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Tools of the trade: I upgraded my gaming PC with a 420mm Arctic Liquid Freezer 3 AiO and vertical GPU mount, and now it looks incredible
Game Reviews

Tools of the trade: I upgraded my gaming PC with a 420mm Arctic Liquid Freezer 3 AiO and vertical GPU mount, and now it looks incredible

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With Battlefield 6 on the horizon – plus plenty of Borderlands 4, MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries and Hades 2 to play – I wanted to upgrade my AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and RTX 4090 Founders Edition gaming PC to better cope with these demanding titles.

The goal here is to improve temperatures, reduce fan noise and maybe make things look a little nicer, so I’ll be swapping the (admittedly chonky) 240mm AiO liquid cooler I currently have installed for a massive 420mm unit from Arctic. With more surface area and larger fans, I should be able to run the fans at lower speeds while still achieving much better cooling performance in these and other CPU-heavy games.

I set aside Friday morning to make the swap, and the results exceeded my expectations. I’ll share what I learned, why I made the choices I did, and also discuss the titanic Havn HS 420 VGPU case that I’ve been using for the past six months.

Part one: Arctic Liquid Freezer 3 Pro RGB install and mini review

I’ve been relatively happy with the Hyte Thicc Q60 240mm AiO CPU cooler I’ve been using for the past few months, with its pleasant black/white colour scheme and surprisingly good thermal performance for its size, but it does have some flaws. First, the display screen attached to the CPU block made it impossible for me to vertically mount my graphics card, as it hung down too far below the CPU socket.

More critically though, despite its incredibly thick radiators, it’s still limited by its dual 120mm fans, which need to spin relatively fast to push enough air through the thick rad. By replacing this unit with a (remarkably, around $100 cheaper) 420mm Arctic Liquid Freezer 3 Pro RGB AiO with three wider 140mm fans, I ought to be able to hit similar or even lower temperatures while running the fans significantly slower, cutting down on noise.

Here’s how my work PC looked before I started this project, with the Hyte Thicc Q60 240mm AiO installed. I dig the white/black colour scheme, but fan noise was relatively high. | Image credit: Eurogamer

Removing the Thicc Q60 was straightforward in the Havn HS 420 VGPU, as the case provides easy access to both sides of the computer and has clearly marked apertures for cable routing. The Arctic Liquid Freezer 3 Pro RGB (hereafter “new CPU cooler”) also has a relatively thick 38mm radiator, so rather than mounting it on the side access panel as I did with the Q60, I’ll be installing it at the top of the case and replacing the storage covers to cover the empty gap. A top placement also ensures that the pump on the CPU block is below the level of the radiator, which is generally good practice.

Installing the Arctic cooler was easy, with the fans installed on the block out of the box in the top-exhaust configuration that I wanted. The only real struggle I had with the new CPU cooler was deciding on which way up it should go. Initially, I wanted to install it with the Arctic logo on the included magnetically-attached CPU block fan the right way up, but this meant that the tubes were at the bottom and they interfered with the vertical GPU mount. In the end, I decided to sacrifice the aesthetics and live with the upside-down wordmark.

Here’s the Arctic Liquid Freezer 3 Pro A-RGB install, starting with the CPU block installed the right way up, then later upside-down to accommodate the vertical GPU mount. | Image credit: Eurogamer

With the new CPU cooler installed, I noted significantly lower CPU and GPU temperatures, with both sitting around 60 degrees celsius in Borderlands 4 (with around 50 percent load on the 9800X3D and 95 percent load on the RTX 4090), versus around 65-70 celsius CPU temperatures with the old setup. Even at maximum load – eg compiling shaders in Borderlands 4, a heavy all-core task that can last several minutes – the fans never ramped up to their maximum speed as they did before.

As well as the boost to performance, I appreciated the lack of a display on the CPU block, as it meant that the entire system only requires a single fan header and a single A-RGB header to run four fans. The last few high-end AiOs I’ve used from Hyte, Asus and NZXT have included displays, requiring a PCIe or SATA power connector and USB 2.0 connections, so going back to a simpler system was an unexpected relief.

