[Hi I'm Ben]

I just ordered my 1.2 ghz upgrade. OMFG!!!
anyway, i'm VERY comfortable on the insides of my cube... after i switch this processor i have completely removed every piece covoered by my warrenty and replaced it with a new piece.. i should just buy a cube barebone and stick my old stuff in it =D... anyway.

Has anyone had any experience doing this? I've read billions of reviews on xlr8yourmac and such but all they say is "installation was easy"

i even watched the video, it's downloadable at powerlogix.. but it's still not enough.

the main thing i'm worried about is installing this fan, where does it go and is it noisey? and ugh. I got a GeForce 3 and the fan makes me want to cry. I saw a way to mod it so the fan is more quiet, I need to do that.

[joe]

Originally posted by Hi I'm Ben:
I just ordered my 1.2 ghz upgrade. OMFG!!!

Congrats! I've got the PL 1.0GHz in my Cube. Excellent upgrade

Has anyone had any experience doing this? I've read billions of reviews on xlr8yourmac and such but all they say is "installation was easy"

If you take your time it's easy enough. I will say it's a quite a lot easier than my previous dual 500 Cube upgrade. But I had to do some customizing to make that fit. PL includes everything you need in the box - except the torx to take it apart.

the main thing i'm worried about is installing this fan, where does it go and is it noisey?

All Cube's have an unused fan bracket in the bottom of the case (right behind the handle). It's obvious Apple intended to offer faster Cubes at some point. Anyway, PowerLogix very thoughtfully includes the precise fan, mounting screws, and mini-power plug. It is very quiet. I can't hear it above the spin of the hard drive. I understand they use a slightly louder (faster rpm) fan in the dual 800 upgrade. But that makes sense since you need to more a lot more air to cool 2 cpus vs 1.

and ugh. I got a GeForce 3 and the fan makes me want to cry. I saw a way to mod it so the fan is more quiet, I need to do that.

C'mon now, the GF3 fan isn't that loud. I've had one in my Cube for over a year now. I suppose it's a matter of degree. Previously I hacked in an oversized Enermax 80mmx80mmx25mm cooling fan for my Sonnet dual 500 hack. If you want to hear loud - THAT was loud. But I didn't want to take a chance with those dual 500s. I couldn't even hear my GF3 fan over that. However, I very highly recommend not to mess with the GF3 cooling fan. The Cube has EXTREMELY poor ventilation in the graphics card bay. Any reduction in air flow puts that GF3 at risk. If you want quiet, sell the GF3 to some happy Cube owner and get a GF2MX.

Some things to look out for when doing your 1.2GHz Cube upgrade:
1- the instructions I had skipped 2 screws on the Cube mobo. The printed docs skipped one by the SIMMs while the video skipped one by the modem.
2- that damned mini-power connector for the fan is very easy to jam against the Cube frame during installation. From what I saw, you have to install the DC-DC converter board at an angle to prevent breaking the wires from that mini-plug.

Good luck with your new 1.2GHz upgrade. It's DEFINITELY worth the effort!!! Everything will seem faster. And you won't believe how powerful your GF3 will be with a 1.2GHz cpu feeding it!......joe

[Hi I'm Ben]

Originally posted by joe:
type type type

thanks dude! I'll post back here once i get my card.

[PowerCube]

It really is a simple task to R & R the insides one of these babies, once you've been in there once or twice. I love my dually ! AND my GF3 is FANLESS! I couln't stand that whining little fan, it was like an incessant buzzing mosquito, aggravating as hell, and impossible to ignore. I HAD to come up with an alternative, and, so far so good, even after six months of mostly continuous use. I am a happy happy Cube owner. When the hell is PL going to get me the Dual 1.2's????

[C.J. Moof]

At this very moment, my Cube is in pieces on my coffee table, with the Powerlogix install DVD paused, cuz I'm a bit confuzzled on a couple of things with this upgrade:

1) The card going in the Cube in the DVD doesn't look like my card. Both the replacement and the original are square, the one in the DVD is rectangular. No biggie, but the one in the video looks like it has a heat sink on it, mine definitely doesn't.
*Am I supposed to recycle the heat sink with my new card? I can't believe that I don't need a heat sink on this, but yet, it's never mentioned.

2) Am I supposed to use this 1ml tube of Heat Sink Compound somewhere? Where and how? This is never mentioned either.

Tis handy to have multiple computers, so you can seek help when one is in parts!

[C.J. Moof]

Well, thanks to an unexpected and very helpful IM from MacZealot, I'm now posting from an 800Mhz Cube. Here's what I learned:

The upgrade in the video is not a 233 board. 233 is the exact size of the G4 card in the Cube, the one in the video is bigger.

One does need to recycle the heatsink from the original install. But before installing it, be sure to put a dab of thermal paste on the center part of the new G4, and spread it out. Then hook up the heatsink. Uptime will tell if I got that right or not.

Speed- I can feel it instantly. Instant Snappyness?. Using my scroll wheel isn't nearly so jumpy anymore.

Fan- well, I'm not so exicted about that. I sure wish it was like a powerbook- temperature controlled. I wonder what kind of drive Joe has in there that is louder than the fan... I choose the Seagate Baraccuda specifically b/c it's quiet. This fan is not silent, but better than my external FW, or my PC, but not as quiet as the Cube I had this morning.

[joe]

Originally posted by C.J. Moof:
I wonder what kind of drive Joe has in there that is louder than the fan... I choose the Seagate Baraccuda specifically b/c it's quiet. This fan is not silent, but better than my external FW, or my PC, but not as quiet as the Cube I had this morning.

I have a Western Digital 100gig JB model (7200rpm, 8meg jumbo buffer) in my Cube. You didn't happen to catch the model number of the new cpu fan when you installed it? Power Logix uses a Panaflo 80mm x 80mm x 15mm fan. Panaflo makes 2 different models that look identical but run at different speeds. My 1GHz upgrade came with the slower (and therefore quieter) 20CFM model.......joe

[bstone]

I have been watching the upgrades for the Cube for a long time and I am finally desiring to get one. Does anyone know of anyone selling a stock Cube system? I don't need a monitor, kybrd, etc, just the cube itself.

Thanks!

I am reachable at stone@uchicago.edu.