[cube-dude]

Hard to believe, but it's been exactly two years.

Original Apple statement

MacNN forums memorial

This thread is for posting your favorite Cube memories, stories, Web sites, rants, raves, and pics. To start:

My Cube setup, September 2002

My tribute desktop, October 2002

Long live the Cube!

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Sniff, still LOVE my cube.

[The Placid Casual]

I've owned 2 in the past, awesome machines.

I still miss them

[chris v]

I will own my Cube until the end of time. I'd like to upgrade the vid. card and CPU, but can't afford it right now.

Favorite Mac Ever.

CV

[Eug Wanker]

It was resurrected as the lampshade iMac. You all know this. Admit it.

[thetuscan]

If you need a new enclosure

check this:

ebay Item number: 2739964705

Still in shrink wrap

[Silky Voice of The Gorn]

I don't miss the Cube at all...I use mine every day

I bought it used from a friend for $750, and have since jacked it to a 1ghz PowerLogic card, GeForce 3, 80mb 'Cuda, and a gig of ram. Still a smokin machine.

[hadocon]

Originally posted by Silky Voice of The Gorn:
I don't miss the Cube at all...I use mine every day

I bought it used from a friend for $750, and have since jacked it to a 1ghz PowerLogic card, GeForce 3, 80mb 'Cuda, and a gig of ram. Still a smokin machine.

I have never really been enamoured with the Cube, but I can see why others woudl like it. My father has a Cube which he bought just after the "suspension" statement by Apple. He got a good deal on it and it is a nice computer.

I have been interested in upgrading it for him, but have been worried that it would be too much of a hassle - ie. too much down-time getting everything working right.

Can anyone that has an upgraded Cube chime in with a little info?

P.S. his cube is 400Mhz, 384 MB ram, 20 gig HD and 17" Apple LCD display.

[driven]

I love my Cube. Using it is better than sex.

Even though I could sell it and put the money toward a new G5 I've decided that the Cube will always have a place in my home. (So I'll suck it up when I get the G5).

I'm still not sure if I'm going to upgrade her from the original 500Mhz processor or not.

[Kissargi]

There the sexiest computers in the world by a long shot.

[hadocon]

Originally posted by Kissargi:
There the sexiest computers in the world by a long shot.

Personally I think that the 8500 and the B&W G3 were the sexiest - Nothing else has said "raw power" better than those for me. The G5 is looking 2 be in the sexiest category for this reason as well.

[slider]

Um, what, you don't think this thread can survive w/o being a sticky?

[BrunoBruin]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
It was resurrected as the lampshade iMac. You all know this. Admit it.

The iMac is charming and has a personality all its own, but it cannot compete with the Cube for sheer COOLNESS, and you KNOW it.

I am still very pleased with my Cube. It has gotten a bit pokey, and I know eventually I will get a new desktop, but I wil always keep the Cube. I was waiting to see what the G5s looked like, and now that I know...the Cube is getting an upgrade card. Hopefully it will last me until Apple releases a desktop that isn't the size of a dishwasher.

[cube-dude]

Originally posted by hadocon:
P.S. his cube is 400Mhz, 384 MB ram, 20 gig HD and 17" Apple LCD display.

Good luck with the upgrade. I'd bet your dad's Cube is either 450 or 500 MHz. No Cubes came out of the factory at 400 MHz.

Originally posted by slider:
Um, what, you don't think this thread can survive w/o being a sticky?

Why yes, I have nothing better to worry about.

Originally posted by driven:
I love my Cube. Using it is better than sex.

Agreed, but we all need to get out more.

____________________

Some of my favorite Cube haunts over the years. Feel free to add your own!

Cube Owner
Cube-Zone
Cube page at Apple-History
Official Apple Support page

[Kenneth]

I was so close to purchase the Cube + 15" studio display back in Feb/2001.. then I bought the TiBook/400 instead. Anyway... Long Live The Cube...

P.S. you can expand/upgrade your Cube today..and make it a more powerful "fan-less" snappier™ Cube.

[zigzag]

I still have mine and will probably keep it as a second machine/server - I upgraded the hard drive but am not otherwise interested in messing with the innards. It might not be easily upgradeable and its ports might be inconvenient, but it still has a major advantage over every other machine: it's blissfully SILENT.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally posted by hadocon:
Personally I think that the 8500 and the B&W G3 were the sexiest - Nothing else has said "raw power" better than those for me. The G5 is looking 2 be in the sexiest category for this reason as well.

Ew. Those are the 2 worst!

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
It was resurrected as the lampshade iMac. You all know this. Admit it.

