New Build w/ $400 + Parts? Newbie here and I am just so stuck on this..

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ColinCC

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Dec 30, 2014
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Hello there everyone! My name is Colin and I'm new to TomsHardware, but glad to be here. 😀 I'm basically here to try and get some help from someone/anyone on picking some compatible parts to build a new machine. That is IF I have the means to do so. My budget is set and I probably wont be running into any extra $$ anytime soon due to my health and disability etc. etc. blah blah. I want to make this post as correct as I can by following the requested method provided by the OP's here.

So let me start off with why I want this upgrade/build. It's a long story, but I don't want to bore you to death so I'm going to make it very quick for ya. I had a decent custom system, Got Dragon Age Inquisition along with a new graphics card I was really excited about (For Christmas and my Birthday), broke my CPU (Long sad story), graphics card get's sent back to newegg and I get a new CyberpowerPC system for close to $400. Was that fast enough? hehe 😉

Ok, so I was going to put my crappy old Radeon HD 6850 into this new CyberpowerPC and take out the trash that came with it. Well it wouldn't fit. I also then noticed this new computer didn't have any dvd-rom/writer slots with it, or any room to add another hard drive or even upgrade anything else for that matter! Now Newegg will let me get a refund if I decide fast enough what I plan to do. The CyberpowerPC specs are can been seen by clicking on the word in this post. Also, let me go ahead and show you the specs I had in my custom computer before I go ahead and answer the questions provided by TomsHardware.

My Custom PC:
Windows 7 Home 64-bit
6GB of DDR2 ram 2x 2gb cards and 2x 1gb cards (I was going to go for an upgrade to 8GB until I thought about the graphics card and decided to get that, but as you know.. I had to send it back)
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 940 3Ghz (Socket AM2+) (Now broken and replaced with an old Phenom)
MB: MSI model: MS-7374 nForce 750a SLI
GPU: AMD Radeon HD 6850
Power Supply: Thermaltake TR2 RX-550
Case: It's a crappy Cyberpower case that looks like this. It only has those tiny vents in the front and all three fans are broken. The front one BARLEY has any room because the metal decks are in the way and would block any airflow anyway.
Note: After just recently tinkering around with this system, I can't get it to start for longer than 2 seconds all of a sudden. No matter what I try. So something could now be broken and not used if I build a new computer. Hopefully not the Power Supply though. The motherboard does get a solid orange light when plugged in. I don't think it's the old CPU I just put in because it worked before and it was loading widows before it started doing this.. just my luck I guess hah!

Alright so that's what I have. Oh, by the way.. let me show you what put this idea in my head.. go to this link I'm gonna post and look in the comments at the first set of computer parts the guy shows picked from pcpartpicker.com for just under $400! The price has changed since then, but they are always changing. Here is that link. Whatcha think?? Now I'm going to copy and paste the questions provided by this site and answer them for ya. The most important thing for me would be the graphics card I suppose. I would like to play new games at mid-level or so, but I can't be picky obviously. The reason I'm asking for other people to pick the parts for me are because I haven't messed with this stuff in over 10 years and I just don't understand all the specs to everything and why similar looking parts can be so different in price. Also, incompatibility with the parts would be hard for me to avoid. I've been reading, looking, researching and reading more, but now I'm just burnt out! :hot: lol Frankly I'd be nervous even building the thing, but I know there are guides on here to help me with that. Gee I feel like this is so much reading and work to put on you people. Just know that I thank you so much in advance for ANY comments, help or advice! Ok on to the form!!

IMPORTANT ADDED NOTE: After more researching, I realize this whole plan of mine might very well be unlikely. Although that sucks there is nothing I can do. Maybe in the worst case scenario, I could build a new computer and just have to use my old HD 6850 GPU most probably forever..it would be better than nothing. I don't know if it would even be compatible with modern motherboards though. Ok, just wanted to let you know I'm prepared for bad news.


Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: The closer the better

Budget Range: (e.g.: 300-400): $400 After Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Downloading and watching movies. listening to music, surfing and some good gaming (I usually have lots of small programs open when I'm not playing a game)

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: Mobo, CPU, GPU (Wishing), and RAM (Should be able to re-use my power supply if it will be compatible. That's the Thermaltake TR2 RX-550PP. Also the crap case if I have to but I'd need new fans)

Do you need to buy OS: OMG this just blew everything out of the water fore me!! 🙁 I tore the house apart looking for my OEM copy of windows 7 and found it. Now I just read the comment below! WoW.. So.. I guess Yes, I need another one if there is no way around it. I can't believe my windows was good for one install! Maaan, looks like I typed this whole thing and spent the day reading and researching for nothing. Unless there is some magical answer out there.. Gee
Please note that if you're using an OEM license of Windows, you will need a new one when buying a new motherboard.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com probably. pcpartpicker.com is helpful for finding rebates on things though.

