A Questionable G4 Cube Upgrade

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Today we're installing the most questionable G4 Cube upgrade ever released during its lifetime... and then running Minecraft of course!
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#Macintosh #Minecraft #Cube

[@RinoaL]

1:00 "Dragging those innocent computers screaming into the bleak dystopia that we call the modern web." I really adore how you word things tbh.

[@jswidget]

I really enjoyed the Wolf 359 line.

[@WelcomeToMarkintosh]

SAME! lol

[@kFY514]

Sean is the kind of guy who gets a rare Apple product whose defining feature is the design aesthetic, only to just wrap this aesthetic upside down to make a janky Frankenstein monster 😅 It's so ridiculous, I love it 😂

[@yorgle]

Not sure if April Fools shenanigans or just standard AR shenanigans... but I love it. I still have a G4 cube kicking around that I should do something with. :D

[@johnbucki5567]

No ones ever done early access as an April fools joke.

[@alext3811]

I actually didn't watch it till today (the next day) because I genuinely thought it was a member special. YT still gives notifications regardless of if something is members only or not, so one could be confused.

[@combusean]

The cube was a favorite of tech-phobic executives and the style-conscious, I saw a few on the desks of higher-ups back when they were new. The biggest problem that I remember was that the plastic was defective and visible cracks would form which pretty much ruined the aesthetic for the discerning target market.

[@dglenn247]

You could model and 3D print a new corner pillar that accommodates the new VRM. You should be able to sink a nut in the plastic with a soldering iron for added strength. I like it, would be cool to see how you update the logo to glow.

[@pseudotasuki]

You can also have the printer pause, drop the nut into ploce, then resume the print. Another option is threaded heat-set inserts.

[@MK-of7qw]

"There's never been a bigger badder cube since the Battle of Wolf 359." 🤣

[@robertsissco2439]

"Never been a bigger badder cube since the the battle of Wolf 359" -Sisko hated that

[@Ilovemacs1]

My favorite computer❤

[@dragonrider6875]

I think if you want ot RGB, I would 3d print new corner posts and put LEB,s in those. You can also take a dremal and carefullly drill a hole in the back of the metal to place a LED behind the apple logo to glow!!

[@dragonrider6875]

Thanks, I have been going through all your video's. I am looking for a power adapter for a dual 450DP. My power supply died. I just need the adapter. Can you point to a vendor?

[@Eric-lr5ur]

Would be really sweet to have PCBWay make a polished and drilled plate to replace the stamped steel piece with the apple logo so that it matched the super awesome one on top! Thanks for the excellent content as usual.

[@R.-.]

Someone should mod one of these with an integral small flat screen display on the front, in the style of the original all-in-one Macs.

[@lemagreengreen]

I remember being fascinated by the G4 cube, only ever saw them in magazines though. In the Y2k it was an impressive (yet flawed but we didn't know that immediately lol) feat of engineering to fit such a machine in that chassis, was never a mac guy at all but I wanted one!

[@JoelRosenfeld]

Awesome job! I remember those old cubes. Really cute. The only edits I would make is to try a more uniform application of adhesive on the apple, so you don’t see a circle on the back, and to polish the plate that it’s on.

[@mediocrefunkybeat]

Wolf 359 reference. This is my favourite channel. Confirmed.

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

"We are the Cubes you will be assimilated resistance is futile"

[@scottthomas3792]

E6000 is the Adhesive of the Gods... pretty close to a universal adhesive... It's a desktop Borg cube...

[@timsenecal1727]

I bought a 450mhz g4 cube when they were brand new. I love "tiny" computers, and at the time, the cube was the smallest mac available... still have it, need to get it out of storage to see if it still works.

[@Francois_L_7933]

For the lonely nut, you could glue it in place with a bit of epoxy. As for making the Apple logo glow, you could design a cutout that fits the curved recess and have it laser cut out of thin steel with the logo. And then fit behind it some white plastic. That would look fantastic!

[@Ryan.Lohman]

I love videos like these. I'm always looking forward to the mods you come up with. Makes me always want to think outside (or inside) a bigger box.

[@morecrappysketches]

You can still do better on that video card! There were 6800 variants that were flashable. I've seen some people cramming them into Cubes post-VRM upgrade and with heatsink swaps so they'll fit. I think you could also get a 9800 Pro working in there once you've got the new VRM as well.

[@guidoduif8829]

Lovely video as usual! Keep up the good work.🤩

[@ebilvampireboy]

The consoles displays in Star Trek enterprise were all powered by g4 cubes !

[@bryans8656]

I always enjoy watching your shenanigans.

[@connorsteffan8958]

now all its needs is a light up apple logo.

[@mar4kl]

Loved it! My dad owned a G4 Cube. I thought it was the coolest Mac he ever owned. I loved how you turned it on just by waving a hand over it.

[@janusu]

Would it be possible to drill a hole in the metal behind the translucent logo so that the light shines through it from inside the case? Might be too late since you superglued it, but I think it would have looked cool that way.

[@atptourfan]

My favorite newfound channel! So fun!

