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Society
Mmmm... pizza



Registered: 07/03/04
Posts: 14,300
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Is building your own PC worth it? ...
#14427466 - 05/09/11 10:56 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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If you aren't interested in gaming?
I already have a decent graphics card, but my power supply unit crapped out. Maybe took my motherboard with it. Dunno.
But I was considering buying a case with my new PSU and putting all my old shit into it.
The thing is... it's obviously incredibly easy to spend $100 on a decent PSU and case off NewEgg or TigerDirect. Fucking ridiculous considering I can buy an all new pre-built HP for twice that with 1000GB HD and powerful CPU.
Thoughts?
-------------------- Delicious Pizza
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thodub

Registered: 04/29/11
Posts: 754
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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: Society]
#14427488 - 05/09/11 11:02 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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I would say so if you know how to build your shit real good and order all your parts from sites like newegg.com you could save possibly hundreds of dollars for a comparable system. Of course if your building your own you got to order the real good shit because this is where you save the most amount of money.
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ghotbijr
Wishes he was tripping


Registered: 01/10/11
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Last seen: 11 years, 7 months
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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: thodub]
#14427506 - 05/09/11 11:08 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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If you know what you're doing you could save fuck loads of money and get an all around better rig. Best part is that later on you can add more things to it with ease because you made it in the first place.
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sandi
omg


Registered: 04/11/11
Posts: 796
Loc: M6 (Butterfly Cluster)
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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: Society]
#14427534 - 05/09/11 11:15 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Of course. If you aren't interested in gaming, build a rig off of parts you piece together from NewEgg. You don't have to buy from there, but you can get reviews and see what components work together nicely. Building your own rig is so much better because you get *way* more for your money. I've never had or owned a premade except for my one laptop.
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DieCommie

Registered: 12/11/03
Posts: 29,258
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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: Society]
#14427632 - 05/09/11 11:57 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Society said: If you aren't interested in gaming?
I already have a decent graphics card, but my power supply unit crapped out. Maybe took my motherboard with it. Dunno.
But I was considering buying a case with my new PSU and putting all my old shit into it.
The thing is... it's obviously incredibly easy to spend $100 on a decent PSU and case off NewEgg or TigerDirect. Fucking ridiculous considering I can buy an all new pre-built HP for twice that with 1000GB HD and powerful CPU.
Thoughts?
I agree, it is cheaper to buy prebuilt. Especially if you buy windows rather than bootleg it.
The reasons to build your own is, fun, better parts, more knowledge of your rig. Once you buy a PSU and case for 100, you will have those good parts for a long time. Building your own has high overhead cost at first, but after time you just replace a part here and a part there and you have a quality computer for low regular upgrade costs. Plus, for some its fun. Do you think it would be fun for you to build, troubleshoot and maintain your own? If so, go for it. If not, dont bother.
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Dimi
The Mindful One


