Buying a PC
You've finally decided to buy a PC. Now, if you're still quite new at this, you'll be surprised at how many options are available to you. Just take a look at all those magazines, newspapers and websites covering PCs and information technology in general. Seems like every month there's a new product that will make your PC faster, better, easier: mew processors, graphics cards, hard drives and so on. What to buy, what to choose? Well, let this article be your guide and let's take it one step at a time.Like everything else in life, buying a PC is not as simple as it seems. That's why so many newspaper, magazines and websites publish those 'buyer's guide' articles. But unless you're a geek or a tech nut, those articles might as well be written in alien-speak for all you care. Every now and then, people asked me what kind of PC they should buy. My answer is always the same: What do you want to do with your PC? That should be the first question you ask to yourself. I think all of us agree, that there's no point in having the most expensive and fastest PC on earth if doesn't' fit our needs. But then again, buying the cheapest one you can find isn't a good solution either. What we all want is a PC that will fit the bill (and hopefully doesn't break your wallet in the process), one that won't slow to a crawl when your working on that all-important assignment / paper or playing with your friends.
Where do we start?
OK, come and take a second look through those ads you found. You'll notice that some of them offer a whole package - a complete PC - while others let you add options and accessories. Some stores even offer custom built ones. So basically, when buying a PC, you could either buy:* a whole package (with or without options/accessories)
* a custom or built to order package
* and for those who are more technology inclined than the rest of us, buying the parts and doing it by yourself.
If you're already quite familiar with a PC and its internal components, you'll probably more inclined to choose the third option. So this guide is not really necessary for you (but keep on reading anyway, you might learn something new). Let's talk about the first two options. For those of you who (really) don't know what the difference between a nut, a bolt and a screw is (no pun intended), the first option is probably your best (and only) choice. Take a look at the choices, pick one that suits your need and still inside your budget. If you're buying (and using) a PC for the first time, choose a company or store that offers 24 / 7 support (it would be better if it was on site support) or at least some basic training on how to use a PC. Oh yes, while they are unwrapping your new PC, there's no harm in checking out the manual that came with it. I know, reading those one inch thick manual can be a major drag, but (surprise) most of the stuff you'll ever need about your PC is there, and the info is actually quite useful. Of course, having a tech-inclined friend on hand is also a plus, but not everyone has a neighborhood friendly tech.
The second option is suitable for those of you who are already quite familiar with a PC. Basically, this means you already know what to do with a mouse and keyboard, you can handle your way around Windows, or you can even tell someone the difference between a memory (RAM) and a hard drive. Buying a custom built-to-order PC means that you could tailor it to fit your needs. Maybe get a bigger hard drive for those MP3s and videos or more RAM and faster processor. Some of you may not need the 24 / 7 support and basic training, but if you can have it for free, why not? It's nice to know you can always count on someone (even if it's only through the phone) to tell you what to do when you something went wrong. When push comes to shove, you could always ask them to come by and look at what's wrong with your PC.
What to buy
Well, while we've narrowed down what kind of option you have on how to buy a PC, we really haven't covered what kind of PC you want to buy yet. Don't worry, we'll get around to that. But first let's take a look at the parts of a PC. If we know the parts and what they do, we could decide which part will better fit our needsJust by looking at a PC, you'll probably notice that it is actually made up of several parts. Usually, there's a monitor where you'll see what the PC is doing (or what you told it to do), a mouse and keyboard that you use to tell the PC what you want it to do and a central processing unit (CPU). For the technologically-challenged, it's usually that big box with the wires and holes in it.
The monitor is the one with the screen, just like your TV. The keyboard looks just like a typewriter and you use much in the same way. The mouse, usually with two buttons on it is used to control the pointer. By moving the mouse, you move the pointer around the screen. If you want to select something, you click or press the left mouse button. By far, the most important part of any PC is the CPU, where the real action is. Inside it, you'll find the processor, memory (RAM), hard drive, graphics card, motherboard, CD / DVD-ROM and so on. These components are what make a PC do what they do best. But we'll get into that later. Let's talk about the others first.
