Framework user builds a 3D-printed console-style PC using a laptop motherboard and 7900 XTX GPU
One member of the Framework community just turned a stack of "mystery box" mainboards into a genuinely creative console project. They combined a Framework 13 mainboard, DIY Oculink eGPU setup, and a 3D-printed enclosure. The level of modularity and experimentation on display isn’t just a hardware hack. Rather, it’s a project that relates closely to open hardware culture and puts the real possibilities of the Framework platform on full display.
The project started simply: a Framework Ultra 7 165H mainboard (from a mystery box) with a 7900XTX GPU through a DEG1 Oculink dock (curr. $99.99 on Amazon). The entire system is housed in a custom, actively-cooled case designed and printed by the creator, who iterated through multiple 3D models and print attempts to achieve the current result. A Corsair 850W PSU supplies the necessary muscle, while active cooling on the mainboard and triple 120mm fans for the GPU keep everything running stable.
The user has managed to put the whole build through its paces with Fedora and now Steam deck-based Bazzite OS for both desktop and living-room gaming. The mainboard connects via M.2 to Oculink, running PCIe gen 4 x4, so in actual gaming use, GPU performance reportedly hits around 90% of what you'd get from a full desktop PCIe slot.
What's impressive is the separation of the mainboard and GPU into different 3D-printed enclosures. The new design lets you easily remove the mainboard "cartridge" for bring-it-anywhere use.
The build log also shows some real-world quirks, like bandwidth limitations on older 12th-gen mainboards versus current-gen ones, the challenges of working with PETG and ASA filaments for heat resistance, and the importance of fine-tuning airflow for cooling. The user has neatly documented all the steps (check out the early builds here and here), from tweaking firmware and cooling for the mainboard, to making sure the eGPU enclosure keeps that monster 7900XTX in check.
While this clearly isn’t a product you can buy, it’s the kind of personal engineering that’s quite easy to achieve in an ecosystem like Framework, where mainboards, adapters, OSes, and GPUs can be mixed and matched.
