Hands-On Review--PowerLogix PowerCube

Apple's Power Mac G4 Cube was introduced at Macworld NYC in July of 2000. A powerful (for its time) 450 MHz G4 silent computer in a small 8x8x10" acrylic case, it was an immediate hit with designers and us. Unfortunately, it did not sell well enough for a variety of reasons and was put on ice in just short of a year.

We like them so much that we have 4 G4 Cubes plus enough parts for nearly a fifth among the staff members at Macs Only! Why? Because of their remarkable design, silence and reasonable upgradability. Our main 24/7 server is a G4 Cube because it is completely silent and has a very small foot print. Except for the server, which is totally stock except for more RAM, our G4 Cubes have been significantly upgraded. They have 704 MB to 1 GB RAM, larger and faster hard drives, GeForce2 MX or GeForce3 graphics cards and 1-GHz or 1.2-GHz G4 CPU upgrades. However, because of the extra heat generated by upgrades and the size of the G4 Cube's acrylic enclosure (case), our Cubes are about at their limit. Fortunately, the long-time maker of CPU upgrades, PowerLogix, has come up with a limited edition solution they call the PowerCube enclosure.

The PowerLogix PowerCube is a 9x9x10" aluminum enclosure. Its 1" of extra width and depth provides just enough clearance to allow larger graphics cards, taller silent GPU fans, better cooling of the DC-DC board (voltage regulator module) and better cooling for faster and dual G4 CPUs. The PowerCube enclosure comes in brushed aluminum, gloss black and gloss white and either a brushed aluminum or chrome top grill. PowerLogix told us that 60% of those sold have been brushed aluminum. Ours is brushed aluminum with a perforated brushed aluminum grill that matches our Power Mac G5 and PowerBook G4. It is shown next to our G4 Cube SuperCube that was refinished in black.

What you get--Our kit shown at right contained the PowerCube, perforated top grill, DC-DC board support plate and cable, acrylic power button cover, velcro for the AirPort antennas, 2 CDs and protective gloves. One CD contains instructions as a QuickTime movie, a Word document and a pdf file. The other CD has the instructions in a format that runs on a DVD player.