G4 Cube!

[Hotdog Zanzibar]

I can cross another one off my wishlist. Picked up a G4 Cube off of craigslist this past weekend for $100. It's in fantastic condition -- and its the only Cube I've seen in recent years that doesn't have the stress crack between the top screws and the air vent!! Here are the specs:

500MHz G4

512mb RAM (2x 256mb)

30gb hard drive

DVD-ROM

ATI Rage 128 16mb video

I also found a MINT 17" Cinema display (the clear plastic flatscreen one) for $145 -- with an ADC/DVI converter INCLUDED!

So, I've already ordered some upgrades. It's AMAZING how many upgrades there are for a computer with no PCI slots. But, to start off, here's what I got tonight:

- 160gb 7200rpm Western Digital HD

- 3x 512mb OWC RAM to max it out @ 1.5gb

- super silent PowerLogix 80mm cooling fan

I've also got my eye on a GeForce 6200 256mb video card upgrade. Gonna check some other channels on that one before I buy.

 

[coius]

Awww Man...! That is SOOOOO unfair! I drooled over the cubes the first day they came out (I remember seeing it in a small Apple-Certified store when my brother ended up buying a used PowerBook Duo 2300c). I really think you got an excellent deal for $100. This is in US Dollars, right?

Well, good luck with the upgrades! I know you will be really happy with it!

 

[Christopher]

You got the more rare 500MHz version. I don't see those very much.

As Napoleon Dynamite would say....

Lucky!!!

Thats ok, free iMac G4 is cooler.

 

[Hotdog Zanzibar]

It's been a while since I updated this, but the project took all summer and now into the fall before I got it completed... budgeting is FUN...

I'm posting this from the Cube, finally, after I've finally nearly finished my upgrades. I installed the new HD, RAM and cooling fan back in May. The 80mm fan is supposed to be quiet, but I think it's a little loud. I have a 45mm Titan GPU fan coming from Newegg -- with the HD running at 28°C, I think the 80mm fan is a little overkill. Speaking of the GPU, I finally replaced the stock ATI Rage 16mb card with a shiny new GeForce 6200 256mb (after removing the faceplate and taping off pins 3 & 11). The difference in performance is outstanding. The card isn't running hot, but I'm not really taxing it yet, either. Right now it's cruising at about 55°C. If the Titan fan can keep it at or below that level without the 80mm fan on, then I'm going to remove the bigger fan so it's a nice quiet system. Still, it's a LOT quieter with all the new upgrades than the old stock 30gb HD alone... I thought that thing was gonna explode.

I opted against a PowerLogix CPU upgrade, since those are still pretty pricey. Maybe someday, but then I'm getting into possible power issues, so I might just leave it alone.

 

[oneboyarmy]

Oh excellent! I'm still trying to decide what I'm going to do with my Cube next.

I'm swapping the logic board soon (the FireWire ports on mine are toast) and I'd already bumped the RAM up to 768MB and popped in a quiet 40GB Maxtor drive.

Otherwise, still stock at 450Mhz and that 16MB Rage nonsense. Pretty sure the next upgrade is gonna be a video card, so OS X behaves a bit better!

 

[Bunsen]

Nicely scored there! And welcome to the Cube Club

 

[Temetka]

Nice machine.

I always liked the cube's and felt they were cool machines.

I hope it works out good for you.

 

[Hotdog Zanzibar]

So far it is... it runs great, and the passively-cooled card hasn't gotten too hot yet. I'm still fighting the random shutdown issue. I took out the little rubber washer and cleaned it with soap & warm water, cleaned the top power switch button & housing, etc., but it still likes to shut down randomly, although not as often as before I did all that. The PRAM battery is dead (or very close), so that could also be part of the problem. My last resort is to disconnect that switch altogether.

 

[Temetka]

So now you need to slap a dual G4 in there and a better video card.

Then stick it in a corner and have it silently hand Seti or F@H for the rest of it's life.

A friend of mine has a cube (450MHz) and I've always been amazed at how quiet it was/is.

 

[Hotdog Zanzibar]

I just upgraded the video to the GeForce 6200 256mb card... but I doubt whether I'll upgrade the CPU anytime soon. That's still pretty costly (more than I paid for the Cube & monitor alone).

 

[H3NRY]

To quiet that base fan, run it off 5V or 7V. You get 7V between the 12V and 5V lines on the disk drive power connectors, and that's a good voltage to run a fan slowly enough that it's quieter than the HD, but fast enough to keep the cube cool. 55°C is warmish for the GF6200, but if it doesn't get hotter than that when running the Flurry screen saver or other GPU-intensive work, it's OK. Mine wants a little fan of its own. That makes a nice setup for a cube. Mine is similar to yours with a 1GHz Sonnet G4 added, and I built a subwoofer to match.

http://www.cubeowner.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=13516

 

[Bunsen]

I love the Cube sub H3NRY. I have two of those IBM/Cambridge subs - they're quite nice. I used to use one with my Powerbook when watching movies. Rather than modding the headphone jack, I eased the plug in until I found the sweet spot where the sub switches on before the speakers switch off.