Monitors
Your PC monitor is actually quite similar to your TV set. It displays images sent from the CPU and displays them to you. So, banging on your monitor isn't going to fix that crash you just had on your brand new PC (or so will banging on your CPU - it will probably do more harm than good). PC monitors come in several sizes, usually ranging from 15' to 21' monitors. Now, here's where you have to be careful, a 21' monitor doesn't mean you'll be getting a 21' screen. Why? Because that number is not for the screen, rather for the whole monitor. The screen is actually smaller than that, because you have a 'border' between the outer sides of the monitor and screen. Take at least 2' of that number and you'll get what's usually called 'viewable area' - the screen. Just remember that the screen is the more important one, since this is the part of the monitor that displays the images.Another monitor measurement is dot pitch. This number indicates the physical density of your screen. This might a quite difficult concept for some of you, but the following example is probably the easiest to understand. Try looking closely at your TV or PC monitor. I mean, really close to the screen. You'll notice that the screen is actually made up of lots of tiny dots or alternating lines with a combination of colors (red, green and blue). Dot pitch literally means how big the dots / lines used within a given area of the screen (usually per square inch). A lower number means the dots are smaller so there are more dots on your monitor's screen. You'll get a sharper image on monitors with a low dot pitch number - these will be quite useful to you if you're going to use the PC to edit pictures and images.
PC monitors also uses what we call 'resolution'. Don't confuse this with the screen. Basically, resolution is a measure of how much pixels your monitor can display, indifferent to screen size. A typical 17' monitor (15' viewable screen) can support several resolutions. A higher resolutions means there are more pixels displayed on the screen and you'll get a larger workspace or desktop. Typically, resolution range from 640 x 480 pixels to 1600 x 1200 pixels. Now, I can understand if some of you still think this is confusing. Maybe this example would help. What you have to remember is that a displayed image (such as the icons in your Windows workspace / desktop) will stay in its original resolution, despite the resolution your monitor supports. So, a 320 x 240 pixels image will take up 1/4 of your physical screen on a screen resolution of 640 x 480 pixels and roughly 1/25 on a screen resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels. The icons and text on your PC is designed for a fixed resolution, so using a too high resolution will make the icons and text difficult to read and see. For most people, a 17' monitor using a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels is good enough. If you need more screen space, you could up the resolution at the cost of legibility. Generally, it's better to use a bigger monitor if you're planning to use a much higher resolution (19' monitors for 1280 x 1024 pixels, 21' monitors for 1600 x 1200 pixels).
There's also something called the refresh rate. Usually, refresh rate range from 45 to 120 Hz. Refresh rate is a measure of how many times the monitor draws the entire screen per second. The higher the number, the better because higher refresh rates mean less screen flickering - an artifact you can clearly see when looking at a monitor through a video camera. But more importantly, a higher refresh rate will be easier on your eyes, particularly useful if you’re planning to use a PC for extended periods of time (more than two hours).
Generally, PC monitors supports several refresh rates, this means they'll change with the resolution. A higher resolution uses a lower refresh rate. The sweet spot for monitors seems to be 1024 x 758 pixels, where refresh rate is usually at its highest. As a general rule of thumb, a refresh rate of 75 Hz is adequate, although some would argue that this figure should be 85 Hz. So if you're quite satisfied with a refresh rate of 75 Hz, you could probably up the resolution to 1280 x 1024 pixels. A better solution (albeit more expensive) is to get a bigger monitor that supports a higher refresh rate and resolution.
Some pointers when choosing a monitor
* for general usage, a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels is enough. If you have special needs, such as image / video editing or 3d modeling / animation, choose one that at least supports 1280 x 1024 resolution. Higher is better.
* choose a monitor with at least 75 or 85 Hz on your resolution of choice. Just remember that when you're using a higher resolution, images will look best on a monitor that's physically bigger.
* those with special needs will probably benefit from monitors with a lower dot pitch number since they offer a sharper image.
Nowadays, there are several types of monitor you could choose: CRTs (Cathode Ray Tube) or LCDs (Liquid Crystal Display). Until recently, LCD was only used in portable / notebook PCs but now they've become more affordable for desktop users. The primary difference between a CRT and LCD monitor is size (or bulk if you prefer), power consumption and price. Generally, an LCD monitor will (still) cost more than their CRT counterpart. This is understandable since they are lighter, take up less space and consume less power. So, it those things are important to you and your budget allows it, consider getting one.
