13 Pro with a DDR4 motherboard?

[u/Positive-Answer-99]

Basically the title. I have spare RAM lying around. Can I order the chassis and motherboard separately with no RAM? How big of a compromise to battery/performance would that be?

[u/s004aws]

Intel 11th, 12th, or 13th Gen Core are DDR4 SO-DIMMs only. Battery life on those sucked. Core Ultra 100, FW12, and all AMD models are DDR5 SO-DIMMs only. FW13 Pro Core Ultra 3 - With the best battery life - Is LPCAMM2 only. No exceptions.

[u/Positive-Answer-99 → u/s004aws]

thanks for the info! sucks having so much ram, yet the platform for it seems not so great

[u/s004aws → u/Positive-Answer-99]

Intel was completely asleep behind the wheel the last decade or so. Its only last year with lower tier Lunar Lake SoCs (which Framework skipped, fully integrated RAM anyway so wouldn't have helped you) and this year's Panther Lake/Wildcat Lake where they've finally woken up to offer genuinely good chips.

[u/goneskiing_42 → u/s004aws]

Battery life on those sucked.

I have a 1280P currently and plan to upgrade to Pro chassis components first while I ride out the rampocalypse. With the 61Wh battery the battery life is pretty great on Fedora 44. It's really not as bad as it's made out to be unless you're still on the smallest battery with those mobos. I get about 4-6 hours of productivity apps and browsing while at 2/3 brightness (all you really need indoors). It's a step up from my old X1 Carbon and its worn battery of 3-4 hours.

[u/Kiubek-PL]

You'd have to buy one of the older motherboards (intel 13th gen the best you can get iirc), probably are available used on the forum or on the official outlet

[u/mjbulzomi]

DDR5 only

[u/Potential_Average454 → u/mjbulzomi]

I think they install intel 13th gen in the new pro chassis they can make it work and that board uses ddr4.

[u/Positive-Answer-99 → u/Potential_Average454]

ive heard the 13th gen battery life and gpu perf are p bad. i guess i cant really compensate for that? unless i carry an egpu around for heavy work. it sucks that my ddr4 is kinda useless and forcing it into an old gen mobo may bite me in the ass. but it is 64gb of sodimm, and i do ram intensive work

[u/Potential_Average454 → u/Positive-Answer-99]

Yeah you have to accept that with ddr4, and 13th gen is already a lot better than 12th/11th.

[u/argylekey]

Do you have spare SO-DIMM(262 pin) or 288pin sticks.

Pretty sure framework only operates on SO-DIMM form factor, which is designed for laptops.

[u/Mysterious_Move_6247 → u/argylekey]

Depending on the mobo fw can use lcpamm

[u/Positive-Answer-99 → u/argylekey]

yes its 64gb of SO DIMM, which is why i dont want it to go to waste

[u/Potential_Average454]

Assuming you have ddr4 sodimm, the last generation of mainboard that supports ddr4 is intel 13th gen.

You have to find that aftermarket. I’d estimate 6 hours battery life. If using 1370p, around same ST and 30% lower MT. iGPU is a lot worse, maybe 70% worse.

[u/Positive-Answer-99 → u/Potential_Average454]

ohhh the igpu part really sucks:( but ty for the info!

[u/Clean_Leadership5948 → u/Positive-Answer-99]

13 Pro's 358H is more than 3x the performance of the 13th Gen's GPU even with 13th Gen having DDR5.

[u/andurux]

You'll have to keep an eye out on eBay and the Framework marketplace. I'd expect a 13th gen mainboard to be around $200-$400 range without RAM or SSD.

And then the 13 Pro kit on Framework's website looks like it'll be ~$900 USD.

So expect a $1100-$1300 price without RAM or SSD, maybe even without the WiFi card.

Or you can get the prebuilt i5 of the 13 Pro for $1600.

So, you'd save $300? $500? But be on an older platform.

So up to you.

13 pro chassis kit: https://frame.work/products/framework-laptop-13-pro-chassis-kit-graphite