Daily Tech News 24 March 2023

• Framework, the company behind - logically enough - the upgradeable/repairable Framework laptop, had a couple of announcements today.
  
  First is an AMD version of what is now called the Framework 13. (Frame.work)
  
  This is something people have been asking for since the first Framework laptop appeared. It will come with a six or eight core Ryzen 7000 CPU with Zen 4 cores and RDNA2 graphics, plus up to 64GB (and maybe 96GB) of DDR5 RAM in two SO-DIMMs.
  
  There's also a 13th generation update to the Intel version, and that model still uses DDR4 RAM in case you have 64GB of spare SO-DIMMs just lying around like I do.
  
  If you have an earlier Intel version, you can buy just the new motherboard and swap it in, and they have a $39 case so you can re-use the old motherboard as a desktop PC.
  
  Still lacks the Four Essential Keys. Otherwise I'd have bought one already.
  
  
  
• The other new announcement is the reason the Framework laptop is now the Framework 13: The Framework 16.
  
  This is a 16" version of the same idea, with a few extra features enabled by the larger design.
  
  The Framework 13 has four interchangeable I/O modules so that you can get whatever mix of I/O you need. If you want three 2.5Gb Ethernet ports on your laptop you can do that.
  
  The Framework 16 uses the same modules but supports six of them.
  
  It also has a PCIe 4.0 x8 slot for a graphics module (or another device, like a dual M.2 slot adaptor).
  
  And while it still lacks the four essential keys, it has interchangeable input modules, so there's an optional numeric keypad if you want it, and other user interface modules on the way.

• I mentioned 96GB of RAM as a possibility for the AMD Framework laptop because 96GB will shortly be an option on AMD systems. (WCCFTech)
  
  You need a BIOS update but people running a beta version of the update report it works perfectly with up to 192GB of RAM.
  
  Intel motherboards already work with this.
  
  
  
• Need a cheap 2.5Gb Ethernet switch? Here's a handy roundup. (Serve the Home)
  
  2.5 is the new 1.
  
  
  
• Google's new AI chatbot, Bard, is here, and it's an ultra-woke lying piece of shit just like ChatGPT. (Not the Bee)
  
  Burn it all.

posted by Pixy Misa at 04:12 AM

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