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Do you think my Cube is still a relatively good machine?

post #1 of 24
11/29/01 at 6:09pm
Thread Starter 
I have a G4 Cube 450
Radeon 32 Mb graphics card
192 Mb ram
DVD
20 gig hd
OS X and OS 9

I need it to last me until college. Do you think it will gt the job done for 2.5 more years? Aesthetically it will still be tops in 5 years.
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post #2 of 24
11/29/01 at 6:12pm
I don't see why it wouldn't be fine for 2.5 years. It's a great machine. I'd take a Cube over my 500MHz iBook.
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post #3 of 24
11/29/01 at 6:16pm
  • rok
  • the Casbah
the cube is still a great machine, and the only thing that held me back from trading in my imac as a down payment for the cube was it's shortened video slot (in order to fit in the 8" cube), which meant that vendors would have to make a special short-card to fit in there -- plus, apple flat-out said they wouldn't support upgrading the video... and i just didn't get any warm-fuzzies from either ati or nvidia about supporting the cube long-term. but the 16mb ati rage pro is two years old in last-generation's g4 towers, and it does everything i need it to at work, plus decent games... so yeah, it should be fine, i would think.

[ 11-29-2001: Message edited by: rok ]</p>
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post #4 of 24
11/29/01 at 6:16pm
Thread Starter 
Funny, I would take the iBook over my Cube. <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
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post #5 of 24
11/29/01 at 6:18pm
  • Leonis
  • AI Community Dictator
Three years from now the cube's case can be used as a fancy tissue box

just kidding

You may think about adding some RAM. 192MB is still kind of at the low side....
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Mac Pro 2.66, 5GB RAM, 250+120 HD, 23" Cinema Display
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post #6 of 24
11/29/01 at 6:23pm
Thread Starter 
Good idea Leonis, I think I need to add some ram. I want about 512 total.
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post #7 of 24
11/29/01 at 6:24pm
No, it sucks. Mail it to me for burial.
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post #8 of 24
11/29/01 at 6:35pm
Thread Starter 
LOL, groverat!
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post #9 of 24
11/29/01 at 6:40pm
[quote]Originally posted by Macintosh:
<strong>Funny, I would take the iBook over my Cube. <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>

Really? I'd much rather have the G4 processor than the G3 in the iBook.
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post #10 of 24
11/29/01 at 6:42pm
Thread Starter 
The iBook 600 would be nearly as fast as my Cube in even altivec enhanced apps, wouldnt it?

I like portability more than desktops becasue high school can be an unorganized place.
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post #11 of 24
11/29/01 at 6:48pm
[quote]Originally posted by Macintosh:
<strong>The iBook 600 would be nearly as fast as my Cube in even altivec enhanced apps, wouldnt it?

I like portability more than desktops becasue high school can be an unorganized place. </strong><hr></blockquote>

Yeah, you're right, but I'm stuck with the 500MHz one so I'm not lucky.
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post #12 of 24
11/29/01 at 6:49pm
The Cube will last just fine. As long as 3D games aren't your thing.
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post #13 of 24
11/29/01 at 10:29pm
Are you kidding? The Cube is a great machine and its G4 will certainly get you through until the form factor is revived down the line. I've got 2 Cubes, one a silent 450 with 386 MB at school with a 15" Studio and one fast and slightly noiser one 500 with 1.5 Megs RAM at home hooked up to a Cinema display. You will find all the memory you can pack in helpful, but I would take it up in as large a block as you can afford. The 1.5 config seems to prevent use of virtual memory though. <img src="confused.gif" border="0">
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"Run faster. History is a constant race between invention and catastrophe. Education helps but it is never enough. You must also run." Leto Atreides II
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post #14 of 24
11/30/01 at 10:47am
I have a Cube ... specs are:
450Mhz G4
1.5Gb Ram
Nivida GeForce2 Mx400
80Gig Seagate Barracuda IV Disk

Its a nice machine! However, in OSX, it seems to be a bit laggy... But that may be more OSX's fault than the computer, it seems speedy enough in 9, but I don't use OS9 ... .

I think it will last the 2 years you need it to ... but don't think you couldn't upgrade the video card ... my geforce is a PC geforce (so you can't use an apple flat panel, but it has regular VGA out), but it works fine in OSX/9 using the apple nvidia drivers, and even sleeps just fine with it.