Part two: vertical GPU swap

Moving from a traditional horizontal GPU mount to a vertical one provides a bit of an aesthetic boost, and for a large GPU like the RTX 4090 FE I’m using here, an extra sense of stability as well.

There’s plenty of space here between the RTX 4090 FE and the side of the case, which is always a worry for vertical GPU setups. | Image credit: Eurogamer

The Havn HS 420 VGPU case is designed for this, and therefore includes an extra assembly that replaces the usual PCIe slots and provides a PCIe 4.0 riser cable. The downside is a more complicated install process and blocking access to your extra PCIe ports, but given the rarity of second graphics cards or other add-in cards, that’s probably a trade most builders would be quite happy to make.

I found it easiest to install the 4090 into the vertical assembly first, then install the whole deal into the case. That makes pushing in the PCIe riser cable a tad tricky, but means that the graphics card itself doesn’t risk being damaged when you’re trying to pop it into the PCIe socket. Here, the bracket is secured with two thumb screws quite close to the glass window, so it’s easy enough to hold the assembly in place with one hand and secure it with the other.

The goal with vertical GPU placement is to make sure there’s a good amount of space between the card and the glass, so that hot air leaving the card has a chance to be directed away (in this case, by the three fans below). There’s a good two or three inches between the GPU and the side glass here, so that’s good enough for me.

I’m probably still paying a slight performance penalty for using a vertical GPU orientation, but one that I’m happy enough with given the very modest temperatures at full burn in-game.

Part three: Havn HS 420 VGPU long-term review

The £200/$230 Havn HS 420 is a fascinating high-end PC case that offers quite unusual features and a plethora of fan setups, and I’ve found it every bit as performant and sensibly arranged as the Corsair 9000D I was using before. You have more than enough space here for a full-size ATX board with a huge amount of SATA storage and a 420mm AiO, and this ought to hold it in good stead for custom water cooling as well. There’s even a bit of extra glass included in the box to virtually divide the CPU and GPU areas of the case, though I didn’t end up using it.

I particularly like the aesthetics of the case, with the rounded motif replicated across the top I/O (USB-C, two USB-A, 3.5mm) and power button, the various air inlets in the base and lid, the unusual circular rear fan mounts and so on. The white case works well with the white RAM, white Arctic P14 Pro fans and white Arctic Liquid Freezer 3 Pro A-RGB AiO cooler, and I only wish that I had a white motherboard and graphics card to complete the look.

A great-looking case, with plenty of well-designed space in the rear for accommodating cable clutter, removable frames for AiO installation and a consistent rounded aesthetic for various elements. | Image credit: Eurogamer

The curved glass used for the front and side of the case is also truly impressive, with a well-engineered system that slides it out before releasing it. I’m not such a huge fan of the small screws used to secure each side, as there’s no good place to store these if you want to leave the system in a state where it’s easy to pull apart for maintenance, upgrades or cleaning, and consequently I’ve lost them. However, at least with them removed, it’s easy enough to access each of the dust filters.

In terms of cable routing, the rear of the case provides a useful amount of space, all cable routes are clearly labelled, and there’s a surplus of tie points and so on. Installing fans and radiators is also made easier by the fact that each of the main sections (top, side, bottom) have removable frames, so you can install the rads/fans onto the frame outside of the case, then re-insert the frames.

Overall, it’s not the quietest or coolest case that I’ve ever used – I suspect that I may want to explore alternative fan arrangements, reduce fan RPMs further and/or use extra fans in the side intake to keep CPU temperatures even lower – but that’s OK. The Havn HS 420 VGPU is still comfortably the best-designed PC case I’ve tested, with great aesthetics and streamlined build experience, and I’d happily recommend it.

What I’ve learned, and what’s next

I’m happy with my redesigned gaming PC for now, but it’ll be interesting to see how it fares with next-gen graphics cards when they arrive down the line – especially if they again see an uptick in power consumption and therefore waste heat production. For the more imminent future, I’m planning to upgrade to a 9950X3D, which ought to produce a little more heat on the CPU side and therefore allow me to fully tune the fans to deal with worst-case scenarios.