Well Duh... doesn't look half as elegant or cool though

[SciFrog]

The Cube is probably the best computer ever. Now if only I could get a CPU upgrade not to overheat inside my souped up 1G ram, 120G 7,200RPM Maxtor HD and GF3...

[Judge_Fire]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
It was resurrected as the lampshade iMac. You all know this. Admit it.

I've got a Cube at home and a 17" lampshade at work. Both are great computers, and for very different target groups.

At the moment, Apple does not have a product that appeals to me. The recipe for my dream Mac is simple:

Small, quiet minitower with no screen and a standard AGP 8x for a replaceable video card.

1) Small and quiet so that it looks and sounds nice in my living room or study. The G5 dwarfs and menaces any item within 30'. In an office, a piece of hardware might be ok, but the Cube actually looks nice on a table-top.

2) Internal screens may be nice for consumers, or an office setting, but at home I want to upgrade the screen every now and then. Actually, I'm hoping to use the great 17" LCD currently attached to the Cube in the future. Music apps take up a lot of screen space, that's been one of my primary uses for it.

3) For awhile, our Cube was great for gaming. UT, Tac-Ops, Quake III, Wolfie, MoHAA all worked great with 450 MHz and the Radeon. But now there's no way of upgrading, as the enclosure doesn't (heat- or sizewise) allow for a modern card.

As a result, I'm forced to rely on a Shuttle PC for gaming Sure, it works great etc. but I'd rather use a Mac, as the games I've played are available for it anyway and there's stupid overhead in needing to maintain/store/pay for two systems.

So, I'm hoping the post-cube PC minitower boom is noticed by Apple and they figure out a way to stick the G5 into something less big.

J

[AssassyN]

Well as you guys are commemorating the Cube's existance, I'm celebrating my 4th of July by purchasing a Cube!!!

Ever since I entered the Mac world I always desired a Cube for it's awesome looks, quiet operation, and overall sex-appeal. It just so worked out that I was able to finialize the sell of my Cubed-PC (Shuttle XPC box) and I found a great deal on an astounding Cube from a fellow MacNN board member who was selling his Cube to fund a new PowerMac G5 tower. As I leave tomorrow for a week long vacation w/ my girlfriend in New York City I get the satisfaction of knowing I'll return home to a Cube! The specs on it are as follows:

G4 450Mhz CPU
1.1GIGS of RAM (2x512MB + 1x128MB)
CD-RW Drive
GeForce 2 MX 32MB graphics card
60GB IBM Deskstar HD
Original Keyboard/Mouse/Pro Speakers

Just a quick question to any users that have upgrading their CPU's using either a Sonnet or PowerLogic upgrade (800Mhz/1Ghz/1.2Ghz)...was it worth it? A recent price drop allows me to score a 800Mhz G4 for $250, which isn't too bad, but I just wonder if it's worth the cash...thanks!

EDIT: Couldn't resist...the price on the 1Ghz+ upgrades were just too much and didn't offer enough performance gain over the 800Mhz upgrade to justify the cost, so I settled on the PowerLogix 800Mhz upgrade that should be here by the time I get back & see my Cube!

[driven]

Originally posted by AssassyN:
Well as you guys are commemorating the Cube's existance, I'm celebrating my 4th of July by purchasing a Cube!!!

Ever since I entered the Mac world I always desired a Cube for it's awesome looks, quiet operation, and overall sex-appeal. It just so worked out that I was able to finialize the sell of my Cubed-PC (Shuttle XPC box) and I found a great deal on an astounding Cube from a fellow MacNN board member who was selling his Cube to fund a new PowerMac G5 tower. As I leave tomorrow for a week long vacation w/ my girlfriend in New York City I get the satisfaction of knowing I'll return home to a Cube! The specs on it are as follows:

G4 450Mhz CPU
1.1GIGS of RAM (2x512MB + 1x128MB)
CD-RW Drive
GeForce 2 MX 32MB graphics card
60GB IBM Deskstar HD
Original Keyboard/Mouse/Pro Speakers

Just a quick question to any users that have upgrading their CPU's using either a Sonnet or PowerLogic upgrade (800Mhz/1Ghz/1.2Ghz)...was it worth it? A recent price drop allows me to score a 800Mhz G4 for $250, which isn't too bad, but I just wonder if it's worth the cash...thanks!

EDIT: Couldn't resist...the price on the 1Ghz+ upgrades were just too much and didn't offer enough performance gain over the 800Mhz upgrade to justify the cost, so I settled on the PowerLogix 800Mhz upgrade that should be here by the time I get back & see my Cube!

I was wondering the same thing. Is the extra cost of the 1Ghz or 1.2 Ghz worth the jump up from the .8 Ghz?