[@retropuffer2986]

Chonky & Janky. Your channel is great for us older folk to learn the latest slang young people are using. ☺

[@John-mf6ky]

People have been saying janky for decades now lol..

[@mmdday]

I still remember seeing my first G4 cube in person. It was love at first sight. Truly amazing design. Was a big reason of my eventual move to the Mac from PC later on. But of course Apple has not as had such an amazing design since then (except maybe the trashcan mac pro)

[@DerekWitt]

5:15 Introducing the G4 in all its "naked glory!" I enjoy these Mac shenanigans. :)

[@John-McAfee]

Brilliant, I bet you get 400 frames per second on Crysis with this bad boy.

[@Gunstarrhero1]

drill holes in the metal plate and put led's in those holes, or you can just 3d print a plate, leave holes behind the logo spot, and shine through that way, if you dont want to do it that way, 3d print a plate, and leave a cut out of the logo in the center, use leds to fill the space, or drop in the logo, mount it from behind with something right on the edges or, just get something like a little cylinder to mount into the 3d print. like case badges that pultrude the case and are held in by glue or whatever, you know little posts under the badge that hold them in place.

[@David_Phantom]

"Chungus Cube" aka The Chube

[@NdxtremePro]

Okay, that thing looks pretty on the outside, but on the inside it is literally all the bad ideas they ever had for the all-in-one Macs from the past.

[@bluebary]

And to the magic of buying two of them, I have a already took’n apart one, right here Technology connections is infiltrating

[@MarcosCodas]

Absolutely love your videos.

[@velocity211]

herd and dosdude1 are champions for vintage macs

[@Angelgreat]

We need to make more of that enclosure so other people can upgrade their cubes and do some other things to it too.

[@timothyp8947]

I have a G4 Cube which I bought from new a long, long time ago. I doubt I could ever part with it, although I hardly ever turn it on now, so it sits in the centre of my bookcase… like a piece of sculpture, because it kind of is. Last time I turned it on was to try MorphOS which, with some persuasion and brief use of a better resolution monitor, I did get installed. Also replaced the battery and the hard drive with a PARA to SATA adapter and a small SSD, but that’s kinda flapping around in the breeze where the old drive was. Mine also has a sticky slot loading drive and at least one touch-power switch (can’t remember if on the Cube or it’s Monitor) is a bit sick. Stunning looking machine.

[@sevensixtwo5001]

So excited for the full release

[@MarkyShaw]

Top tier shenanigans!

[@userperson5259]

Incidentally, I too love dragging innocent computers screaming into the bleak dystopia that we call the modern web. :-D

[@jimseibyl5140]

That larger chonck was with a mod kit that moved the VRM to be mounted on a heat sink on the outside of the cube frame. They had a power mod board that plugged into the VRM to allow som e 7448 upgrades they had. Pretty cool They did that.

[@Realaudiosith]

Another great modification. Makes me long for my old cube again.

[@CubeAtlantic]

Bizarre but impressive computer w/some unique curiosity & Sci-Fi cubes :)

[@megatronskneecap]

These have the same issue as the iMac G5. The PPC processors were simply just to hot for these tiny cases meaning apple had to adjust the fan curve and preformance. Left these things serverley underpowered.

[@BringMayFlowers]

No, the issue was it was too small (and too Steve Jobs involved) to have a fan at all; the 7410 it would have come with stock only puts out 12 W at 500MHz at full blast, less than 5 W at 450 during typical use. But since the case is tiny and has no room for convection airflow, it aggregated over time, leading to the issues. They didn't (and arguably still haven't) learn from the Apple III. As an iMac G5 owner I can tell you that thing *definitely* has fans, and IBM was at fault for making the G5 more or less a straight single-core POWER4 (including needing a whole other core, a 405, just to boot it) rather than actually putting the R&D into making a decent G5 because they just wanted to focus on high profit servers. However, its main bottleneck is using a mobile FX 5200.

[@megatronskneecap]

@@BringMayFlowers Yeah sounds about right. Steve Jobs was horrid and bitchy. He tried to break literal physics laws just to have a silent machine. Apple III is a brilliant example.

[@ByronAgain]

HA! I only know one person who bought one. Yes, they actually bought one when they came out. I wonder if he still owns it...

[@waydegutman7339]

That was fun to watch. The oversized cube was worth getting.

[@singletona082]

I remember apple doing a demonstration of these on campus and I honestly wanted one. However looking at the price tag? Broke collage me decided 'nah, I'm good.'

[@ChristopherGaul]

Dude! How did you miss the idea to put a hole in that metal plate first before gluing down the plastic Apple logo?! You could have then put a white led behind it. Maybe with some white acrylic to act as a diffuser. I'd have also painted that metal plate a gloss white.

[@dmitribilgere7604]

This is a crime against computers you glorious monster

[@CaryGordon3k]

My work bought at least half a dozen to run a public display with a bunch different exhibits. Then locked them is a wooden pedestal underneath the actual exhibit. With no windows.

[@hamsterwolf]

I think a bit of white carbon fiber vinyl wrap would have been a nice visual upgrade on the metal plate before gluing down the Logo.