I’m also curious to hear your comments and suggestions – should I turn around one of the rear fans as an exhaust, as I’ve seen elsewhere online? Add side intake fans? Get in touch with a company that will supply a white graphics card and motherboard? Clean up my cable mess? Some of these are possible, so do get in touch via the comments below or via Bluesky.

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Exchange Review August
Crypto Trends

Bitcoin (BTC) Miner Riot Platforms (RIOT) Upgraded

by admin



Riot Platforms (RIOT) picked up back-to-back upgrades from Wall Street on Friday, with JPMorgan and Citigroup both raising their outlooks on the bitcoin miner amid changing industry economics and a shift toward high-performance computing.

JPMorgan boosted Riot to overweight from neutral and raised its price target to $19 from $15, calling it the most attractive among its mining peers. Citi upgraded to buy from neutral and lifted its price target to $24 from $13.75. Both firms pointed to Riot’s pivot into artificial intelligence and cloud services as a potential growth driver as mining profits tighten. Riot was modestly outperforming a sharply lower sector on Friday, declining “just” 1.2% to $16.55.

Alongside its upgrade of RIOT, JPMorgan downgraded the previously very hot-handed IREN to underweight from neutral. Shares are down 9.7% on Friday, but still higher by 300% year-to-date. CleanSpark (CLSK) was cut to neutral and it’s lower by 9.3% Friday and higher by 34% year-to-date.

The bank maintained its buy rating on Cipher Mining (CIFR), and doubled its price target to $12 from $6. The shares were 3.5% lower to $11.20 at publication time.

MARA Holdings (MARA) was kept at overweight, with a reduced price objective of $20, down from $22. The stock was 1% lower around $15.90 in early trading.

JPMorgan’s analysts are assigning a 50% probability that Riot, Cipher, and IREN each secure near-term high performance computing (HPC) colocation agreements, using Core Scientific’s (CORZ) 800 MW CoreWeave (CRWV) deal as a benchmark. The bank values HPC colocation contracts at $3.7 million to $8.6 million per gross megawatt (MW).

Read more: Bitcoin Mining Profitability Fell in August, Jefferies Says



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Suno’s upgraded AI music generator is technically impressive, but still soulless
Product Reviews

Suno’s upgraded AI music generator is technically impressive, but still soulless

by admin


When it’s not trying to fend off lawsuits from major record labels, Suno is still working on refining its AI music creation tool. The latest model, Suno v5, is an obvious technical improvement over its previous version, v4.5+. But it still can’t seem to escape the bland emptiness that pervades most AI art.

There are some across-the-board upgrades in audio quality that are undeniable, like fewer artifacts and clearer separation between instruments. Some tracks produced using v4.5+ can smush all the melodic parts together in a way where the lines between guitar, bass, and synth are muddy at best. But with v5, the mixes are much cleaner.

During a demo, Henry Phipps, a Suno product manager, pointed to a song we had the model generate that included a flute-like synth with what sounded like a ping-pong delay effect on it: “I’ve never heard that before in previous models… what that says to me is that the model understands that this is an isolated sound that’s being affected and needs to be reproduced faithfully in different parts of the stereo field.” Since Suno isn’t actually applying effects in the traditional sense, this means the model is identifying a particular instrument and approximating the sound of a stereo delay because it’s decided that is what it should sound like.

There are no edges to any of the Suno vocals. Everything is bathed in reverb, layered with harmonies, and perfectly on pitch. Even if you explicitly tell it not to do these things, the model just ignores you.

Suno also claims that v5 has a better understanding of genre, though that claim seems questionable from my testing. With some of my prompts like “modern avant R&B with glitchy, but funky drums, atmospheric melodic parts, and breathy vocals,” neither v5 or v4.5+ seemed to be the clear winner in delivering what I had in mind (mostly Kelela’s Take Me Apart). They both got close, giving me downtempo tracks with some moody synths, but they lacked the weirdness I was hoping for.

Neither could Suno quite figure out what I was looking for with “early ‘90s lo-fi indie rock recorded on a 4-track cassette recorder with off key vocals and slightly out of tune guitars” either, but v5 was definitely more off target. Despite everything I tried, I could not get Suno to spit out anything that sounded even remotely like Pavement. The loose slacker noise pop I associate with Slanted and Enchanted was nowhere to be found. Instead, I got bombastic “indie” rock with chunky riffs and clean driving power chords. Suno v5 kept serving up songs that sounded more like Arctic Monkeys than anything released before the turn of the century.