I was also thinking about going with the Sonic board as I've heard that the sleep problem doesn't exist with that brand.

[NYK Ace]

i would buy a cube today if apple released it

it was the best looking computer ever

does anyone have any more info on these cube updates? links?

and people... post picts! i love seeing the cube in action

[PeterKG]

Originally posted by AssassyN:
EDIT: Couldn't resist...the price on the 1Ghz+ upgrades were just too much and didn't offer enough performance gain over the 800Mhz upgrade to justify the cost, so I settled on the PowerLogix 800Mhz upgrade that should be here by the time I get back & see my Cube!

AssassyN,

I will be curious to hear what you think of the upgrade. Did you purchase a new video card too? If you did, which one.

Congrats on your Cube purchase. I have loved mine and might consider upgrading after hearing what you think. Most importantly. Do you need to add a fan? Is it now no longer a silent Cube?

[AssassyN]

Thanks Peter!

The 800Mhz upgrade comes with a very small (and thus very quiet) fan that fits into a tight spot in the lower end of the Cube's chassis to help cool the extra CPU horsepower. This is the only extra noise in my Cube, and from reports I've read, it's next to nothing, and most would still consider the machine practically silent. The 1Ghz+ upgrades tend to be a bit louder due to the need to cool more heat.

As for wondering if the 1Ghz or 1.2Ghz (and actually, there's now a 1.4Ghz one as well) is worth the price jump over the 800Mhz, I based that decision largely on this review. Take a read at this quote from the article: "The Cube with the 800 MHz PowerForce G4 Series 100 upgrade averaged 80 percent (range of 31 to 168 per cent) faster than with the original stock 450 MHz CPU...The 1 GHz upgrade averaged 30 percent faster than the 800 MHz upgrade." I found the 80% increase from stock speed to be VERY worthwhile, while the 30% extra increase not quiet worth my ~$120 on top of the 800Mhz upgrade.

The Cube already has a higher-end card that some Cubes, for it outdoes the Rage 128. It's got the OEM GeForce 2 MX 32MB card. However, I really would love a OEM GeForce 3, but the prices for them on eBay are insanely high...I'll be keeping my eye out for a deal on one. And I'm about to leave for NYC (YAY!) in about 20 minutes, but I'll be sure to use the Cube stock when I return, and then post impressions between the 450Mhz G4 & the 800Mhz upgrade. Cheers!

EDIT: Below is the first picture I have of my Cube sent from it's now previous owner.

[michaelb]

Cube sales were iced 2 years ago, which was 1 year after it was born. So...

Happy Birthday!

I don't think there can ever be enough pictures of the beautiful 3 year old Cube.

[Silky Voice of The Gorn]

Originally posted by hadocon:
I have been interested in upgrading it for him, but have been worried that it would be too much of a hassle - ie. too much down-time getting everything working right.

P.S. his cube is 400Mhz, 384 MB ram, 20 gig HD and 17" Apple LCD display. [/B]

CPU upgrade is the trickiest thing to do, but once done everyting else is a cake-walk. Powerlogix ships a very good tutorial, and if you're confortable with delicate and precise computer disassembly, you should do fine.

I did my upgrade in about 30 minutes, being very slow and methodical. cubeowner.com has links to some really good online visual cpu walkthru's as well.

[Wickedkitten]

cube owners, the most elite of the elitist

[SciFrog]

Cubeowner is a great site, check it out!
For the CPU upgrade I feel that if you take the plunge, you should get at least 1Gz. But there are problems with the 1Ghz chips (VRM aka DC/DC board are not powerfull enough). So it is either 800Mhz or 1.2Ghz. Tough call. The 1.4Ghz upgrades won't be out anytime soon apparently, as the dual upgrades. But they are coming probably with 7457 chips.

As for my Cube I am starting to have heating problems with 1G ram, GF3 and 120G Maxtor even with a fan installed running at 1/3 max fan speed. I think it i because of the Maxtor drive, I should try another HD but don't know which one will dissipate less heat.

[BrunoBruin]

I was really tempted by the 800MHz upgrades because I figured with the L3 cache it would be about twice as fast as the stock 450MHz Cube. But now that the prices have come down (the 1.2GHz upgrades are about the same price as the 800s were when they were introduced), I think I'd go for the 1.2.

But now I'm wondering if there will be better upgrades based on the 7457 chip. I'm not so much interested in more speed, since at some point the 100MHz bus on the Cube is going to throttle the processor anyway, but a 7457-based upgrade would run cooler. I notice that the Sonnet upgrades and the PL 1.2 are not in stock at Other World; I wonder if that means new versions are coming.

[SciFrog]

I hope new things are coming, I tried to put a 1.2Ghz PL and had too much heat problems even use good thermal paste. OWC is sending me a new one to try again but I doubt it will work...

