! Many DIY's forget this step.

[@TwistedMe13]

13:32 Sees CPU hitting >90*C temps... That's incredibly toasty. For your Mk II you may wish to replace the laptop-capacity CPU heatsink with something that can better take the load similar to this laptop repurposing: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2TJn6Z9fcprm6c Since you're running a server-esque flow-through design you might to replace the 120mm Fractal fan with a monster 140mm Noctua IndustrialPPC fan and set the PWM fan curves accordingly.

[@josiahwilkin]

Update?

[@Splarkszter]

TB3 is known to be an issue on latency sensitive workloads like games. The performance may also be linked to the interface being trough the TB3 controller instead of direct PCIe.

[@viv12348]

Your videos about framework are my favorites. Very creative. Would love to see you prototyping some more expansion cards!

[@平和-v1z]

Same here, his Framework videos are my absolute favorites!

[@rodrimora]

I just discovered your YT channel from a framework tweet and you make awesome content! love tinkering like this.

[@ElevatedSystems]

Welcome!

[@bryans8656]

I'm really impressed with your build process, your skill is way above my pay grade 🙂 As I shared before I installed an RX A2000 in a SFF Dell OptiPlex 7010 (16GB RAM/500 GB SSD). I've been very pleased with its ability to run the games in my Steam library (usually at medium settings).

[@ghjong001]

Having pre-ordered my Ryzen mainboard, this is exactly the kind of thing I was wondering about. Specifically, I'm considering building a NAS out of my old mainboard, but wasn't sure where to even start.

[@ElevatedSystems]

I have a idea for that using an M.2 to SATA adapter, but it can be done with a PCIe to SATA card also.

[@Vitium92]

Maybe, as an experiment, it could be nice to test the enclosure with the GPU using an OCuLink cable instead of Thunderbolt due to the latency issues the later has; there are options of m.2 to OCuLink connectors and OCuLink to PCIe on the web that seem to mitigate (almost) completely that issue. The problem that arises from there is how to install the boot drive.

[@jessebraughler8594]

This case is awesome. Would love to see some sort of kit version of this once the marketplace goes live. Maybe even framework itself would be willing to license the design and make kits. Great way to reuse old boards.

[@JasonCrosen]

Well done. This is a project I’ve considered doing myself. Using the A2000 was a great upgrade idea.

[@TheOystei]

it will be super interesting to see what people make from the 16" framework laptop with it's pcie connector etc.

[@arnaldoperez]

Awesome!! What about a Framework NAS? with a PCI-NVMe adapter you could even have a RAID card in theory...... can you pull it off??

[@mikeyschmitt8958]

I'm thinking of replacing the gpu with a pcie x16 to nvme x4 slot card.

[@MadeInJack]

This is so awesome! It would even be natural that Framework itself manufactures this kind of enclosure!

[@woozykoala159]

The HDPlex 250 watt GaN might be the power supply alternative you’re looking for. Should give you the headroom for a more powerful card as it’s much more efficient and it’s practically silent.

[@ElevatedSystems]

My concern is encasing a passive PSU in insulating plastic. I would have to open up the PSU compartment to allow airflow around the PSU.

[@trowawayacc]

@@ElevatedSystemsthere is the “send cut send” service they do custom sheet cuts in aluminum.

[@rightwingsafetysquad9872]

That CPU should never bottleneck that GPU in games. As you said near the end, it is thermal throttling. Your problem is cooling. Playing games on a workstation card is probably introducing a bit of driver overhead and inefficiency that taxes the CPU more, but it should still be GPU limited. Using a workstation card and Thunderbolt combined shouldn't introduce more than a 10% overhead with that GPU. Perhaps while handling you disturbed the seating of the heat sink, perhaps it needs new thermal paste, perhaps air is not flowing in and out of the case well and it needs a proper case fan. Kudos on the project. The prototype looks really good so far.

[@ElevatedSystems]

The CPU is operating exactly as it's designed to. It's an ultra-low TDP processor that is only intended for short bursty workloads and not for sustained boost clocks. The minimum assured power is only 20 watts, so for extended loads you can expect average all core clocks below the base clock speeds, with cores boosting for only as long as they have the thermal headroom to do so. It's a CPU designed for an ultraportable business laptop, not a gaming machine. The CPU will always thermal throttle regardless of the cooling solution used. More cooling will only give the cores more thermal headroom, however, they will still eventually hit 100C and throttle. It's just how the CPU was designed.

