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Cube G4 newer tech 2ghz upgrade

gheem

Well-known member
Hey all. So I enclosed a photo of my 2ghz card I’m putting into my cube. My question is that I have seen others do this but their 2ghz cards don’t have the 12v power tap molex like mine does. I plan on using it cuz it is there, but with the VRM from Japan is it needed? I have not seen any 2ghz 7448s with this extra power tap.
 

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Byrd

Well-known member
Nice card, is it designed for the Cube or another Mac tower model? The +12V is there for a reason, presumably that CPU needs it. I wouldn't run it with a power hungry GPU in the Cube. The third-party VRMs are not needed (and the Artmix one reportedly can take months to turn up to your door), jury is out if they are actually beneficial, but they are nice to have as a backup.
 

gheem

Well-known member
It’s the original newertech 2gh for g4 towers I bought it new years ago and it was in my sawtooth. I think I’m gonna try it with the new vrm I have and an ssd already in it I think the power should be ok. I still need to figure out a heat spreader but I have some copper shims coming for ssds that I think just might work. The cube currently has a sonnet 1.2 in it and I have the old vrm which is still in good shape I pulled the cube out recently to mess with and realized that g4 “should” work. I got a dual 1.2 for the sawtooth to keep
It running close to what it was so I could play with the newertech card. Purely for tinkering reasons….;)
 

Byrd

Well-known member
Consider you might need an external PSU to run this CPU, I'd be checking voltages and heat output when installed (without external PSU). Don't scrimp on the heatsink either, or there goes your CPU.
 

gheem

Well-known member
Yeah this will
be a fun project and the last thing I want is to loose that 7448. I’m taking it slowly with multimeter and fans ready to go. I have confirmed the specs and voltage requirements are the same for the other cards of this class and I have considered an additional power tap, saw that online with a guy who did that with his card, but with the YouTuber getting the new VRM, it was no longer needed.I will take it slow.
 

herd

Well-known member
That 12v molex connector is supplying power to the CPU. The 12v supply from the stock Cube VRM is pretty weak, but the aftermarket stratos VRM my be better? The 5v source on the stock VRM is stronger, but if it fails the result is often catastrophic. The stratos may be better here also, or at least it may fail more gracefully if overloaded. This was all covered repeatedly on the cubeowner.com web site, but that site is gone I have not tried to look through any of the archives. One simple thing to do is monitor how hot the VRM gets in operation and augment cooling as needed. That connector is also related to the "VRM bypass" offered by Powerlogix for Cube upgrade CPUs. This allowed the CPU to be powered directly from the 28v power brick (and completely bypass the VRM) but not all of these cards were set up the same from the manufacturer. If you search on "VRM bypass" you may find what you need.

The goggle video guy "Daves Vintage Apple Tech" has covered some of this in his videos about Cube upgrades.
 

gheem

Well-known member
Hi herd,

Yeah Dave is the guy I’ve been watching, thanks I was trying to remember, I like his videos and since I’m doing this cube project trying to research as much as I can. I really don’t want to loose that 2ghz card so I’m not gonna just shove it in and pray. After I get the copper heat spreaders worked out, I will try the cpu and run it while watching heat on the VRM and any other things that would be bad. The stock VRM is still good so I have an “extra” should it be needed. I’m not in any hurry for this one, I want to do
It right. Thanks for the info that makes me feel a little more comfortable doing this.
 
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