[Judge_Fire]

Originally posted by Wickedkitten:
cube owners, the most elite of the elitist

Nah, just the pickiest of the picky

J

[Drakino]

I still use my Cube daily at work, instead of a PC workstation the company provided. It was a stock 450 DVD model I bought from eBay in April of 2002. I've since replaced the video card with a fanless Radeon, for Quartz Extreme and dual monitor support. I got it to replace a G3 iMac as a better "switcher" machine, and has proven to me that I can switch to OS X for everything except gaming. For now, the Cube will probably be my only desktop Mac, as I plan on buying a Powerbook for everything else. I'm planning on a CPU upgrade for my cube later this year to keep it viable for at least another year or two.

I'm thinking about getting my grandparents a Mac, and might be picking them up a Cube as well.

Anyhow, my cube at work:

[PowerCube]

Best damn computer/electronics purchase ever, period. I still get oohs and ahhs when friends that come over and try and figure out how a nuclear reactor fits inside such a tiny enclosure.

Installing the upgrade was very painless and straightforeward, I actually accomplished it during lunch break at work one day.
I eschewed using the included fan with the processor kit because I had already made a stainless steel "cooling base" with an adjustable 120mm fan, therefore I was able to make my GF3 fanless, with nary a problem!

The G5's are tempting, but way beyond my needs for the foreseeable future. I think a powerbook would be the next logical purchase.

If I ever did decide to pick up a new G5, or whatever they may be calling them, the Cube will stay put. After all, It's always nice to know all about your ancestors!

Peace

[driven]

Originally posted by PowerCube:
Best damn computer/electronics purchase ever, period. I still get oohs and ahhs when friends that come over and try and figure out how a nuclear reactor fits inside such a tiny enclosure.




Peace

Ahh .. you are one of the few Cube-folks with one of the Dual 800 cube-kits !

Congrats!

I wonder if either of the vendors will ever re-release this?

[AlanApple]

If the Pentium 4 was the Jean-Claude Van Damme of the computing world then the Cube was Ava Gardner. Ice-cool chic.

I wanted once of these babies for ages and then this year a bought a G4 500 with a 32 meg radeon and a 30gb hard disk. Lovely. Looks sublime and a fitting companion to my equally sublime iMac 17".

---------------
Check this out www.wimpus.com

[driven]

Originally posted by AlanApple:
If the Pentium 4 was the Jean-Claude Van Damme of the computing world then the Cube was Ava Gardner. Ice-cool chic.

I wanted once of these babies for ages and then this year a bought a G4 500 with a 32 meg radeon and a 30gb hard disk. Lovely. Looks sublime and a fitting companion to my equally sublime iMac 17".

---------------
Check this out www.wimpus.com

How does the speed feel on your 500Mhz Cube in comparison with your 1Ghz iMac?

(The fastest Mac that I have is a 500Mhz Cube ... so I ask questions like this to get a basis ...)

[cube-dude]

Wired today has a decent article about Cube mania, including lots of links for those wanting to upgrade their vintage Cubes.

[Maflynn]

Originally posted by driven:
How does the speed feel on your 500Mhz Cube in comparison with your 1Ghz iMac?

My cube (450mhz) is abut 50% slower on the memory intensive things (no surpise there) but for me we're talking 45 seconds vs 20 seconds on my dual gig. Other factors impact the speed also, currently my dual gig has a better video card and L3 cache. I think the memory subsystem may be the same even though the dual takes pc133. Because I upgraded my cube's hard drive, that's probably quicker, its the new barracude with 8 meg of cache.

Since I'm not doing any heavy lifting on my mac; office apps mostly, internet etc, I find the cube to be adaquite, though I'm looking to sell the dual gig to fund the g5 - just because I'm nerdy like that but the cube will always have a place on my desk, if not for my main computer then as a file server.

I have to say with the barracude in the cube, I cannot tell if its on or not, its that quite. I left it on last night because I thought it was sleeping but only the monitor went into sleep mode (I like to manually set the mac to sleep instead of the powersavings panel doing).

Mike

[BrunoBruin]

Originally posted by michaelb:
I don't think there can ever be enough pictures of the beautiful 3 year old Cube.

Gambit uses a Cube?!

[Agent69]

I had a 450Mhz Cude with Radeon card and an Apple 17" Studio Display. The Cube died in an electric puff and smoke and Apple replaced it.

I eventually sold it to buy another Mac but it was a good computer.

[driven]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
It was resurrected as the lampshade iMac. You all know this. Admit it.

As soon as I can upgrade the video card and processor in the iMac I'll admit it. :-)