Framework's open memory pricing is our favourite of the week

A thin week for computing hardware, with one update that matters to anyone buying a PC this winter. Framework raised memory prices again on 6 November, and the way it did so is our favourite of the week. AMD’s server chips and an Edge update make up the rest.

We favour

Framework ties its DDR5 price rises to supplier costs

Framework has raised prices on its 16GB, 32GB and 48GB DDR5 modules for the DIY Edition configurators, and on the entry-level Linux and Windows pre-built configurations of the Framework Laptop 12. The company says it has used up the cheaper inventory that kept DDR5 prices stable for the past few months. Other pre-built configurations and the DIY Edition system prices stay as they are. As we reported on Saturday, the update comes in a long-running blog post that Framework keeps adding to.

Framework says existing pre-orders keep the price from order time, although changing the memory on a pre-order moves that item to the new price. The update gives no euro or pound prices, so European buyers have to check the configurators.

Source: Framework

Why we favour it: Framework says it limits increases to what its suppliers charge, that its 16GB and 32GB modules sit within the range of current retail prices and that its 48GB module is priced below it. It also tells DIY Edition buyers to bring their own memory if they find a better deal, and promises to bring prices down when supplier costs fall. Memory is getting dearer for every PC maker, and a company that explains each step and leaves you free to buy elsewhere is easier to trust than one that simply raises a price.

AMD starts shipping its 6th Gen EPYC server processors

AMD announced on 10 November the general availability of its 6th Gen EPYC SP7 server processors, built on AMD’s new Zen 6 architecture. AMD says systems are shipping from server vendors and that Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure instances will follow soon. AMD claims the EPYC 9996 delivers up to 2.2x the performance of an Intel Xeon 6980P system, based on its own comparison. We covered it in our Oura news post on Wednesday. This is data-centre hardware with no price for European buyers, so it matters to readers mainly through the cloud services built on it.

Source: AMD

Edge gets a rebuilt new tab page, but in Europe only in the UK

Microsoft announced on 5 November a rebuilt content experience for the Edge new tab page and the Discover dashboard on the Windows taskbar. Microsoft lists the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and India as the places where it is available now, and says more countries will follow in the coming months. As we reported at the time, readers in the EU have no date. It is a content feed with AI summaries rather than a change to the browser itself, so waiting costs little.

Source: Microsoft