Registered: 05/09/11
Posts: 190
Last seen: 7 years, 1 month
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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: DieCommie]
#14427798 - 05/10/11 12:55 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Pre-Built systems are nice because they have a "blanket" warranty that covers the whole system. If anything breaks, it's covered. Also, you know when buying a new system that everything will work together just fine, and if you aren't tech oriented, matching up parts can be a pain.
That's not to say when you build your own system, it's not covered under warranty, it surely is! Each individual component will be covered under it's own warranty.
Building your own system is great because you will know everything about your system first off. Second, you will usually get more for your money if you build it yourself. Lastly, big manufacturers will sometimes use inferior quality components (such as no-name power supplies).
Things that have to match:
1 Motherboard CPU Socket and the CPU (ex. socket 775) 2 Motherboard RAM Slots to RAM Speed and Type (ex. DDR2 533Mhz) 3 Motherboard expansion slots to the expansion cards you want to use (ex. I have a modem and sound card that are both PCI, so I need to make sure I have two free PCI slots on my new motherboard) 4 Case size to motherboard size (ex. ATX)
Your power supply be high enough wattage to meet the demands of your hardware, and meet the demands of the future if you plan to upgrade later!
Things to know about building your own:
You may be able to scavenge your old CD/DVD drives, as well as the hard drives. Most motherboards supply the necessary connectors for older IDE type drives.
Learn about the graphics card you now own. Two types of slots exist for modern cards. The older is AGP and it is not compatible with modern PCI-E slot motherboards at all. Make sure you research what slot your card uses. If you have the older AGP slot video card, it may not be worth it to save the card for a new system, since the AGP type cards are already outdated.
(For any techies, yes I know video cards also used to come in the old, OLD, PCI flavor too!)
TIP- if you have a PCI-E 2.1 card and buy a motherboard that has PCI-E 2.0 specs, you can have a nasty issue with the BIOS. So, if you plan to build your own, research that video card you have now!
Next, know that your new hand made system doesn't automatically come with Windows at all. If you build it, make sure you buy a copy of Windows. Since your building a modern system with new parts, go for Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit. Windows 7 Ultimate has an XP mode emulator, and that may be something you need, I don't know.
If you build your own system, start with a case and power supply. Next, get a motherboard that fits in it. Then, get a CPU and the RAM for it. If the motherboard uses DDR2 memory, make sure you buy two sticks of RAM for it to operate properly.
Don't forget to buy fans for the case if they don't come with any. More fans is usually better, too. Thermal paste for the CPU is an absolute MUST.
To get you started if you want to build your own:
The Antec 300 mid-tower case is nice, and has excellent reviews. It is 60 bucks or so, and offers good cooling and room to grow.
The Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 is 650 Watts and costs 50 bucks on newegg right now
A Intel Core i3-2120 "Sandy Bridge" CPU offers great speed if you aren't a gamer for $150 bucks.
Match that up with a Socket 1155 motherboard of ATX or mATX size along with DDR3 1066 RAM and you're already on your way to a new system.
Don't Forget Windows 7!
Edited by Dimi (05/10/11 01:09 AM)
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 26,691
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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: Dimi]
#14428013 - 05/10/11 02:16 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Dimi said: Pre-Built systems are nice because they have a "blanket" warranty that covers the whole system. If anything breaks, it's covered. Also, you know when buying a new system that everything will work together just fine, and if you aren't tech oriented, matching up parts can be a pain.
This. If you're not very interested in the technicalities of PC hardware, you don't have very specific requirements and you're not convinced that anything you build yourself is better than anything store-bought, then just buy a ready-made configuration. Other than the fun, there's no really good reason to DIY these days, especially if you're essentially looking for a run-off-the-mill office rig.
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frith
God

Registered: 10/27/09
Posts: 7,512
Loc: Philadelphia, PA
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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: koraks]
#14429019 - 05/10/11 09:35 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
koraks said: Other than the fun, there's no really good reason to DIY these days, especially if you're essentially looking for a run-off-the-mill office rig.
Agreed.
However, it sounds like OP just has a bad PSU. I'd try to replace that first to make sure you actually need a whole new computer. If it doesn't work out then just return it and get something prebuilt.
Also, you don't need to spend $100 just for a PSU and case.. Since you have low requirements, you don't really need anything that heavy duty.
Here is a $30 case with a PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811148044
The hardware doesn't need to be insanely awesome.. software is where the real action is.
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guywiththegun
Shroom Chewer/Beer Brewer



Registered: 03/31/09
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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: frith]
#14430925 - 05/10/11 05:32 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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I built an entire, functioning computer off of NewEgg.com for about $200, but I had an HD laying around (two, actually). I think it would have been closer to three bills otherwise.
Also, I'd never put a computer together from scratch before. I pretty much trial-and-errored it until it worked, and now I have less problems with this $200 PC than I ever did with my $1000 laptop from Dell.
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Jeerix
Stranger