The monitors’ measurements we talked about generally also apply to LCDs, but there are some differences because LCDs work differently. CRTs draws the screen by manipulating electrons in their tube (remember the Tube in CRT?), while LCDs uses lots of small crystals (for the dots, remember?). When LCDs draw the screen, it will only change the relevant crystals and not the whole screen like CRTs. So when evaluating LCD, look for something that's called pixel response time: a lower number means the LCD crystals take less time to refresh. This means images are displayed quicker. The lower the number, the better.
Because of the way LCDs are made, they work better in certain resolutions. Since LCDs use lots of small crystals for the screen, displaying an image above or below than number of crystals means the LCDs must rescale the image. This concept is what we call 'native resolution'. A 15' LCD usually has a native resolution of 1024 x 768, while bigger LCDs (17', 18', or 19' LCD s) support a native resolution of 1280 x 1024 or higher.
Some other factors you may want to consider are brightness, contrast and color. Lower priced LCDs usually has lower quality screens and may display pictures and images poorly although they're still suitable for text. Check for gradual color or contrast changes between the center and the outer area of the screen. Needless to say, if you're going to use your PC for digital imaging and photo editing, any color or brightness deviation is not acceptable. Go with higher quality LCDs or pick a CRT monitor.
Some of you may think LCDs are the better solution as monitor go. Well, that's not entirely true. There is something you must know if you're thinking about using LCDs - dead pixels. A dead pixel is what happens when a crystal in a particular pixel (or area if you're really unlucky) has stopped functioning and can't change its color. You can spot dead pixels quite easily by opening an image with one color (black or white or blue) and look closely at the screen to find a pixel or pixels that displays the wrong color. As LCDs got bigger, so does the possibility of dead pixels in your screen.
Another problem concerning LCDs is 'ghosting'. Ghosting is an artifact that's quite apparent on LCD s with slow pixel response time. It happens when the image shown on screen changes quickly or frequently. What happens is the crystals on your LCD are slow to react to this change. So, you will still see an imprint or shadow on these pixels (hence the term ghost) of the previous image while the screen is already displaying the next / current image.
If you're thinking about using an LCD, you'll need to pay special attention to dead pixels and pixel response time. Check with your vendor to find out what their policy is concerning dead pixels. Some vendors will tolerate a moderate number of dead pixels, while others will tolerate a small (lower is better) number.
Mouse and keyboard
Like monitors, these two PC peripherals haven't changed that much. The keyboard is used much like your grandfather's typewriter, to send text, whether to be written as a document or as an order to the CPU telling it to do something. The mouse functions as a pointer, so you can select things and manipulate them. If you're new to PCs, be sure to check the tutorial and manual that came with your PC and copy of Windows. They will show you what functions you can call and use with the mouse and keyboard.The significant changes concerning the mouse are the use of optical sensors (instead of the old ball tracking sensors) and cordless (radio) communications. With optical sensors, you don't need to clean the sensors of your mouse periodically, although you still have to clean the underside of your mouse and the surface you use the mouse on. As for cordless mouse (and keyboard), I personally don't like them that much. Sure, you won't get those cables tangled up and you'll be able to keep your desk clean and tidy. But you still have to change batteries every now and then, and the mouse will be a little heavier because of the batteries. In the end, if you really want that cordless freedom, you can have it - it's just not free.
Almost all mouse now comes with a scroll button. While they're not an essential feature, they do make your life easier. Instead of moving the slider on the right or pressing the arrow buttons, you could scroll the mouse wheel. There are even some that provides horizontal scrolling as well. In general, use an optical cordless mouse with at least a vertical scroll wheel since they don't need much maintenance, easy to use and is very easy on your hands.
Several keyboards come with additional buttons, allowing you to set the volume level, call up applications or even turn off the computer. But the most important thing for a keyboard is ergonomics and fine tactile feedback. Most keyboards are ergonomically design these days, but not all of them provide good tactile feedback. When you press a button on a keyboard, it shouldn't take much more than a light tap. A small indent on the 'F' and 'J' keys can also help you place your hands correctly when typing without looking at the keyboard. Pay attention to these features since they will allow you to use your keyboard better.