Similarly, in my testing, v5 seemed to struggle with era- or decade-specific prompts at times. When I asked for “late 1970s krautrock,” v4.5+ basically nails it outside of the vocals (more on that later). But v5 often delivers ‘80s-tinged synthpop and tracks that are distinctly more modern sounding, even if they have some of that classic krautrock DNA.

What I will say is that the arrangements that Suno’s v5 model creates are much more complex. Compared to v4.5+, there are more one-off musical flourishes that keep things from getting too repetitive and more varied song structures. Where v4.5+ is usually content to stick with a basic verse-chorus-verse structure (with a bridge tacked on for good measure), v5 would often have pre- or post- chorus sections, multiple bridges or breakdowns, and generally build over the course of a track offering more of an arc than just distinct sections.

It also occasionally delivered interesting results when remixing existing tracks. I uploaded a song from an EP I released a few years back (which probably should have tripped its copyright filter) and look, I’m not going to lie, I kind of liked the way it transcribed parts of my guitar solo into a recurring synth motif and turned my big chord pads into driving arpeggios.

But what was missing in all of these covers of my song that I asked Suno to create was the raw, lo-fi nature of the track that I recorded in my living room at 3AM about six years ago. And that’s kind of a running theme here. While Suno can mimic some of the superficial features of an old recording or a human performance like tape hiss or breaths, it always feels inauthentic.

Phipps admits that he hasn’t heard the vocal model recreate the unique imperfections of a real human performance. In its early messaging about v5, Suno touted its “emotionally rich vocals” and “human-like emotional depth,” but that phrasing is now absent from any public-facing materials. Instead, the company has now chosen to describe the vocals as “natural, authentic,” chalking the change up to a “stylistic choice.”

But even that feels like a stretch. While, yes, compared to v4.5+ the vocals feel more human, they’re still stiff. Phipps explained that “when we perceive a vocal out of Suno [v4.5] to be emotionally flat, I think it’s because it’s just missing some detail that gives it that edge,” and that the higher fidelity of the v5 model delivers that detail.

It’s hard to argue with the technical aspects of that claim — vocal performances are more detailed — but they’re still all painfully generic. Every rock vocal ends up sounding like Imagine Dragons or Mumford and Sons, every R&B song like a sleepwalking Adele or a charmless Ariana Grande.

There are no edges to any of the Suno vocals. Everything is bathed in reverb, layered with harmonies, and perfectly on pitch. Even if you explicitly tell it not to do these things, the model just ignores you. I asked v5 for an “unprocessed emotional solo A cappella female vocal performance with no reverb, no harmonies, no effects, just dry vocals.” The two songs it delivered were bathed in reverb, included additional vocalists harmonizing with the first, and one even had what sounded like a bass accompaniment. (Though, it may have been a voice approximating a bass.) But Phipps wasn’t surprised. The “models don’t yet understand descriptions of specific effects and recording techniques. The way the vocal is performed is most influenced by the lyrics and the general mood,” he said.

So, I fed Suno lyrics that were just different enough from the Rolling Stone’s “Gimme Shelter” to avoid getting flagged for copyright infringement. At first brush it seemed to have all the elements that make the original so devastating. A powerful female vocalist shouting over a full, bluesy arrangement, but it had all of the emotional impact of a dentistry textbook.

When I listen to the “Gimme Shelter,” it’s the way Mary Clayton’s voice cracks as she belts out “rape and murder” during the bridge that causes me to choke up. It’s Robert Smith’s completely out-of-tune warble that conveys the desperation in “Why Can’t I Be You” and the tangible exhaustion in Kurt Cobain’s breath right before he delivers the last line in “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” that tells you this is a man struggling with real demons.

In general, trying to make Suno sound “bad” — out of tune, raw, off key, sloppy — was futile. For all the company’s talk about how “natural” the new model’s vocals sound it lacks the imperfections that often carry the emotional weight of a performance. Suno’s virtual vocalists still sound detached. Model v5 might understand that a particular lyric should be sad, but it has no actual emotional connection to the words, because it’s a pile of code, not an artist.

