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Soup up my Cube or buy a 1.8 MHz G5?

M

manzanita

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 14, 2003
45
0
CA
Here's a hardware-related and buying-related question. I need to do something about my 450MHz G4 Cube. It has 1.2 GB of RAM and a 120 GB HD, so I'm pretty much maxed out. But I need more speed and I need more hard drive space (I do 3D animations). So, what would you do....

1) upgrade the Cube with the 1.2 GHz PowerLogix processor and get a nice big external Firewire HD (cost: $700; benefit: I keep my Cube), or

2) get a new 1.8 GHz G5 with 160 GB HD (I'll stick my 120 GB in there too), SuperDrive, 1GB RAM, etc. (cost: edu discount so $2400 minus what I can get for my Cube, so maybe $1750; benefit: more speed).

I thought about getting the Dual 1.25 GHz G4, but they're so noisy.... I suppose I could upgrade my Cube and get rev B of the G5s, but then I spend $700 now and probably $2400 in 6 months...

What do ya'll think? Can anybody recommend (or not recommend) the PowerLogix processor upgrades? Any idea what the Cube market will do in the next year? Oh, decisions, decisions!
 
I would say get a new g5 unless you really love teh cube. teh 1.6 will be much fater than the upgraded cube. ie video ,bus , etc
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have to agree. The 1.6 G5 has an 800mhz bus. The 1.8 has 900mhz bus. Bottom line is that this allows tremendous memory throughput. (I'm sure there are others here that can explain it better than I.) The cube is an awesome system. One of the coolest macs I've ever seen. But it just can't compete and it's only going to fall further behind. You probably know all that already, so I'm sorry if I sound condescending, but it's the same argument I had to make to myself. Obviously though, you've got to go with your heart and do what's right for you. If you really want to upgrade the cube and stick with it then that's what you should do, but do consider it carefully first.

dh
 
Re: Soup up my Cube or buy a 1.8GHz G5?

Originally posted by manzanita
Here's a hardware-related and buying-related question. I need to do something about my 450MHz G4 Cube. It has 1.2 GB of RAM and a 120 GB HD, so I'm pretty much maxed out. But I need more speed and I need more hard drive space (I do 3D animations). So, what would you do....

1) upgrade the Cube with the 1.2 GHz PowerLogix processor and get a nice big external Firewire HD (cost: $700; benefit: I keep my Cube), or

2) get a new 1.8 GHz G5 with 160 GB HD (I'll stick my 120 GB in there too), SuperDrive, 1GB RAM, etc. (cost: edu discount so $2400 minus what I can get for my Cube, so maybe $1750; benefit: more speed).

I thought about getting the Dual 1.25 GHz G4, but they're so noisy.... I suppose I could upgrade my Cube and get rev B of the G5s, but then I spend $700 now and probably $2400 in 6 months...

What do ya'll think? Can anybody recommend (or not recommend) the PowerLogix processor upgrades? Any idea what the Cube market will do in the next year? Oh, decisions, decisions!
Click to expand...

I have a 1.8 for sale in the classifieds. I am not trying to hijack your thread, but mine is 2179 and you can add 175 if you want a gig of ram for a total of 1.5. Just thought you could save some money. nospleen@satx.rr.com
 
i'd say try and keep the cube and buy a new G5 tower...
i did the same thing when the G4 towers came out with my iMac...i ended up sticking with the iMac for a little while and then got a Quicksilver when they came out, and didnt' sell the iMac...it's been worth the dent in the pocketbook by not selling the iMac...emotionaly as well as time saving, cause while the QS did all the hard labor the iMac was just an internet machine and lighter stuff...that's just my take on it...
2 comps is definately a nice thing in the long run ;)
 
Re: Re: Soup up my Cube or buy a 1.8GHz G5?

Originally posted by nospleen
I have a 1.8 for sale in the classifieds. I am not trying to hijack your thread, but mine is 2179 and you can add 175 if you want a gig of ram for a total of 1.5. Just thought you could save some money. nospleen@satx.rr.com
Click to expand...

Sorry but that would save me $20 ... it's $2199 with the same config w/ edu discount and I was including $200 for extra RAM in my estimate.
 
Re: Re: Re: Soup up my Cube or buy a 1.8GHz G5?

Originally posted by manzanita
Sorry but that would save me $20 ... it's $2199 with the same config w/ edu discount and I was including $200 for extra RAM in my estimate.
Click to expand...

Until you add tax to that, the tax will add at least 175. I just thought I would offer, but if not, no biggie.
 
Unless your 120G hard drive is serial ATA, you may have a problem putting it into aG5. The G5 has one extra driver bay for a serial ATA drive only. Or perhaps an adapter of some sort.
 
Flynnstone, thanks for that info ... I think mine is just an ATA or ultra ATA. It's the WD Caviar drive, purchased about a year ago.

nospleen, okay, I'll look at it again. :) (btw, and I'm not implying this about you at all; your auction looks legit :) but I can't believe how many scams are running on ebay for computers. I don't mean to start this discussion again, but there's somebody selling a "Dual 2.0 GHz G5," and in the picture he clearly is showing a G5 with only one processor!)
 
Originally posted by manzanita
Flynnstone, thanks for that info ... I think mine is just an ATA or ultra ATA. It's the WD Caviar drive, purchased about a year ago.

nospleen, okay, I'll look at it again. :) (btw, and I'm not implying this about you at all; your auction looks legit :) but I can't believe how many scams are running on ebay for computers. I don't mean to start this discussion again, but there's somebody selling a "Dual 2.0 GHz G5," and in the picture he clearly is showing a G5 with only one processor!)
Click to expand...

There definately is, but I am not one of them. You can read my feedback or email me and I can give you my phone number, work number, etc.. Anyway-back on topic. (sorry for the hijack)
 
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