CPU
Okay, we're finally here. Your CPU houses the processor(s), memory, motherboard, graphics card, sound card, network card, hard drive(s) and CD/DVD-ROM. Quite a lot, huh? This is where the important parts of a PC does what it does best - computes and runs the task you tell it to do (with the mouse and keyboard) and then shows it on the screen (on your monitor). When you power up your PC (this process is called booting up), all these components start to work. The processor will retrieve the operating system from your hard drive and loads it in memory. It will take some time for the operating system to be fully loaded and ready for your commands. When it's done, you'll be able to issue commands to it, either through a command prompt (remember DOS?) or a graphical user interface (usually Windows). It sends what to display (the command prompt or the Windows desktop) through the graphics card to the monitor. The same thing happens with sound, only the PC sends it through the sound card to your speakers. All these components are connected (or integrated) through the motherboard. That's easy enough, wasn't it?To do all those neat tasks with your PC, you'll need applications - the operating system is just an environment. Just a manager really, one that provides you tools to manage your documents and applications. Operating system and applications are usually already preinstalled if you bought your PC as a package. If you're doing (building) it yourself, you will have to get your own copy.
Now, let's break it down into a list, so we could see it better. A CPU houses:
* processor to compute and run tasks
* hard drive to store documents, files, operating system and applications
* memory to load the operating system and the needed data for computation and tasks
* graphics card to display the screen in your monitor
* sound card to output sounds and music
* motherboard to connect all these components
Now, let's take a closer look at them. The processor is the one that computes and runs task (either from the operating system or application), so to be able to run an application faster, naturally you'll need a faster processor. Of course, it the processor is faster, you'll probably need to feed it more data and this means more memory. Remember, data is not stored in memory (it's only loaded there for processing), they are actually stored on your hard drive. If you have lots of documents and files and their size is quite large, you'll probably need a bigger one. Size isn't everything though, since you'll not only need a bigger hard drive, but also a faster one. If you're a gamer or planning to use your PC for games, you'll notice that games are now more graphically rich than ever - they use lots of graphical effects and displays everything in 3D, which means you need a 3D graphics accelerator (that also doubles as a graphics card) to be able to display them. OK, this is starting to get complicated, so let's break it down into a list (again).
Components in the CPU that will make a PC run better/faster:
* faster processor to compute and run tasks faster
* more memory to load the operating system and larger data
* graphics card / 3D accelerator to display images and play games
* bigger, faster hard drive to store large documents, files and to load operating system and applications faster
So, if we want the PC to run tasks and applications faster, we only need a faster processor and more memory. If we want operating system, applications, documents and files to be loaded faster, we just need a faster hard drive. Also, we only need a graphics card with a 3D accelerator built in if we want to play games. Using this information, we can choose which part of the PC we want to invest more to suit our needs.
Matching what you need and what to buy
Basically, there are three things we want to do with our PC: work, play (games) and entertainment (multimedia). Notice that we've separated games and multimedia. Games are usually interactive, which means you're required to do something (to interact with the software). Multimedia are usually passive, like listening to music or watching a movie. Playing games and watching a movie usually occupies much of our attention. While we're doing them, we're not doing anything else. Listening to music (or a television/video broadcast) can be done while working or doing something else. As for work, we usually have some idea how much and how heavy our work is. Writing a word processing document and tinkering with a spreadsheet while browsing the Internet and listening to music might sound heavy, but it's still a lot 'lighter' on the processor and memory than doing 3D animation work or non-linear video editing for example.|
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Minimum |
Recommended |
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Call of Duty |
3D Hardware Accelerator Card required Pentium® III 600/700 MHz or Athlon® 600/700 MHz processor 128MB of RAM 8x CD-ROM drive 1.4GB of uncompressed free hard disk space 16-bit sound card mouse, keyboard |
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RealPlayer 10 |
350 MHz Intel Pentium II processor or
equivalent 64/128 MB RAM 52 MB available disk space 28.8Kbps modem 16-bit sound card 65,000-color video display card set to display at 800x600 (video) |
500MHz Intel Pentium III processor or greater 128MB