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Suri 2.0
Product Reviews

Suri 2.0 Sustainable Sonic Toothbrush review: upgraded to clean your teeth and the planet even better

by admin



Why you can trust TechRadar


We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Suri 2.0 Sustainable Sonic Toothbrush: One minute review

The Suri 2.0 Sustainable Sonic Toothbrush continues the environmentally-friendly mission of its predecessor, while upgrading everything that could help offer a better brushing experience. The end result is an upgraded model worthy of inclusion in our list of the best electric toothbrusheswith its balance of performance, portability and sustainability.

Suri’s mission statement is all about creating a toothbrush that lasts, stopping landfills piling up with disposable plastic brushes. As such, it uses recycled materials in construction, the heads are plant-based and can be recycled – for free by Suri in some countries – and it’s made to last.

The sonic brush has a redesigned and strong motor that offers a powerful-yet-gentle 33,000 movements per minute sonic vibration. The pressure sensor detects a user is brushing too hard and lowers the force of the pressure and vibrates subtly so you know to ease off, keeping your gums and teeth safe while also gently training you to brush better.

The case has had a battery added to it, which can charge the brush and also power the UV cleaning light that kills 99.99% of bacteria within one minute. It’s a superb feature that helps it compete even against the tech-crammed top-tier toothbrushes like the Oral-B iO Series 10 and the Philips Sonicare DiamondClean 9000.

Once again, this comes with the sticky-backed magnet that lets you mount your brush neatly anywhere in your bathroom.

Suri 2.0 Sustainable Sonic Toothbrush review: Price and availability

(Image credit: Future)

  • Priced at $135 in the US
  • £105 in the UK
  • Australia price yet to be announced

The Suri 2.0 Sustainable Sonic Toothbrush has a launch price in the UK of £105. That puts it only a bit higher than its predecessor which was £95 with the full kit.

The US price at launch is $135. Considering the original model was $116 at launch, with the UV case, this price isn’t a big jump up and represents a great value for money amount.

The Australian pricing, at time of publishing, has yet to be announced, but we estimate it’ll be around AU$200 based on the prices above.

The company says the brush is made to be easily repaired, so you shouldn’t need another for a very long time. Plus, if you do change up, Suri will recycle it all for free.

The heads are sustainable but are still going to wear down, so you’ll need to factor in replacement costs. A pack of three new heads will cost you $18.45 / £14.40 / AU$28. That includes fast and free shipping as part of the charge.

(Image credit: Future)

Suri 2.0 Sustainable Sonic Toothbrush review: Specifications

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Component

Value

Battery life

40+ days

Sonic vibrations

33,000 per minute

Charging stand

USB

Timer

Yes, two minute with 30-second haptics

Noise

50 dB

Charge time

4 hours

Suri 2.0 Sustainable Sonic Toothbrush review: Design

(Image credit: Future)

  • Upgraded motor
  • Aluminium body
  • Plant-based heads

The design of the Suri 2.0 closely adheres to the sustainable ethos of the company, with plant-based heads, a build comprised of recycled materials and a seeming focus on minimal environmental impact in both short and long term.

You still have that slim aluminium build that feels both comfortable and premium, with durability to last long-term. The base is flat allowing it to stand easily, and offers wireless charging either with the included mount charger, or via the case.

The sticky-backed magnetic mount charger allows the brush to ‘float’ wherever you choose to stick it, whether that’s neatly next to your bathroom mirror or inside a drawer. Short of going on the ceiling, there are very few limitations here. I didn’t try it on the ceiling, but the mount was so strong I dare say that would probably work too.

The brush uses brush heads made from cornstarch and castor oil instead of synthetic plastic. These are shaped into a wave-shaped bristle pattern to take care of interdental cleaning, and you also get a return envelope so you can send them back, free of charge in some countries, for recycling.

The new case is a great evolution as it still features a UV-C light to clean the head, but now also packs in a battery so charging can be done anywhere – more on that below.