However, for me ... I think i need a G5 or dual proc G4 . I'll still keep the cube though, it would make a nice server, or maybe even backup or something ...
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post #15 of 24
11/30/01 at 10:52am
My Cube's humming along nicely (450MHz, RADEON, 1GB RAM). I'm thinking of swapping out the HD for a larger one, and then I expect several years of loyal service from the gorgeous little machine.

If a friend of mine didn't need a Mac for his studio, I'd still have my 8600/200. So this machine is gravy.
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post #16 of 24
11/30/01 at 11:05am
Your Cube should be okay for quite a few
years depending on your applications. Most can get by with machines in the 300-400mHz range.

But it's value will probably drop in January if a LCD iMac is introduced. That would create an all in one product which is "luggable"(like the Cube) but without the need for a separate monitor.

Mind you, aesthetically the Cube is still a piece of art and will probably be inducted in the Smithsonian.
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post #17 of 24
11/30/01 at 3:38pm
[quote]Originally posted by stepson:
<strong>
However, for me ... I think i need a G5 or dual proc G4 . I'll still keep the cube though, it would make a nice server, or maybe even backup or something ...</strong><hr></blockquote>

See the dual 450 hack on this board for the ultimate Cube. I'll be going there as soon as some DP sawtooth's come up for sale (when the G5 ships)
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post #18 of 24
11/30/01 at 4:22pm
Get more memory. Then get a larger monitor. Heck, while you're spending all this money, get the next revision G4.
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post #19 of 24
12/1/01 at 1:49am
Your G4 cube is a collector, so be proud to own one;
A radeon video card is far better than the video of an i book. So i think excepting Geforce 3 video card, your computer is a very good Mac's game machine.
One advice get more memory, prize are very low for the moment and in the future it would be hard to find 100 mhz SDRAM.
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post #20 of 24
12/2/01 at 10:14am
... But the price of PC100 RAM doesn't matter much, if at all. Just use the (already) cheaper PC133 RAM and it will scale down to work with your 100 MHz bus. I've found that <a href="http://www.datamem.com" target="_blank">www.datamem.com</a> has very competitive prices, and they only ship quality RAM. You pay a few bucks for reliability, worth it to me at least.

Just pick up any of the PC133 RAM, but always buy the 512 MB chips. This way you don't have to take one out to add more RAM should you run out of RAM slots (i.e., if you have 3 128 MB chips and want to boost your memory to 1 GB, you have to take one chip out and replace it with a bigger one. This is wasteful).

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post #21 of 24
12/2/01 at 5:51pm
These guys are right, it should be fine for 2 and a half more years.
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post #22 of 24
12/2/01 at 7:54pm
Keep the Cube forever Dude. Give it to your grandchildren. It's the second stylish computer ever produced. The iMac was the first. It'll be woth a pretty penny in 50 years.
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post #23 of 24
12/2/01 at 11:51pm
[quote] I have a G4 Cube 450
Radeon 32 Mb graphics card
192 Mb ram
DVD
20 gig hd
OS X and OS 9

I need it to last me until college. Do you think it will gt the job done for 2.5 more years? Aesthetically it will still be tops in 5 years.
<hr></blockquote>

Your computer should be fine for a couple more years. The G4 is a great processor, even a 450 MHz G4 should be able to keep up with new apps for many years. Plus you've got a Radeon, so the Cube can keep up for games and such.

For OS X, a G4 450 is at the low end of acceptable performance, but you can expect further performance optimizations, so with time your Cube running OS X will actually become faster!

I would recommend that you install more RAM if you will be keeping the cube for so long. As the cube gets older, it's RAM prices will go up, so you want to buy it now and not 2 years later. And for OS X, you need gobs of RAM. I'd suggest a total of &gt;500MB RAM, and since RAM is so cheap it won't cost you much.

Other than that, you're set for the long haul!
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post #24 of 24
12/11/01 at 6:26pm
[quote]Originally posted by cdhostage:
<strong>Keep the Cube forever Dude. Give it to your grandchildren. It's the second stylish computer ever produced. The iMac was the first. It'll be woth a pretty penny in 50 years.</strong><hr></blockquote>

The Twentiety Anniversary Macintosh was the first.
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