Cube Card Options...
I've really been doing literally TONS of research on the web on this very subject - being the proud owner of a lovely little Cube, I'd like to eventually do the upgrade thing. And there's plenty of good news out there...
Luckily, the Cube can take a fair few graphics cards - such as the GeForce 2MX 32MB, the 2MX 64MB w/TwinView and even the GeForce 3. There are even some unconfirmed reports of GeForce 4's being squeezed into the little chassis! The OEM Radeon is also a very good bet, albeit a touch noisy because of the onboard fan. Therefore, a 2MX should be fine (no fan, and good heatsink!). It is advisable to actually put a fan in your Cube should you upgrade the graphics card, though, if only to give your little guy a longer life expectancy. Apple foresaw the update avenue for the Cube, and graciously supplied a location and a power socket for a fan deep inside the innards. If pulling apart the Cube makes you queazy, I know of a japanese company that has developed a rather good looking fan system that fits under the Cube, and blows air upwards through the vent in the base. They have also developed some snazzy looking USB hubs as well - based on a Heatsink-look. Check out the link via
www.cube-zone.com - who also have good information on graphics cards upgrades, too.
Bench tests to the cards can all be found at
www.xlr8yourmac.com - as well as tips for installations. An interesting piece of information regarding DVD playback on Nvidia cards can be found there, too - apparently, Radeons perform much better than the GeForce 2MX's, as they're too choppy (Can anyone else confirm this?).
eBay is usually a very good bet to get the card you require, as you can do a search for "nvidia adc", or "Radeon Cube", which will list all Cube-compatible cards. The majority of these are pulled from PowerMac Towers, as the owners are upgrading to the big graphics-crunching cards themselves; such as the Radeon 8500, or the GeForce 4Ti. Otherwise, hang around someone with a Quicksilver, and pressure him/her to upgrade their card - offering to take their old, outdated card off their hands. Go on - do 'em a favour...
Hope this helps.