Location: City, State/Region, Country - we need to know where these parts are being assembled and whether there are good store-only deals available: New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168 USA

Parts Preferences: by brand or type: Probably AMD because it's cheaper

Overclocking: Don't know anything about it

SLI or Crossfire: Not important to me, I just want ONE good GPU before I can dream of two.

Your Monitor Resolution: 1024x768

Additional Comments: Naww that will be it for now.. pretty bummed about the windows license thing so I'm thinking I'm screwed again.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I think I covered that up top and probably way too much lol... I got a new game. Ordered a balling graphics card. While waiting like a kid for candy, I checked out my CPU because the temps were way to high and... it was stuck to the heatsink and got ripped out. Then the worst thing was, instead of spending more time trying to separate the two, I tried to jam it back on and broke a bunch of pins..🙁

WELL I guess that about does it! I thought I'd take about 15 min. to type this up, but it's been literally about 3 hours!! So I have to get some sleep. Thanks again to anyone who takes the time to read this and offer any advice/help. You're the best!!

Colin
 
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About to go to work =P so will try to awnser best i can. From what ive seen your psu should be good for the 270x. From whats ive seen the 270vs the 280 not a huge gap. And yea I would get a new case what style of case do you like?

Here is updated build with a decent case even has 3 pre-installed fans vs the normal 2 so you should get some nice cooling. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/N3WvvK $380 after mail-in rebates.
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Do you have the 400 to upgrade the one from newegg or would that come from sending it back?
Edit: If you have the 400 now I would personaly try to send the new pc back to newegg to get the 400 back that you spent on it. And get a total of an 800 dollar budget.
 
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Boy do I wish it were that way, but naww, the CyberPC one goes back and that's where the $400 comes in. I was hoping that with some parts from the older pc would work somehow, but I don't think I have enough good parts. So I'm not really sure what to do at this point :/ Thanks for your quick reply bud! I appreciate it. I gotta get some sleep or tomorrow is going to be tough! I'll be back soon though.

Colin

 
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If you could send the pc back and get total of 800 budget id probably go with something like this http://pcpartpicker.com/p/F29ZjX Its 702 after mail in rebates and throw in 80-90 for windows 7 and your jst shy of 800.

If you only have a budget of 400 though maybe this?
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kqpY8d its 390 after mail in rebates however you still need an os There is a free os called linux but dont know if it can runs any games? Otherwise its 80-90 for windows 7 64bit

Not to be rude but going to put this in bold to make sure you see it and read it. Is the harddrive from the old pc still good? you should be able to put that into the build and it should work you will just need to uninstall some drivers on it and then you have a hdd and an os would save you enough to get a better graphics card or cpu
 
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WoW your smart! :) I should be sleeping, but I had to respond one more time lol. So the bottom one does look doable! BECAUSE you're right about using the old Hard Drive.. It DOES work and HAS Windows 7 on it! It's only like 300GB, but I'll make do. So with the bottom plan, I'd keep my case and add some fans right? I'm not sure if I could fit one in the front unless it's really thin. Also, I'd need a new 88mm one for the side. Oh wait, I see you added the new option with my working HD. How sweet is the GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card these days? Not that it matters much, it's way better than what I got!
Ok leaving ya with 2 more questions... if I got this stuff and put it together with my old HD, it should start up fine and THEN I put on the new drivers, right? Too bad I can't format the drive, it's had a million things installed and uninstalled over the years. If this machine would work for a little bit I could actually do that. Ok and 2nd question is... I forgot lol. Just hoping I could put it together ok. Alright I GOTTA sleep. I'm gonna check back in the AM. I think you are saving me from failure buddy. Thanks so much!!
 
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Not sure what the exact case you have is if you could give me a model/serial number i could figure out which fans you would need exactly. As for the gtx660 from what im seeing with reviews its very mixed some say its 10-20% faster than the 6850 others say it is 60% faster my best advice hold off getting the gpu and try your hd6450 and see how well it works in the games you want to play if you dont like the fps/settings then id say try a new gpu. You said the 6850 doesnt fit your case right? if it doesnt maybe see if you got enough wiggle room for a case. heres an updated build with the case while i was at it found some much much better ram for less than 10 dollars more so new total after mail in-rebates is $381 http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7xbQMp but that has a gpu and since youd probably want to try and save some money and hold off on buying the gpu untill you try your 6850 it would end up being $241 without the gpu http://pcpartpicker.com/p/szFnMp. I left in the extra 120mm fans cause the case only comes with one fan so the extra 2 will keep everything nice and cool and help it last longer.
 