[@rightwingsafetysquad9872]

@@ElevatedSystems I like your design. If I had a large enough 3D printer I would use it, only modifying it to add a case fan. I promise you, if you address the cooling issue, you will get much better performance. TDP doesn't really mean anything, even if they call it cTDP Down or Minimum Assured Power. Framework's specific implementation allows indefinite operation up to 35W and burst operation up to 64W. The U-series are the ultraportable designs. The P-series are for high-performance thin-and-lights. The 1280P is an identical chip to the 12700H that goes in high end gaming laptops and mobile workstations, just different BIOS and marketing. I have one with a 3070 Ti (laptop), the GPU is almost always the bottleneck. The CPU will absolutely not always thermal throttle. With proper cooling it will power throttle first. If you don't believe me, perhaps a test using a power meter. Run Furmark on the computer, it should use almost no CPU power, but dump a bunch of heat in the case. Measure how much power the system is using. Then, while Furmark is still running, also run ADIA64 or Prime95. Wait 20-30 minute. Measure the power usage again. If it has not increased by at least 15W, you still have power headroom.

[@onlytheneeded412]

That front part you should have placed a 140mm fan in there to blow inward and ran it off of usb power with a noctua controller with the twister. Then this would have been crazy good. I wish we had options of turning our laptops into desktops in this way, like our gaming laptops.

[@meriscorditan2799]

Hmm, sandwich the motherboard together with the GPU, remove the fans and heatsink, creating a custom waterblock that cools both components. Might be able to squeeze the SFX PSU, radiator with fans and reservoir in the bottom chamber.

[@Crackalacking_Z]

Is it possible the TDP and cooling are holding the CPU back? They were designed with laptop limitations in mind. It might get close to sunk cost fallacy, but checking if you can up the TDP and add proper cooling could be worthwhile. You're already knee-deep in the project ;)

[@boneappletee6416]

I am incredibly excited for this build! :D Framework really has so many awesome opportunities for those who want to explore. Thank you for making this fantastic vid. Looking forward to more videos using Framework and interesting projects.

[@caryjasperrumbaoa1321]

You could gut those new Mac TB/USB C expansions/docks that both have a 2.5 in SATA and NVME slots for better desktop replace for storage. Honestly hadn't seen anyone gut them but definitely interested on seeing them disassembled to see how they work. Thinking of the main board port limits - one for power, one for GPU, one for ports and one for the internal dock is cutting close, but should be passable as a desktop PC.

[@Winnetou17]

This is pretty neat! But I have to comment on the DLSS selection. DLSS should be used only when the GPU is at max load and there's still CPU power available. Because it uses a bit more CPU in order to do the upscaling. So, ironically, the games would've probably run best with no DLSS at all! Though on Last of Us and Cyberpunk, some settings might've needed to be tuned down. Also, what others said, good cooler and all, the CPU might go miles better. From the footage, it seemed that when it passed 30W, it also passed 90 degrees Celsius. Having that taken care of, it might be able to run sustained at 35W and that might be enough for the games shown here. And as someone else said, these CPUs can go up to 64W, including sustained, if they have the cooling. But I'm not sure what can be done in such a small case. Also also, wtf KZbin, when I expanded the description section, the chapters at the end have the thumbnails from an LTT video instead of ... you know... the current one. I guess the 4060 Ti one. And the timing too. Jeez.

[@kimvelarde8421]

Men thanks for the frame work vids keep it up !!! Can wait to see you doing a 3d printed handheld using framework mother board.❤

[@replacesoundboard]

Framework: *releases a fully modular laptop akin to a desktop computer* Elevated Systems: Let's turn a laptop into a desktop! Sorry, this was a bad attempt at a joke

[@internetusername9593]

love the channel man hope it grows! ps: cool logo polo shirt

[@daviddemmers130]

Nice video, maybe interesting to see if you change the cooler on the cpu if the sustained performance increases.

[@ElevatedSystems]

I'm retrofitting a larger cooler on the 1260P in my iMac conversion project. We'll see how it goes.

[@daviddemmers130]

@@ElevatedSystems very interesting, thank you for the nice and entertaining framework videos!

[@matthewborgholthaus7952]

I wonder what the difference would be to have a low profile desktop CPU cooler, or a Regular sized cooler like a stock cooler, and how you would connect a fan or even passively cool it.

