get a cube upgrade or wait?

Discussion in 'Macintosh Computers' started by clubmedia, Jun 10, 2003.

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  1. clubmedia, Jun 10, 2003

    clubmedia macrumors regular

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    #1
    i have been trying to figure out if getting a 800mhz - 1 gig upgrade for my cube would be smart now, or to just wait til creative pro and pray that everything drops.

    i do wedding videos almost regularly now and would love real time with fcp, but i don't require it right now.

    what do you think i should do?
     
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  2. Nermal, Jun 10, 2003

    Nermal Moderator

    Nermal

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    New Zealand
    #2
    I'd normally say to wait for WWDC and get an older model G4 for cheap, but you're using a Cube and probably don't want to let it go? The 800 MHz upgrades are around $310, if that's an OK price then go for it. Remember though that a CPU upgrade to 800 MHz is not going to be as fast as a "real" 800 MHz G4 system due to the bus etc.
     
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  3. zuggerat, Jun 10, 2003

    zuggerat macrumors regular

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    #3
    i would say wait a bit if u dont like what u see after WWDC get the upgrade it might even be cheaper since drastically new hardware is out
     
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  4. clubmedia, Jun 10, 2003

    clubmedia thread starter macrumors regular

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    #4
    cool. i have found the cube upgrades as low as $279 for the 800mhz.

    i would rather get a 1ghz for the same price in a month though too.
     
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  5. cubist, Jun 10, 2003

    cubist macrumors 68020

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    Muncie, Indiana
    #5
    I debated this with myself about 6 months ago and decided to get the 1GHz Powerlogix, which was $430 at the time. It definitely made my Cube faster. Another thing that helped (and was much cheaper) was a 7200RPM hard drive. And of course a gig of RAM (a little over $100).

    I don't expect that the G4 upgrades will become cheaper. When the new machines come out, in fact, they may become *more* expensive, because upgrade-makers are a small market and they need there to be a large volume market for the same chips they use. When Apple stops buying large volumes of G4s, the price will go up.

    Another point is the heat in the box. You understand that you will have a fan, right? If you get the 1.4GHz, it will be a LOUD fan, too.

    One other point. The Powerlogix upgrade has what is called a "coma" problem: If the cube goes to sleep, it won't wake up properly. (In my case, the monitor doesn't light up.) Some cubes have this even without CPU upgrades. There are rumors that the Sonnet upgrades don't have this problem. I don't know if this is true.

    Much more info at http://www.cubeowner.com.

    Have fun!
     
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  6. wrc fan, Jun 11, 2003

    wrc fan macrumors 65816

    wrc fan

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    #6
    I know it might be a pipe-dream, but I'm hoping that sometime there will be a new G4 upgrade that won't require a fan. With Motorola's emphisis on embedded tech, shouldn't that be a possibility?

    If not, then my cube will stay at 450 forever, as the main reason I bought it was for the fanless operation. Now my biggest complaint is that my 7200rpm 8mb cache Seagate drive is so loud. I mean, you can barely hear it at 2 am when there is no other noise in the house, that's unacceptable! :p

    B.T.W. if you only have a rage 128 card and are not quartz extreme capable, I would definately recommend upgrading to the GeForce2 MX (ADC and no fan). There was a very noticable improvement on my cube from that. Sure it's a little pricey, but well worth it for the fanless operation.
     
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