Registered: 11/04/05
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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: guywiththegun]
#14432378 - 05/10/11 10:33 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Depends if you want to obtain the skillset associated with putting together a computer IMO. Really I doubt it's going to work out to being any cheaper than having some factory robot or sweatshop worker put it together for you.
How valuable is your time?
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Dimi
The Mindful One


Registered: 05/09/11
Posts: 190
Last seen: 7 years, 1 month
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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: Jeerix]
#14433440 - 05/11/11 05:24 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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One note about $30 dollar power supplies. It pays to get a name brand with decent cooling, like the one I recommended earlier. Tomshardware just had an article about cheap power supplies EXPLODING
If that happened you'd really be debating a new system :/
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sandi
omg


Registered: 04/11/11
Posts: 796
Loc: M6 (Butterfly Cluster)
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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: Jeerix]
#14433579 - 05/11/11 06:36 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Jeerix said: Depends if you want to obtain the skillset associated with putting together a computer IMO. Really I doubt it's going to work out to being any cheaper than having some factory robot or sweatshop worker put it together for you.
How valuable is your time? 
If you put some time into researching parts, you can easily know ahead of time if the parts are going to work together or not. Most people on Newegg and computer forums have sigs with their builds/rigs on them. It can be as easy as an hour looking at these or googling reviews, test rigs, etc.
The problem with a "warranty" is that let's say your computer goes dead. Sure, it's covered. But you have to bring it to a repair center. Sooooo many of my friends have laptops or computers that are constantly in for repair and the return times are completely random. If you build your own rig, you fix the part that's broken. No waiting months for your computer to get "fixed". If you fix the computer yourself and they find out, there goes your warranty later.... And once you have a computer built, you can just upgrade as you please, if you even want to. My computer is still going strong 3 or 4 years later.
I did, however, forget all about the cost of an OS. So there goes savings.
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Edited by sandi (05/22/11 05:03 AM)
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 26,691
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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: sandi]
#14433610 - 05/11/11 06:53 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Sandi, you mention the unpredictability of return times at PC OEMs, but it would be fair to include in your argument also the unpredictability of any problems you might encounter when integrating the system yourself, and the time it takes to troubleshoot such system integration issues. Anyone with some experience (say, >10 systems) knows what I'm talking about. Sure, everything might go as a breeze and stuff might work all perfectly the first time you turn the PC on. But you might as well run into problems while installing software. Suppose you can get the new machine to run fine, but it keeps crashing at random moments during OS install. You need some experience and structured thinking to sort such an issue out and to identify and validate the cause.
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Society
Mmmm... pizza



Registered: 07/03/04
Posts: 14,300
Loc:
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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: koraks]
#14434823 - 05/11/11 12:56 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Thanks for all the input.
Compatibility is my biggest issue. I have a HP m7590n shown here:


I bought it back in 2006. I wouldn't mind just replacing the power supply, but I have no idea how I'd be able to find one that will fit in the same HP case.
And I wouldn't mind buying a case to get started at having a customizable PC, but I have no idea if my motherboard would be too small.
The PSU is HIPRO HP-D3057F3R aka 5188-2625. Here's the type of PSU I have:
It's no longer available on newegg because it's an outdated peice of shit. What can I replace it with? Any ATX 12V? Newegg link
-------------------- Delicious Pizza
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imachavel
I loved and lost but I loved-ftw