[@BigTylt]

13:20 It's possible that if you turn off Resizable Bar using Nvidia Profile Inspector, that might help with the choppiness

[@gregmeadowlark2599]

Yeah I’ve found my main board is super sensitive about power supply. A standard 100w power supply would power the board but cut performance way down. I’m currently using 140w as that’s what I had floating around and it doesn’t compromise performance (I just tested over and over with cinebench r23). I have a 1280p though so it’ll be different with tge 1260. Also, wow thermals make a massive difference. I can’t game with an egpu with my printed cover on, it stutters like yours is looking like it is. I’m thinking it needs a custom heatsink ultimately, which is out of most peoples scope. I’ll be looking at venting fresh air to the fan intake, and reducing possibility of recycled hot air back into my case next refresh…

[@brandonlight621]

Hope the print files get released when you are done tweaking (even if just to Patreon, worth to join). Would love to turn my old mainboard into a LANbox like this when the new one gets here.

[@bits2646]

You can also get A4000 in same form factor now, much more capable card

[@ElevatedSystems]

That would be nice, unfortunately, the A4000 SFF cost $1500. Maybe in a couple years when they start hitting the secondhand market.

[@CameronVanNatta]

I wonder if you can modify the Razer egpu enclosure to house the framework motherboard as well? That would be less waste.

[@floppydisk4500]

I'm interested in taking the framework case and a screen and controller and the original battery for the framework to make a "steamed deck" so to speak with the amd motherboard.

[@AndersHass]

I hope you are getting a review unit of the 16 inch Framework laptop (or maybe you are able to buy one). Then it will also be interesting how you could reuse its dedicated GPU.

[@ElevatedSystems]

Unfortunately, I don't get review units from Framework and I'm not sure if I can afford another laptop this year.

[@AndersHass]

@@ElevatedSystems I guess they reserve it for bigger KZbinrs and their investors. You do have cool projects with their hardware so one could hope they want to make it easier for you with the 16 inch my model. But also understandable they cannot send review units to everyone given they aren't a big company.

[@carlospcpro]

Awsome build.

[@NanneWielinga]

Nice. This is an energy efficient gaming PC, though a gaming laptop would perform similar. There is also a 12GB version of A2000, which is quite interesting as better quality looking textures would not require more CPU performance. I wonder if you could overclock the CPU? Maybe install a custom proper CPU cooler would be enough?

[@ElevatedSystems]

The extra cost of the 12GB version is probably only justified for professional workloads. The low power U sku CPUs can't be overclocked but I am adapting a larger cooler for the 1260P in my iMac conversion project. It should let the CPU boost higher for longer periods.

[@b3fuddled196]

Love this project! Did you have any thoughts about a 5G LTE expansion card for the laptop?

[@ElevatedSystems]

There is at least one developer that has made an LTE expansion card. Adding whichever expansion cards you like is why I included the expansion bays.

[@SuperSpecies]

Pretty much all lte cards use the usb2 pins for comms even if they are mini pci-e form factor. Keel this gotcha in mind

[@denvera1g1]

Ok, ok ok When businesses recycle these in bulk, salvage the motherboard and batteries from any devices with a bad screen or frame, make a 3U rackmount case that stacks these together like sheets of paper in a book, with an internal 20 port KVM with 40G switch(2.5g to each device) and a 1500w PSU to supply power to all of these little powerhouses. On the back of the chassis, just 2 power inputs, a QSFP+ port, some large fans, and a set of video and USB ports. Maybe add KVM switching buttons to the front. God tier case would allow for these compute blades to be hot swappable

[@jeremydale4548]

See, THIS is the kind of company practices I can fully get behind. My next Laptop will probably be a Framework once the one I currently have inevitably glitches. And once the Larger version is ready for sale. GOD I LOVE the 6+ module version dream! I am going to have SO much storage available it’s insanity

[@denvera1g1]

@@jeremydale4548 We're trying to switch to them because we're tired of paying $600 to repair a charge port because our ~$150 per device warranty doesnt cover user damage With framework its like $9 and 5 minutes, instead of weeks worth of shipping and waiting on tax exempt BS 90% of our hardware repairs are the charger port because students put the laptops in the bags with the charger still plugged in, or set the laptop down on a soft surface that allows the laptop to sink, bending the charge port repeatedly causing the board to delaminate

[@rotm1]

@ElevatedSystems Why did you routed the USB PD cable to the USB ports on front panel? Why don't to the back side (it's nearer than front)?

[@ElevatedSystems]

I didn't. The power is delivered at the rear. Besides all the USB ports on the main board are USB-PD so you can plug into any of them.

[@rotm1]

@@ElevatedSystems In point 9:05 you use the long cable instead of just short one from the PD power supply to the motherboard USB ports on up of it?

