Dominator
Adam L January 01, 1999Specifications
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Era | 1999 |
| Built | 2022-07-22 |
| Condition | Working |
| Name | Dominator |
| Case | CIT Hero |
| Motherboard | Aopen AX3S Pro |
| Chipset | Intel i815E |
| Socket | 370 |
| Processor | Intel Pentium 3 Coppermine |
| Speed | 600 MHz |
| RAM | 384 MB SDRAM |
| Storage | Seagate ST318452LC 18.2GB 15K SCSI drive |
| CD-ROM Drive | Lite-On LTN-486S 48X IDE |
| GPU | MSI GeForce 2 TI AGP |
| Expansion Slot | Sound Blater Live! (SB0100) |
| Expansion Slot | Adaptec SCSI Controller ASC-19160 |
| Expansion Slot | RealTek 8139D PCI Fast Ethernet |
Note: I also have a 1 GHz (Coppermine Celeron) for this machine but that is not faithful to the era.
The year is 1999, Unreal Tournament has just hit the shelves, the GPU market was a warzone and CPU clocks were ramping up fast.
This build is a top-spec machine that would've been very expensive in the late '90s
Just one year after BetterVoodoo the CPU clocks are more than double what we previously had available, that is, if you had the cash.
Update: 2022-11-21
I have a new case coming for this machine, it should be here in a few days, and then I can get it fully built out.
Not only that, I have sourced an Ultra3 (U160) 18GB hard drive, two 9.1GB drives, a controller card and appropriate cabling. At present, I'm currently negotiating with the owner for a fair price.
Update: 2022-12-17
GeForce 2 Ti has suffered a VRAM failure, I'm now attempting to locate a new one.
Update: 2023-01-02
I removed Windows 98 and did a fresh install of Windows 2000 instead.
A new Inno3D branded GeForce 2 Ti was installed, I replaced the stock fan and heatsink due to bearing failure.
I applied new thermal paste as well for good measure.
I'm also considering removing 128MB of the RAM to make it 256MB which would be far more realistic for the time when even top-end machines had 128MB.
With regards to hard drives, I haven't given up on a 15K RPM drive, I've taken delivery of 2 drives both of which are not working, one of them was brand new but both still refused to spin up properly.
Update 2023-01-22
Brand new Seagate ST318452LC installed, cloned the OS from the other drive, which now only has 3 hours runtime total, to save room within the case I've removed the two 9.1GB drivers as it was making cabling within the case (which isn't very big) a nightmare since they use wide 80-cable ribbons.
Whilst I had the side panel off, I also installed a Sound Blaster Live!, a RealTek 8139D PCI Fast Ethernet card and a Lite-On LTN-486S CD-ROM which is black to match the case and closer to the period than the temporary drive I used.
