My Cube updates

[Joel Pelletier]

A few updates on my Cube system, some of which are related to recent 
Cube postings:

I use DVD Studio Pro with an external 104 Pioneer drive. Rather steep 
learning curve, not for the casual home-movie user, but allows the 
greatest customized control over all aspects of design, graphics, 
menu icons etc.  It's kind of like using Netscape Composer (or, Dog 
forbid, Front Page) for web design, vs. hand-coded HTML. All the 
speculation about internal DVD burners in Cubes seems alot of tryng 
to fit square pegs into round holes. Eventually the Titanium drives 
WILL be readily available at a decent price, but how long do you wait 
before it's cheaper (and more efficient) to get a new Mac?

I am (however) about to receive a CDRW/DVD-ROM drive to put in my 
Cube (I bought another after ruining my last machine). For quick 
burns of demo CDs and file backups, having the internal drive seems 
like a great convenience. Yes, there are MUCH FASTER external CD 
burners, but I have enough crap on my desk...

I have just received a new GeForce 3, and have removed the fan and 
the heatsink that goes atop the top row of DIMMS (the fins go in the 
wrong direction for proper venting). I replaced the fan with a large 
CPU heatsink, and the DIMM heatsink with another that has horizonltal 
fins (the long way). Now ALL of the heatsinks allow air to run across 
their fins from the bottom to the top of the Cube for better heat 
venting. It does run hot, so (for now) I placed a Panaflow fan 
(getting about 7 volts from an external wall wart)UNDER the Cube (on 
screws acting as "feet") to run just a bit of air, quite SILENTLY, 
past BOTH the CPU and video card. Everything seems wonderful, and the 
64 MB GeForce 3 FLYS thru scrolling, window opening, etc.

I will take some photos of the mods I have done, including upcoming 
cosmetic mods (Burl Walnut Cube, keyboard and Cinema Screen detailing 
to match my Art Deco furniture), and will post a link when completed.

I am awaiting the Powerlogix DUAL 1.2 mhz cards, which (I have been 
told) include an extra 12 volt DC card (taking over all 12 volt 
chores, which actually allows the original DC board to run COOLER), 
and a variable-speed fan for the internal mounts, which will speed 
up/slow down based on a thermostadt that is included in the 
circuitry. At that time I will eliminate the extra fan under the Cube 
(if necessary). I purchased a spare Rage Pro 128 card this week ($15) 
for a spare, and recommend that anyone trying to get creative with 
their expensive video card upgrades (as I have) do the same...

BTW, I installed the Seagate Barracuda V 120GB drive (with the 2 MB 
cache), and it is the quietest AND fastest drive I have experienced. 
Together with 1.5 GB RAM and a 22" Cinema Screen, both of which are 
MUCH cheaper now then when I originally purchased them, this is STILL 
the finest system I can imagine.

I will have a NEW Cube chassis and motherboard, as well as my used 
DVD-ROM drive for sale on eBay soon - email off list if you need any 
of these.

Joel Pelletier
http://www.joelp.org

My 2 cents - I TRULY appreciate this list for the helpful Cube info. 
I would, however, appreciate not having to scroll through endless 
repeats of past messages. Some mini-conversation threads you folks 
have do go on and on about everything BUT Cube topics, including 
endless copies of all other messages previous. Perhaps we can live 
without all the >, >>, and >>'s. And, if I wanted to "chat", I'd use 
AIM (or something like), or pick up the phone (remember those?). I'm 
not particularly interested in the Cube Lists's political opinions 
and personality disorders, and would prefer that you stick to your 
Buddy lists for these topics. BUT DO keep the Cube info coming!!!