[@kjamison5951]

Before the trash can Power Macintosh, the tissue box holder PowerMac. Stunning design as only Apple could and I wanted one but I’m satisfied with the G4 iMac Flat Panel I have.

[@BollingHolt]

That thing looks so cool.

[@BBHexKey]

I wish I'd found out about VCF East sooner, all my favorite youtubers are going to be there. Sadly I don't have the money on hand to travel up there and it's too soon to request time off from work.

[@only1gameguru]

Maybe run that C port of Minecraft in the cube and shock the kids

[@minty_Joe]

@Action Retro you should call it "Chungawungas". Kind of a play on word to the band Chumbawamba.

[@VladoT]

You can get automotive double-sided tape designed for spoilers/trim and this is very strong to use for mounting stuff.

[@BilisNegra]

11:54 If not for classic Mac's peculiar screw placement, you would not have that ridiculously long screwdriver in your arsenal.

[@akamadman203]

I brought my cube to VCF as well and oh boy the kids loved it with Minecraft as well and was happy to let them play with it. Unfortunately my cube is failing for some reason and I'm not sure why

[@HandFromCoffin]

I put a dual G4 500mhz upgrade card in my Cube and later a 1.33ghz G4 upgrade with a Geforce 2MX. Had a 80mm fan bracket on the bottom of them I put a fan in it

[@snowdog993]

Can you put an infinity mirror in front of your logo you created and use a LED light between the mirror and logo? That would be an interesting project.

[@jose.inestroza]

Great content as always!! April fools' question: is Action Retro the voice of Maccy?

[@bryandrobny7690]

Put the RGB green so it's a Borg Cube 😂

[@julskechap]

I first saw a cube in Larry Davids office in an episode of "Curb your enthusiasm". I think it was season 1 or 2

[@windowsxpnt2347]

Now there are 2 of them, this is getting out of hand

[@JamesHalfHorse]

Try 3M waterproof mounting tape/panel bond tape. Grey stuff with red backing. About half the SSD upgrades I have done in this town are held down that way and none have come loose.

[@SullySadface]

Whatever today's date is aside, I wish I had the money to buy an old 2010s MBP so I can stop using my phone for everything.

[@RedShift5]

I think you should try putting 2 white LEDs below the logo at a 90° angle from each other, wrap them in something reflective and use them as mini spotlights, sort of like the 20th century fox logo.

[@MrJakeTucker]

Those long screwdrivers can be handy!

[@SnipE_mS]

Oh man I wish I could give you an extra like for that wolf 359 comment. Chef’s kiss

[@ruffy45]

Sean, I haven't seen the video yet, but I feel like I might be being misled (today is April 1st).

[@moeskido]

Great mod. Could you describe that Firewire SSD you had, and how to acquire or build it?

[@AngeloTelesforo]

Now put Locutus of Borg as the wallpaper!

[@grafxgear]

Alien tape is amazing stuff. There are a dozen rock off versions out there.but they work amazing for applications like this.

[@bryandrobny7690]

I picture scooby doo saying action retro 😂

[@Rahmancarr]

What I’m really interested in is that motorized screwdriver! Which one is that?

[@JohnneyleeRollins]

Punch out grill holes in the shape of the apple logo and reattach the plastic logo after so you see the a retro grill hole with the led light going through it

[@WillOnSomething]

Say what you will about the G4 Cube, but it was a much more reasonable product that came out of Apple compared to the trashcan that came a little over a decade later

[@KaitenKenbu]

haha wolf 359, nice. this cube is better looking for sure though.

[@jimseibyl5140]

I love love love my little cube.

[@Storm_.]

I think you should find a nice metallic spray paint and go over the metal faces to give them a nicer finish :)

[@appleinfl]

Do you have the info for the gentleman selling the reproduction iBook pieces? I need a few of them since the leaf always falls out.

[@ThomasMoneyhon]

Thumbs up for the wolf 359 reference.

[@o1230sponge]

With the larger case, you could probably fit a better fan and change the bios on the GeForce 6200 to run at higher clocks with less concerns regarding temperature

[@ultimatedude80]

Here because of the short this is great

[@LeoLijo]

Nice Star Trek reference

[@kingston1547]

You could superglue the nut to the cube itself to keep it in olace

[@ypoora1]

I can't believe you didn't clean those metal faces before you put it in there and i will now be slightly miffed because of someone else's computer for the rest of time.

[@floydiandroid]

CHUNGUSCUBE!

[@sjukfan]

I lost the auction for a Cube with dual 1.8GHz G4. That one should have that case.

[@CaptainFabulous84]

IIRC wasn't the stock acrylic case very prone to cracking from thermal stress?

[@mikesilver2283]

Sean, please, when you test performance in internet, instead youtube use it frontend - Indivious. It is much faster.

[@radracer2033]

Hmm, that case looks very familiar lol

[@Helladamnleet]

That's pretty cool. I feel like I need a 3D printer after watching these videos

[@lschatz5670]

Looks like a borg cube with the lights off.

[@alexdhall]

Ah yes the Big Chungus cube! 😹