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Alrighty, I gotta be working in ten min. but I wanted to throw in a quick reply. The 6850 doesn't fit in the new case that the new computer came in at all. That's ok because that computer is going back though. I have had the 6850 for years now and it fits fine in the case I have, but I was getting sick of having to set all the newer games on the lowest quality. Other than that it isn't a horrible card or anything. I just worry about the fan situation which you'll see if I can find that model number on my case after work.

BTW I'm using http://www.hwcompare.com to compare these cards and it shows some major differences. Like it's showing that the GTX 660 is a lot (more or less 92%) more effective at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce GTX 750 Ti etc. etc. But the prices of the cards aren't THAT big a of a difference. I'm not saying I trust this site though. Just curious. I gotta run, but do you think that my power supply I posted above will work with this stuff you're showing me? Like have the right connectors and stuff? Also, with the case your talking about, would it really hold those 2 extra 120mm fans? That's cool. Ok sorry about all the questions. I've just been getting REALLY bad luck with PC's and ordering stuff lately. I even ordered fans I couldn't use a month ago hah. Thanks again so much! I'll try to get that case model
 
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Ok sorry for the late response woke up late =P and been digging around on the internet from what ive seen in videos and forums the 750ti is biting at the 660s heals in modern games the gtx750ti averages 20-30 fps less.However ive found that the r9270x is equal to the gtx660 the r9270x is about 2-3fps faster however many post say t runs hotter than the gtx660 found both cards for $160 on newegg with $20 dollar mail inrebates I myself would more than likley go with the 270x cause of mantle and also it is 2-3 years newer.

gtx660 build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gbq2ZL

r9270x build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7BwfRB
 
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Still working, but I wanted to throw in a quick question. After looking at the below link comparing the gtx with the hd6850, do you really think it will make a difference worth making the upgrade?
http://www.hwcompare.com/13350/geforce-gtx-660-vs-radeon-hd-6850/

Who knows. when all is said and done maybe I could get a better card, depending on what the deals are tomorrow because that's the day I'll be ordering everything... well as long as the power supply I have is compatable. Ok be back after work! Thanks as usual!!
 
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Did some more digging and with modern games between the gtx660 and the hd6850 the gtx got about 5-10 fps more on same games with the same settings. Both however only stayed in mid 30-40 fps sometimes droping down to 10-15fps and both never broke 50 fps though except on main menus which is useless. However on those same games on same settings the r9270x broke the line with an averag of 70-80 fps minimum of 55fps and maximum of 102fps. In my opion 660 vs hd6850 tie and not worth upgrade but 660 vs hd6850 vs the r9270x the r9270x wins by a mile especially considering they r same price.
 
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Ok so buying a gtx660 would be pointless when I've been using a hd6850. Thanks for checking that out. I was just starting to learn about Frame Rates and what you are saying is right on, what I got was.. 30-40 fps. So 70-80 fps with the r9270x seems like a lot more. I was also just learning about Antiailiasing (Spelt wrong) and turning that option on and raising it. But I'm not sure what is more important for making the game look better.. Anyway, do you think an upgrade from my hd6850 to the r9270x would be worth it for me? On that nice site I told you I compare cards with, makes the Radeon r9 270x sound a lot better. I was originally getting a Radeon R9 280. I even had it in my hands, but that's not gonna happen now. It didn't seem to blow the r9270x out of the water by much anyway.

My Power Supply (Thermaltake TR2 RX-550) should work with all this stuff, right?
I can't find a damn model number or anything on my case🙁 All I can tell you is that it has a door that swings open and says Cyberpower Gaming Development on it. It has very small vents in the front and that's it for vents.. none on the top or side. There is a spot on the back for a 120mm fan to suck air out, a spot on the side panel for an 80 or 88 (I forget the size) fan to bring in air and a spot in the front behind those small vents I was telling you about for a 120mm fan to bring in air. The only thing that worries me is that the front fan area is a tight fit and there is metal plate right behind it just like in the front of this case. Keep in mind, my case is not like this one, I'm just talking about where the front fan is. I don't even think my case came with a front fan to begin with.

Soo, I'm kinda thinking that your build http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7BwfRB looks good for $346 after rebates. Of course that is as long as my power supply has everything it needs. And we'd have to add a 80mm fan in there if I used my case. But at these prices I could almost get a new case and still be under $400. Let me know what ya think!
Your THE man!
 