[@ElevatedSystems]

@@rotm1 that's the connection to the eGPU and I use the front port to allow for the two expansion modules in the rear.

[@rotm1]

@@ElevatedSystemsOh, ok :)

[@brandonlight621]

Were you able to get the RAM to run at CL16? I see conflicting reports of it working on the Framework.

[@Qw1lzyyy]

Can you make a full size PCIE bracket version? 🙂

[@eduardonarvaez6205]

can a framework board can be repurposed to create a NAS? an idea for a future project and case (HHD and SSD NAS’s)

[@TurboBass]

Could you remove the portable cooling solution and add a stacked heatsink with a fan?

[@ElevatedSystems]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4fRZ3eag6lmg6s

[@thaejsooriya3313]

That grinding and clicking you were seeing, was that not just the thumbscrew way too tight? The fix should be turn that screw loose some Sincerely an X1 owner that has done that same thing

[@ElevatedSystems]

No, the PTFE filament guide tube was too short and the filament was melting and charing in the hotend clogging it up. I replaced the PTFE tube and it's running great now.

[@seanmartin2194]

Hello I'm new to this but I want to know how I could run this graphics card on my desk where I can just plug in my framework laptop into when I need the extra power for video and photo editing. Thanks!

[@frederickhumphrey1064]

The Elevated SyS x

[@zerocentury]

I wonder if this will work with an HDPLEX GaN power supply.

[@garryconnors8804]

Awsome Bro! Will you be reviewing the 13th Gen Framework? I heard it shipped today.

[@ElevatedSystems]

Nope. I don't get review samples from Framework so I'll be skipping the 13th gen and checking out the Ryzen version. I can't afford both.

[@garryconnors8804]

@@ElevatedSystems That's jacked! You should be the first person they send new stuff too.

[@Will-sc3hw]

I would buy such a case in metal or resin

[@SimpleEnigma331]

I have a question for you. Do you think a framework board could be easily used in a media server build? Something basically just used for plex, or do you think there are cheaper and better ways to do thi?

[@ElevatedSystems]

If you are reusing a Framework Mainbord after an upgrade than it will work well, however if you are looking to buy something there are much cheaper ways to go.

[@canonest]

gaming performance drops not caused by the cpu, there is a significant problem with the a2000 when it comes to gaming, it can not sustain gpu power limits so it fluctuates, A LOT.

[@ElevatedSystems]

It has the same performance issues when tested with a GTX 1660, RTX 3060 and RX 6750 XT.

[@canonest]

@@ElevatedSystems hmm, I have quite few a2000 and as soon as they hit max tdp they tend to lower gpu clock and fluctuate high-low frequency levels. keeping them on 45Watts however changes this behavior. Still, there are a few mods out there to increase power limits, I might give it a try.

[@marcello4258]

Why thunderbolt if you got connect directly to pcie?

[@darknite39]

Cool! How do you turn it on?

[@KYSMO]

Nice video

[@trowawayacc]

Dang. Now imagine a fully customizable laptop. Even the screen cn be a 3rd party screen…

[@davisenstarlord6317]

Now try the new gigabyte rtx 4060 low profile 😈

[@linebeckrobbins6466]

god i wish i knew what the words in here meant. i just wanna know how to make a framework desktop but. i dunno too much about the lingo or have wide knowledge of parts

[@questofknowledge8788]

Can use 3060 drivers I believe with the A2000 and get good gaming performance.

[@ElevatedSystems]

You can but it won't change things with this setup as the CPU is always going to be a significant bottleneck.

[@ludekstipal6120]

Replacing the whiny excuse for a "fan" with something quiet would be the first thing to consider in such a huuuge enclosure...

[@ElevatedSystems]

CPU or GPU fan? The blower style GPU fan is the louder of the two.

[@hotdogsarepropaganda]

absolutely should up the new RTX 4060 low profile card in it and chooch some games

[@ElevatedSystems]

Send me one, I'll test it for you. ;)

[@MrDeicide1]

Were you raised in prison?

[@ElevatedSystems]

For a short time.

[@MrDeicide1]

@@ElevatedSystems Thought so. It shows :\

[@ElevatedSystems]

@@MrDeicide1 Was it all my prison tatts?

[@MrDeicide1]

@@ElevatedSystems No. Speech and mannerisms

[@ElevatedSystems]

@@MrDeicide1 LOL. I was just humoring your ignorance. My speech and mannerisms are a result of growing up in New York, and living in 8 US states and 6 different countries, not prison. You should get out of whatever tiny piece of the planet you've sheltered yourself in your entire life and explore the world more.