Thanks for the tip. The dual G4 makes a huge change.
I looked into all this also. The trouble with installing the built-in base fan, in my view, is that the fan can cool the processor and hard drive just fine, but it can do little for the graphics card, which is in an area almost completely sealed off from where the base fan goes. I suppose that there might be a generic vacuum effect with the internal fan, so that more air goes up into the area that graphics card occupies, but I prefer to take a more direct approach.
With the fan located beneath the Cube and external to it, and with the Cube raised up so that air can get in from all around, the cooling is much improved, as air is forced up through the holes in the entire base rather than just through the central part of it. I am also able to use a larger fan than could physically be installed internally. The fanspeed is also easily adjustable, though in general I run it at a slowish speed, so that the noise is almost imperceptible.
That's my story, at least, and I am sticking to it. I have already had one Radeon 7500 fry in an uncooled, otherwise stock Cube, and I don't want another one to go bad on me.
I looked into all this also. The trouble with installing the built-in base fan, in my view, is that the fan can cool the processor and hard drive just fine, but it can do little for the graphics card, which is in an area almost completely sealed off from where the base fan goes. I suppose that there might be a generic vacuum effect with the internal fan, so that more air goes up into the area that graphics card occupies, but I prefer to take a more direct approach.
With the fan located beneath the Cube and external to it, and with the Cube raised up so that air can get in from all around, the cooling is much improved, as air is forced up through the holes in the entire base rather than just through the central part of it. I am also able to use a larger fan than could physically be installed internally. The fanspeed is also easily adjustable, though in general I run it at a slowish speed, so that the noise is almost imperceptible.
That's my story, at least, and I am sticking to it. I have already had one Radeon 7500 fry in an uncooled, otherwise stock Cube, and I don't want another one to go bad on me.