of RAM High-speed Internet connection (audio/video) Full Duplex sound card 65,000-color video display card set to display at 800x600 or higher (video) CD writer (for CD writing features) 700+ MB available disk space for writing Media and MP3 CDs (not required for audio CDs) DVD player and DVD playback software (for DVD playback) |
|
WinDVD 4 |
Intel Celeron 400 MHz 64 MB RAM Video card with 24-bit resolution capability and DirectX support Windows compatible sound card A DVD-ROM drive 10 MB of hard disc space |
Intel Pentium III 700 MHz 128 MB RAM Video card with 24-bit resolution capability and DirectX support Windows compatible sound card A DVD-ROM drive 10 MB of hard disc space |
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OpenOffice 1.3 |
Pentium compatible PC 64 MB RAM 250 MB available hard disk space 800x600 resolution or higher, at least 256 colors |
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The easiest way to determine what components you have to buy is matching them with the recommended requirements for the applications / games you want. Most operating systems and applications requirements today have already been surpassed by your basic PC package. So, it is quite enough for office work (word processing / spreadsheet), playing multimedia files (video / music) and browsing the Internet. Now, if we do more 'heavy' work, just choose a faster processor and more memory that fits that application requirements. As a general guideline, a basic PC package with a 2.4 GHz processor (or equivalent) and 512 MB memory is more than enough for Windows XP, office work and multimedia applications. Add a good 3D accelerator / graphics card to that package if you want to play games. For the hard drive, it's a good idea to choose at least a 7.200 rpm hard drive, with capacity starting from 80 GBs to 200 GBs.
Basic PC package
* 2.4 GHz (or equivalent) processor - or basically the cheapest one you can find.
* 512 MB RAM (memory) - Windows XP is really more comfortable with this much RAM, any more wouldn't do much good.
* 80 GBs 7200 rpm hard drive - high performance with enough capacity for your files. You could choose a larger version if you want to.
* graphics card / 3D accelerator for games.
How fast do you need it?
The next thing we have to examine is how much faster do we need the PC to be? Well, since most applications already run fast enough on a basic PC package, what do we need a faster PC for? The answer is quite simple: you (probably) only need a faster PC if you're going to work with very heavy applications or playing games. Applications are easy, just match the processor and memory to the recommended requirements like before. As for games, it's a little bit complicated.You see, games are actually a very 'special' kind of application. Just like any other application, it will run faster on a faster processor and would benefit from more memory. But games also require a 3D accelerator / graphics card, since they run a special kind of program on them. So, you could say games are actually two applications running at the same time, but on different components. The graphics card (or chip in this respect) acts like a processor, although a very limited one. The faster the graphics card, the faster the images are displayed and the more fluid and smooth the animation will be. If the graphics card can't display the images fast enough, the animation seems to 'stutter' or 'lag', which could be very distracting (and possibly make the game not that 'interactive' anymore). The rate which the graphics card can display images are called 'frame rate per second' or 'fps' for short (don't confuse this with First Person Shooters). Generally, you want this to be above 30 fps at all times. Anything less, you'll start noticing stutter and lag. More is preferable, but most people couldn't tell much difference above 60 fps.
Of course, there's more to it than just the fps. Just like your desktop, games can run on different resolutions. Surprise-surprise, the resolution a games runs will have an impact on how heavy the application is to the graphics card. The higher the resolution, the heavier it gets. Now, remember what we talked before about monitors and resolutions? Since your monitor could only support so much resolution, it's best to choose a graphics card that works best at a resolution you’re comfortable with - usually the same resolution as your desktop. We've already said that for the most part, a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels has the best mix of refresh rate and workspace area. So, choose a graphics card that will provide at least 30 fps minimum on that resolution. If you're using a bigger monitor or a higher resolution, maybe you should consider getting a faster graphics card.
Other reasons for choosing a faster, more powerful graphics card are graphical features. Today's graphics card is a whole lot faster, more powerful and more capable than what they were five years ago. Features like full screen anti aliasing (FSAA) and anisotropic filtering are the norm for every graphics card today. While we won't discuss them in full in this article (it would take a whole article just to cover the basics of how these features work), basically these features will improve the images' visual quality, but they do come with a performance impact / penalty. That's why only the fastest graphics card can support these features in today's games without dropping to much frame rate (remember, fps?).