Suri 2.0 Sustainable Sonic Toothbrush review: Features

(Image credit: Future)

  • 40-day battery
  • Case based charging
  • UV-C cleaning light

I would describe the 2.0 as a frontrunner when it comes to battery life, even when compared to its more expensive competition. This fast charges in hours and then keeps going for well over a month, in my experience. The company says it’s good for 40 days, but I found that my review unit could exceed this, even when brushing twice daily.

The charging case works with a UV light to clean the brush head, tackling 99.99% of harmful bacteria in a single minute. This is a reassuring feature, especially when travelling. On other brushes a quick rinse under the tap is all I could hope for, whereas with the included UV cleaner, I know my brush head is truly clean and safe.

(Image credit: Future)

The case now charges your brush, which was a much-requested feature on the last model that required you to plug the charger in. The charger case offers a good two months of use between charges, even with the UV light being used.

The brush head has a wave design for the best possible cleaning, while the back of the head has a rubberized pattern used for the now-standard tongue cleaning with just the right amount of abrasion.

There are still only two brush modes: Clean or Polish. While that is minimal, it offers strong or sensitive which (in my opinion) is enough. You have a standard two-minute timer with 30-second interval alerts via a gentle haptic vibration, all helping get the ideal clean to achieve a plaque-free finish.

Suri 2.0 Sustainable Sonic Toothbrush review: Performance

(Image credit: Future)

  • 33,000 sonic vibrations per minute
  • Superb long battery life
  • Simple but effective cleaning

When I saw the motor on this was upgraded, I was surprised it still offers the same 33,000 sonic vibrations of the original model. I assumed a better motor meant ‘faster’. Yet when I used it, I immediately felt the difference from the original Suri; it felt more deliberate in its delivery of that power, while remaining as sensitive and gentle as the experience I had with the first brush. This is likely thanks to the new pressure sensor that during testing, meant a deeper cleaning experience I couldn’t get from the first Suri.

It stays quieter than the first brush at just 50dB compared to 54dB. The case is USB-C friendly so you’ll likely be able to use your phone charger during traveling, making this brush very travel-friendly.

Then there’s that UV cleaning light, operated via a single button press. In reality you can’t see any difference so there is an element of trust in the process. The 2.0 also comes with a cover for the brush heads, which is ideal if you’re traveling with a spare. You can also long press the main button to activate a lock or travel mode, so it won’t start vibrating in your bag and causing trouble with security.

Suri includes the recycling packaging to send heads back to the company easily. This makes it a more realistic process for most people, as does designing the brush to be easily repaired. This is potentially the last brush you’ll ever need to buy, especially as its repairable.

Suri 2.0 Sustainable Sonic Toothbrush: Scorecard

(Image credit: Future)Swipe to scroll horizontally

Category

Comment

Score

Value

A decent price for what you get

4.5/5

Design

Clean, easy to hold and effective

5/5

Features

That light cleaning and battery performance

4.5/5

Performance

Great cleaning, top battery and super sustainability

4.5/5

Suri 2.0 Sustainable Sonic Toothbrush: Should I buy?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Also consider

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Component

Oral-B iO Series 6

Colgate Hum Smart Rhythm

Battery life

20+ days

90 days

Movement

8,800 oscillations+ 20,000 pulsations per minute

30,000 vibrations per minutes

Charge time

12 hours

AAA batteries

Modes

Five

Two

How I tested

I used the Suri 2.0 Sustainable Sonic Toothbrush for weeks in order to test the effectiveness of the brush itself as well as that battery performance. I also visited the dentist during this time and was complemented on my cleaning efforts – reflecting well on this brush’s performance.

I used the case for travel, over-night, as well as making use of the UV-C light cleaning feature. I mounted the magnetic holder to test its usefulness and was left surprised at how helpful this small addition was.

My brushing was twice daily with that two-minute timer and haptic half-minute guidance vibrations used to get a full and fair brush.

I was also testing other brushes from Oral-B and more which allowed me to see the difference between features like extra modes, oscillations versus sonics, battery life, screes, apps and more.



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Framework actually did it: I upgraded a laptop’s entire GPU in just three minutes
Product Reviews

Framework actually did it: I upgraded a laptop’s entire GPU in just three minutes

by admin


Today, I can confirm the system actually works. I traveled to Framework’s San Francisco offices to be the first journalist to upgrade an entire laptop graphics card, with my own hands, in just three minutes — including the time it took to reboot. I yanked an AMD Radeon RX 7700S video card out of the machine and plugged in a brand-new mobile Nvidia RTX 5070, with just six screws and using the pen-shaped screwdriver that comes included with the machine.