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Looks like I could get that build and add in a case as well and still be under the $400 mark.. OR no case and maybe add a Hard drive so I don't have to only use my 300gb one with Windows 7 on it..

I CAN'T believe I found my copy of windows and I'm hearing that I couldn't install it to a new build. That's nuts. My brother had it from borrowing it years ago, so it looks like he used it to install it on his computer after I installed it on mine. But maybe it didn't work for him, I can't remember, but I thought it did. Ok sorry, I'll leave ya alone now 😉
 
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About to go to work =P so will try to awnser best i can. From what ive seen your psu should be good for the 270x. From whats ive seen the 270vs the 280 not a huge gap. And yea I would get a new case what style of case do you like?

Here is updated build with a decent case even has 3 pre-installed fans vs the normal 2 so you should get some nice cooling. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/N3WvvK $380 after mail-in rebates.
 
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Sweet, that case you added would be fine with me. I'm not too picky about them. :) It comes with 3 fans?? wow I can't even see em. I suppose the cpu comes with thermal paste as well. And yeah ask that buddy about the OEM thing, cause I'd love to format and do a fresh install. Looks like we've pretty much come up with a good build! Well YOU did really lol. I might have a couple more easy questions for ya later after I grind the gears in my head. Simple stuff like what drivers would I uninstall on my drive and maybe advice on the best place for instructions on how to do that build, but I think I'll figure it out just fine😛 Ok get to work, and thanks of course! 😉
 
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Yes the cpu's come with thermal paste already on. Got in touch with my friend he tried to install it but it didnt work so he just reused the old hard drive. You said your hard drive was 320gb most modern games take about 20gb and os 20-30gb so you should have decent room for like 5-6 games and os if you want more games you could always look at external hard drives, or a bigger hard drive and a new os if you ever got the money. As for the acutal build of the pc its fairly simple. Heres a video to help you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bUghCx9iso . As for uninstalling drivers go to start in bottom left and in little search box type Device Manager and press enter. This should open a window with a list of items. You should see one called display adapters youll want to click that. Should bring a little list under it with the video card and you right click it and unistall then shutdown pc and unplug it from the power outlet. remove harddrive and put into new.
 
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Sweet man! This all sounds good, I'm almost confident enough to order this stuff. I actually do have two full 1TB external hard drives and that's where a tun of games, movies, music etc. are stored. I've had a few externals break very easy though and for no reason at all, so I fear that any day now one of them might stop working. Oh well, nothing I can do about that. The point I'm trying to make is that the 320GB HD will be fine. I wont be able to format it to make it fresh unfortunately, but at least I wont have to install all my favorite programs again. :) That's the glass half full point of view hehe.

As far as your friends experience, that tells me I should NOT risk being able to install my windows. It also tells me that even though if you move your old hard drive with windows on it to a new computer, windows doesn't stop working or something horrible like that. The only thing I'm unsure of is if I can't fix my old computer, then I wont be able to access the hard drive to uninstall the drivers. I assume I could put it in the new computer, log on using the on board video output, uninstall the driver, then go from there. Does that sound right to you? Are there not any other drivers or things I should uninstall from the control panel's install/uninstall programs area? Like any drivers from my old motherboard etc.?

Alrighty, two more easy questions. (For you anyway lol)
1. I found the closest PSU to mine on the pcpartpicker site and added it to the build to see if it would show any compatibility problems and it did not. The PSU I found was The Thermaltake TR2 500W ATX and the actual one I HAVE is The Thermaltake TR2 RX-550. So I guess my question is, are they basically the same thing? Or if one of them is good then the other is good as well? If so that's great... UNLESS my power supply is what's wrong with my old computer. (THAT is how my luck has been) But I don't think it is bad because it shows a constant orange light on the MB.

2. I saw on some other builds that there was a notice that you have to upgrade BIOS or something?? But I don't see that notice anywhere on our build, so I'm sure I don't have to worry about that. Just thought I'd bring it up.

Alright, just in case anyone else can use this thread for help or any other reason I'm gonna post our final build link again so it's close to the bottom... and that build we'll be going with is more than likely the http://pcpartpicker.com/p/N3WvvK Tadaaa!! lol And the current total price after rebates is $375. Not bad at all for the price. Also quite a good upgrade from what I have had, as far as I can tell.

