Quote from PowerLogix

"If you do not want a fan, the solution is simple...do not upgrade your Cube. Going fanless is NOT SAFE.

For what it is worth, we have 10-12 Cubes since May 2002 that have failed components due to overheating...many of which we are still waiting on parts from Apple, they are hard to get.

Please, people...the laws of physics are at work here..."

Quote from SciFrog

"I will second that... please save yourself a lot of trouble and put a fan, even a variable speed fan at lowest speed."

Quote from CubeOwner

"To hammer this point in even further, think about the fact that even GigaDesigns, who touted their fanless upgrade cards, now provide optional fan kits at the specific request of OWC, because the risk is just too great to run any upgrade fanless, and Jamie Dresser, who, like myself, has installed hundreds of these upgrades, has seen the damage that can be done and now practically insists that a fan be installed when he performs any customer's CPU upgrade, including GigaDesigns.

You bought a Cube because it had a certain appeal to you. If that appeal was silence and silence alone, you need to leave the Cube alone and not try to modernize it with newer, faster upgrades.

You have no right to get angry with or expect anything from any upgrade manufacturer for not finding a magical way to keep your Cube running with their upgrade cards (which lord knows they don't make a fortune making, catering to such a miniscule market) indefinitely without taking proper cooling measures.

You can be mad at Apple for abandoning the machine you hold so dear and halting production at the 500Mhz mark - which spoiled you, as a Cube Owner, in effect. If they had continued production, they would have added a fan soon enough (the mounting chassis is already there... that wasn't a mistake, it was forward thinking).

If you want to retain the original appeal of the Cube, save your money and use your Cube as it was intended by Apple to be used. When it's stops working altogether or stops being practical for you to use to be productive, then consider whatever other options are available to you at that time.

If you use any of these upgrade cards without adequate cooling measures (including the Giga card, as far as I am concerned), then you assume the risk of having a meltdown and should suffer the consequences of your actions without recourse and without the "right" to complain about how it all went wrong.

Sorry this sounds so harsh, but this is a mantra I will continue repeating until I am blue in the face every time this subject comes up. I have seen the enemy, and the enemy is not PowerLogix, or Sonnet or GigaDesigns - it's fanless operation.

There is no fanless computing Bill of Rights. We are not entitled. We need to all start being more realistic about the limitations of our beloved Cubes and face the music... or at least face the "noise" of a quiet whir of a 5v fan.