And because seeing is believing, I filmed the whole thing to show you how quick and easy it was. (Hey veteran PC builders: this looks easier than MXM modules, right?)

I wasn’t able to test everything I would have liked to test at Framework’s offices. We couldn’t run benchmarks, only basic gameplay samples to show the card was working. (Framework claims the Nvidia card should be a 30 to 40 percent upgrade over the existing AMD one; games did run, and didn’t seem to have obvious issues at 1440p and high settings.)

Also, I wasn’t able to upgrade quite from scratch. I actually hauled my original Framework Laptop 16 review unit to San Francisco to see if I could turn that one into a new Nvidia laptop, but CEO Nirav Patel told me it would need software updates, including at least one new BIOS version, which weren’t fully ready yet. So while I did do the upgrade myself, the laptop I upgraded was one that Framework had prepped for the GPU swap.

While I was there, I also got to try Framework’s new standards-compliant 240W USB-C PD 3.1 charger, one of the very first on the market, letting the Laptop 16 (the first 240W PD 3.1 laptop!) finally play and charge at full speed. I brought my power meter and saw the Framework Laptop 16 pull over 220W while running stress tests, charging up its battery, and charging up a couple phones plugged into the laptop all at the same time. When I came back 15 or so minutes later, the new power adapter was only warm, not hot — comfortable to pick up and hold. I’ll have a video on that next week.

At $699 for only a 100W, 8GB mobile RTX 5070 worth of performance, this might be niche tech for now. But Framework’s proven the point, and I’m hoping future upgrades keep it from being niche for long.



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The Framework Laptop 16 Can Now Be Upgraded to an RTX 5070
Product Reviews

The Framework Laptop 16 Can Now Be Upgraded to an RTX 5070

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It has been a big year for repairable-laptop maker Framework. After launching the Framework Laptop 12 and the Framework Desktop this summer, the company is now rolling out a big update to the Framework Laptop 16. The machine can be configured with (or upgraded to) an Nvidia RTX 5070 laptop graphics card. You can also upgrade to the new 2025 mainboard, which includes the next-gen AMD Ryzen AI 300 series chips.

Why is this a big deal? Well, Framework is a company we’ve grown to appreciate a lot over the past few years. The company has been pioneering a more sustainable (and fun!) approach to designing computers, making as many parts of the device as modular as possible. That has included things like the RAM and storage, naturally, but also the CPU, battery, Wi-Fi card, and much more.

The idea is to swap out components on the laptops when new modules come out (or if something breaks down), reducing the need to buy a new laptop every few years and sending fewer parts to the landfill. But upgrading discrete graphics on laptops has always been elusive. Companies like Alienware have tried modular discrete GPUs in portable PCs before, and they never lasted. But with the new RTX 5070 graphics module upgrade, Framework proves it can be done.

Courtesy of Framework

The original Framework Laptop 16 arrived at the beginning of 2024, launching as an AMD-exclusive system with the Ryzen 7 7840HS (or Ryzen 9) and the discrete Radeon RX 7700S for graphics. At the time of testing, GPU performance landed somewhere around a mobile RTX 4060. On paper, that makes the jump to an RTX 5070 not only a great demonstration of the Framework ethos—but also a big deal for performance. Framework says it’s a 30 to 40 percent increase in GPU performance over the RX 7700S.

More power doesn’t come free, so Framework is shipping a 240-watt USB-C charger that uses the USB Power Delivery 3.1 spec. That’ll make it one of the only laptops with an RTX 5070 that is powered solely by USB-C. Other 240-watt power adapters often use a proprietary power port (see almost every gaming laptop).

The Framework Laptop 16 was the follow-up to the original Framework Laptop 13 and added more than just the discrete graphics module. It also had a unique approach to customization, letting you arrange the keyboard and trackpad however, using modules and spacers to customize it. The new model also comes with a better webcam and a more rigid top cover (on the lid).



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