If you use your PC to play games, then you want a balance between the processor and graphics card. Since games runs both on a processor and a graphics card, there's no use of choosing a fast graphics card and pairing it with a slow processor or vice versa. What we need is the best combination of the two. A balanced mix, if you will. This is what makes it so complicated. There's no other way to find which processor works best with which graphics card without testing it first. Luckily, we can find such information readily available through review magazines and websites. If you looked through them, you'll find that the fastest graphics cards need the fastest processor to fully utilize their potential. Now, if money is not a problem to you, you could choose this route, but most of us are not that lucky.
To find a balanced combination of graphics card and processor you need to be aware of several things:
* pick the resolution you are going to use for games and applications. For most people, 1024 x 768 pixels on a 17' monitors seems to be a sweet spot, so we're going to use this a reference point. Remember, you still can choose another resolution, this is just a reference point.
* ask yourselves whether or not you're going to need features such FSAA and anisotropic filtering while playing. Do you prefer a high quality image or more fluid frame rate? Because you can only have them both on the fastest (and expensive) graphics cards. If you can do with either then your choices are a lot more affordable.
* look at what kind of games you are playing or planning to. Newer games are generally heavier and put more burden on your system than old games. Look at the games and see whether or not they feature very detailed objects and effects. The more details and / or the larger the area you can explore, the heavier it gets. Check out the recommended hardware requirements.
* find a benchmark of the game you want to play and look at the numbers for the fastest graphics card and the slowest one (Note: pick the benchmark numbers on the resolution and the graphical features you want). If the slowest one is already above 30 fps, it's actually fast enough. Look at the cards between those two and you'll probably find the ones that offer the best price / performance. Now, look at the benchmark numbers for these middle cards (we usually call them mainstream cards), and see what's the frame rate difference. That's the additional frame rate you get for paying more, so you'd be the judge whether or not you are willing to pay for that difference. As a reminder, anything over 60 fps is not necessary.
* do the same thing for processors. Find a benchmark on that game and compare the the numbers for the fastest processor and the slowest one. You would want the processor to be able to supply the same number of fps as the graphics card (if possible). Anything more is not necessary, anything less means your graphics card wouldn't reach its optimal frame rate.
Now that you've decided on which graphics card and processor you're going to use, just add them to the basic PC package and you'll have a PC that will be very comfortable for gaming. Of course, since you've already chosen what resolution you're going to play games and use the PC in general, all you have to do is pick the appropriate monitor. That's it.
A Little Side Note
There is something else you'll probably want to consider when buying a new PC. How long do you want to use that particular PC and also whether or not you should buy a new one to replace the old one? Like we said in the beginning of the article, it seems like every month there's a new, faster part for the PC. After a year, the PC you bought may feel quite old or just don't cut it anymore (especially for running new games). While you can buy a whole new PC to replace the old one, it might be best to consider upgrading it instead. Upgrading actually means replacing parts that's out of date. Most people would like their upgrade to be faster, so this means they will only have to replace the parts that affects performance (remember what they are? Processor, memory, hard drive and graphics card). Since you only going to buy the parts you're replacing, upgrading can be a lot cheaper than buying a new PC. You can even do it piece by piece, for example just the processor and graphics card.Of course, upgrading may not be as simple as that. Seems like every 4 years, vendors change some physical aspects of their products. For example, a faster processor will come in a new shape and socket (usually called a new form factor) or graphics card will use a new connector (or interface). Naturally, you have to buy a new motherboard as well. Don't worry too much though, the total price for the parts will still be cheaper than buying a new PC.
To avoid this, pick a motherboard that will support future upgrades (either as an upgrade or initially for your new PC). When a new processor comes out with a new form factor, motherboard that supports the new form factor is not that far behind. It's a good idea to buy that motherboard so you won't have to change it when you upgrade. The same thing also applies to graphics cards. The downside of this is that you will have to buy the new processor (usually with a quite heavy price tag). It's better to wait a while until there are more processors available in that form factor. You can opt to buy the slowest and cheapest new processors (don't worry, they're still quite fast) and still be able to use future upgrades (usually faster).
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