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GeForce 2 MX for Cube : - With or Without

B

BigladUK

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 29, 2004
31
1
I must have read nearly every post on this subject and I still can't work it out.

If I get one of these cards ( and it's not the Apple Cube OEM Version but the less expensive PowerMac Version ) do I need a fan, bigger heat sink or is fine as it is ?

I like to hear from everyone running this card saying what configuration they have.

So

Do you have a fan ?
Do you have a bigger heat sink ?
Do you use it "au naturale" ?

Thanks in advance

Simon
 
a geforce 2 isn't going to create that much heat but if your card comes with a fan then use it. I don't have any direct experience with the cube but it just makes sense.
 
Thats the whole point though. They don't come with fans and never have done.

As the cube is fanless and therefore very prone problems with any extra generated heat I'm very concerned that this "no apple approved" upgrade would cook my beautiful cube.

If it had a fan on then I'm not going to take it off now am I :)
 
check out www.cubeowner.com for all your cube questions. in a nutshell: they're going to tell you to put a fan in for any upgrade other than RAM or possibly a hard drive. that particular card may not generate as much heat as a more powerful video card, but it won't take much exta heat to screw up your cube.

i don't know if any GeForce 2's had a fan; all the ones i've seen have a heatsink. in theory, it may be possible to run a GeForce 2 with just its existing heatsink. but do you want to risk it? if you get one with a fan, it might be ok to just use that and not add a base fan. if you get one with a heatsink, you should absolutely get a base fan for your cube. OWC (macsales.com) has some nice quiet fans with nifty blue LEDs; they're all the rage over at cubeowner.

and let me know how it works out -- i've been thinking of putting the same card in my cube. (already put in a base fan... we all do it sooner or later.)
 
it runs fine with no heat problems I run a radeon 9000 fanless for god sake fans are only needed if you are overclocking or puting lots of upgrades

but my tupnie bit on the matter (english thing don't ask)

the geforce 2 is not that great i had one but it made dvd playback chopy and the rage is faster in a few things

look into getting a radeon 7500 pull from a quicksilver they cost a bit more and require the fase plate to be removed but they run cool and only a tad bit slower than the Radeon 9000 + you get dual moniters which you don't get with the geforce 2 it's the best fanless card that dose not require major moding.

(tip: place your cube over a hole in a desk and dangle the wires through it increases air flow considrably and prolongs the life of your cube)

(ps the hector on www.cubeowner.com is me (yes the one thats haveing beef with lawrie))
 
some GeForce2's support dual monitors -- look for one with "Twinview." i think all the GeForces with the ADC connectors have it; the VGA-only cards may not. also, it's a simple face-plate swap to get in in your cube.

the 7500 requires a little more modding ( http://cubeowner.com/kbase/index.php?page=index_v2&id=188&c=2 ) unless you run it without the faceplate, which i hear is fine. it's a good card; about the only differences between it and the GeForce2 are the face-plate thing, and the VRAM: the 7500 has 32 megs and the GeForce has 64.

and if you don't want to cut a hole in your desk... think about getting a fan. seriously. you may be fine running without one, and many people are. but in my experience: my cube is too much of an investment, financially and personally, for me to take that chance. i put in a quiet Seagate drive and one of the base fans from OWC and it's still a quieter machine than it was with the stock Maxtor drive and no fan. a silent computer is a wonderful dream, but i'd rather have computer that isn't fried.
 
A lot depends on how often you use the Cube, and what for. If you drive it hard and long (especially the graphics card), I'd go for the base fan.

The OEM GeForce2 for the Cube both did and did not have a fan. That is, they were supposed to have a fan, but quite a few were accidentally sold by Apple with a heatsink instead. The ones with fans are like hen's teeth -- you're much more likely to find a pull from a G4 with a heatsink.

Much debate over at cubeowner.com about about fans and such. Some people put them into their stock Cubes, just to be safe. Others will run a Radeon 9000 in a Cube without a fan and claim good results (personally, I think this is a cigarette smoker's "I ain't dead yet" logic).

I'm still hoping and searching for the "perfect" Cube graphics card upgrade. The 2MX probably isn't it, considering they cost around $150 for very much behind-the-curve technology. Maybe we'll get lucky one of these days and somebody will release a new card that accidentally fits into the Cube. In the meantime you might be better off saving your money for a CPU upgrade. The way things stand now, you'll get more bang for the buck (and a base fan!).
 
yeah, the fan debate is just one of those divisive issues. i'll put up with the tiny whirr and hopefully get some more life out of this machine, but i totally understand the desire to run a stealth cube -- admittedly, it is pretty cool.

and all this talk of video cards has prompted me to bite the bullet and pick up a GeForce 2. i'm not a gamer or a video editor, so i don't need anything more heavy-duty.

Ignatius, you're right about the 2MX not being the perfect upgrade. i think they get the inflated prices they do because they're getting harder to find but they're still desireable precisely because they're viable as upgrades for people who want Quartz Extreme or just a little more oomph out of their card without needing serious muscle.
 
I'm actually kind of puzzled about why they seem to be getting more expensive. They were stock equipment in a generation of G4 towers a few years ago. I'm seeing quite a few coming up for sale on eBay pulled for upgrades.
 
BigladUK said:
I must have read nearly every post on this subject and I still can't work it out.

If I get one of these cards ( and it's not the Apple Cube OEM Version but the less expensive PowerMac Version ) do I need a fan, bigger heat sink or is fine as it is ?

I like to hear from everyone running this card saying what configuration they have.

So

Do you have a fan ?
Do you have a bigger heat sink ?
Do you use it "au naturale" ?

Thanks in advance

Simon
Click to expand...
you could always goe to Powerlogix(I believe) and buy their cube enclosure...gives you improved cooling and space to fit cards that woudn't fit the cubes' form-factor...don't like the look stock, but people have been creative...could be a fun project to go with a new video card...or try your luck...
 
IJ Reilly said:
I'm seeing quite a few coming up for sale on eBay pulled for upgrades.
Click to expand...

that's what i mean. supply & demand; people want no-hassle upgrades, but they don't need some behemoth gaming card. the 2MX is one card that fills that lower-end niche. also, there are fewer 2MX's for the Mac. so unless you want to buy a PC card and flash it, you've got a smaller market to go to.
 
Guys I appreciate your views on the Heat vs Performance vs Price issue.

After reading even more ( god my head hurts ) I think I will be better off getting a GeForce 3.

Now correct me if I'm wrong but this card it the daddy, Requires only a faceplate change, Give great performance, Cools it's self with a surface mount fan , will power my ADC 20" Cinema display and and.......is not much more expensive than the Geforce 2 (almost the same price as a Geforce 2 OEM Cube with massive heatsink currently on ebay from Jose ).

So what do we think of this then ?

Just my two pen'th ( I am English )

Cheers

Simon
 
BigladUK said:
Requires only a faceplate change, Give great performance, Cools it's self with a surface mount fan , will power my ADC 20" Cinema display and and.......is not much more expensive than the Geforce 2
Click to expand...

that's about the long & the short of it. have you seen the
video card comparison chart over at cubeowner?
 
i would not advise you to get the geforce 3 as it runs hot hot hot even with the fan the radeon 7500 is an exeptional card and much faster than the geforce 2 and 64mb twinveiw and only marginally slower than the geforce 3 and radeon 9000

(the fan mishap was with the radeons not the geforces)

remember vram isn't everything when chooseing a card there are other factors to consider
 
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