Ok that's about it for this post, and Happy New Years by the way!!! And thanks for that youtube link for building help. Just out of curiosity where are ya from and how old are ya? You don't have to answer of course. I'm in the USA in Florida. As I post this it is 5 min. till 1am. And I just turned 32 years old. It's kinda freaking me out lol. I used to know most of what you know a little over 10 years ago, but if you don't keep up with it, technology fly's by fast! I have tomorrow off so as long as I'm confident enough I'll probably order that stuff, pretty excited! I gotta get this new CyberPowerPC I'm using now back asap though. Well have a good night, morning or afternoon wherever you are! ttys bud.

Colin


 
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Im in florida as well on the upper panhandle aged 23 =P. But back to subject yea you should be able to just pop the hard drive into new pc and then uninstall the drivers. Yes the psu will work 100%. Yes Most people like to update the bios for the best performance. Since it is an asus motherboard you go to this link: http://www.service.asus.com/#!downloads/c1wax and in the box type in the model which is M5A78L-M LX PLUS then click search should take you to another page with that model number in blue click that. will take you to a new page where you choose your os and then will open a little list click the one that says BIOS and then click the first one on that list which should be Version 1701. Or you can always just use the disk that came with the motherboard just sometimes the disc can be outdated by 2-3 bios updates.
 
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Alright! Everything sounds great! I'm Central FL on the east coast btw in case you were curious :) I should totally be in bed right now, but I wanted to do a check real quick because I'm gonna order this stuff tomorrow afternoon. Oh NO!! Just did the check this second! You're not going to believe this.. unfortunately I've found some bad problems with our build 🙁 (Told ya my luck was bad lately!)

-That case (Which I kinda fell in love with btw, sick blue lights, extra fan on the top and all).. out of stock!
-That great RAM you were surprised to find at that price.. out of stock!
-The graphics card I was set on.. out of stock!
-Motherboard.. out of stock! (However it's available from some other stores for like $2 more)

That's four out of 5 items!! Hopefully I get this computer back in time for a full refund so I don't have to buy everything from newegg. I think I'll be able to get the refund though. Maaan I don't want to downgrade stuff now!! That price was perfect too. The deal is, I have $350 in credit from my father (from this computers return) and anything over I have to pay for. Unfortunately 90% of my money has to go to medication because I have problems (long story). So I figured I'd be able to spend $50 or so of my own money.. thus bringing me to the $400 total. Maybe I could save like $80.. and bring it to $430 I dunno... I'm glad I noticed this now rather than tomorrow afternoon when I called my father over to order this together. Well it's almost 3:30am I gotta pass out. What a bummer though. Don't feel bad or anything please, I don't blame you.. it's not your fault. The prices read what they read. Things change quick as hell I guess.

Colin
 
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Ok here we are http://pcpartpicker.com/p/44nVZL it is now $407 before rebates and $379 so a little more money since not as good sales anymore. With the cpu it is from amazon shipping should be free though but i kept everything else from newegg witht he cpu you could also get it from newegg but it is $10 more so you be looking at $417 before rebate and $389 after.

Here is the cheaper one: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/44nVZL $379 after rebates
Here is the one all from same store: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nmgfRB $389 after rebates.

I would not recommened waiting to long or these might go out of stock or the sales might end.
 
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Wow you never cease to amaze me! Thanks for putting so much effort into this for me man!! I slept all day today and woke up feeling like sh*t! But ready to order before this day ends because the deals are dropping like flies.
I've checked out the first new option you gave http://pcpartpicker.com/p/44nVZL for $379 and it looks like just since you've posted it, it's now $439 after rebates! ($60 is a huge jump) and the original one we were gonna go with (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/N3WvvK) is now $431.53.. a few dollars cheaper, AND has the motherboard listed in stock from SuperBiiz where as on the new build shows it listed through newegg whom does NOT have it in stock. Also in BOTH builds the memory AND graphics card are out of stock in newegg 🙁 On a good note.. the case IS in stock through amazon. Confusing stuff huh? If you read it slowly it makes sense I promise lol.

As for the bottom link (build) with everything being from the same store.. is now listed as $449.92 after rebates! Plus we know newegg does not have the GPU, mobo, or the memory in stock🙁 When you click on the item in pcpartpicker as if you are buying it, that's when it shows things in or out of stock. So pcpartpicker doesn't show that.

What a mess huh? I gotta eat with the family and run to the store. I'll be back to sort through this stuff in a bit. Hopefully everything can be found in stock and kept under $400 again... $420 or $430 at MAX. Pulling off that much $ will be tough. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Things shouldn't be so damned difficult!!

AS ALWAYS THANKS THANKS THANKS brother!
 
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