Registered: 06/06/07
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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: ghotbijr]
#14435156 - 05/11/11 02:22 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
ghotbijr said: If you know what you're doing you could save fuck loads of money and get an all around better rig. Best part is that later on you can add more things to it with ease because you made it in the first place.
you can save some money, i don't know about fuckloads. i mean think of it like this, if you wanted to buy a $2000 pc with windows 7 already installed on it, you are paying for the hard ware and the software.
ok so now you decide you want to build your own pc so you buy all the parts the motherboard, cpu, graphics card you want, ram, hard drive you want, usb ports etc. etc. etc. power supply etc.
sure, on the hardware you end up saving money, you'll probably pay $1000-14000 for that, saving $600-1000.
but also, then you have to buy windows 7, which is going to run you about $300. so add that on, and you are really paying $1300-1700. so yes you are saving some money, but definitely you aren't going to pay half price or something ridiculous for building it yourself.
on the other hand if you want to buy a computer that costs $4000, you will probably be paying for something lucrative like whatever replaces the i7 now, or 16 gigs of ram, or a terrabyte storage hard drive. or all of it together plus windows 7. none the less, building THAT yourself, would probably only cost you $2500 give or take. so in that case yes you would be saving $1500.
but you don't need all that for gaming. for gaming you mostly need graphics capability, and yes that will run you a bit, because you need the ram and cpu that will support a graphics card that processes that much memory. none the less it still won't cost you $4000.
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I did not say to edit my signature soulidarity! Now forever I will never remember what I said about understanding the secrets of the universe by paying attention to subtleties!
I'm never giving you the password again. Jerk
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imachavel
I loved and lost but I loved-ftw



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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: Society]
#14435174 - 05/11/11 02:26 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Society said: Thanks for all the input.
Compatibility is my biggest issue. I have a HP m7590n shown here:


I bought it back in 2006. I wouldn't mind just replacing the power supply, but I have no idea how I'd be able to find one that will fit in the same HP case.
And I wouldn't mind buying a case to get started at having a customizable PC, but I have no idea if my motherboard would be too small.
The PSU is HIPRO HP-D3057F3R aka 5188-2625. Here's the type of PSU I have:
It's no longer available on newegg because it's an outdated peice of shit. What can I replace it with? Any ATX 12V? Newegg link
that looks like a great computer, dual hard drive, dual core cpu with 3.4 ghz processing. i'm guessing you want better graphics capabilities?
let me look around and see what type of graphics card you need to buy. you'll need to update the drivers for it as well.
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I did not say to edit my signature soulidarity! Now forever I will never remember what I said about understanding the secrets of the universe by paying attention to subtleties!
I'm never giving you the password again. Jerk
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imachavel
I loved and lost but I loved-ftw



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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: Society]
#14435243 - 05/11/11 02:41 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Society said: Thanks for all the input.
Compatibility is my biggest issue. I have a HP m7590n shown here:


I bought it back in 2006. I wouldn't mind just replacing the power supply, but I have no idea how I'd be able to find one that will fit in the same HP case.
And I wouldn't mind buying a case to get started at having a customizable PC, but I have no idea if my motherboard would be too small.
The PSU is HIPRO HP-D3057F3R aka 5188-2625. Here's the type of PSU I have:
It's no longer available on newegg because it's an outdated peice of shit. What can I replace it with? Any ATX 12V? Newegg link
ok I believe this is what your motherboard has:
PCI Express x16 compatibility socket 775
I think most of these graphics cards will work with pci express x16:
http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_buycomponents_us.html
as for your cpu, i think 3.4 ghz is the fastest that will work with socket 775, I could be wrong. ram? i don't know you'll have to tell me those specs yourself
download cpu z id. it'll tell you everything you have in your computer. then post what you want to know more about, and i'll see if i can help. if not someone else probably can
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I did not say to edit my signature soulidarity! Now forever I will never remember what I said about understanding the secrets of the universe by paying attention to subtleties!
I'm never giving you the password again. Jerk
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Dimi
The Mindful One


Registered: 05/09/11
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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: imachavel]
#14436172 - 05/11/11 06:02 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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What a coincidence. We have nearly the exact same computer. Mine started as a Dell with those same specs.
Here is a link to buy a new power supply, it's less than $50. It's in stock right now, and ships in less than 1 day!
http://goo.gl/UgZWq
Don't buy more RAM or a CPU upgrade, the money you spend won't make much of a difference. Your BIOS is going to limit you to a Pentium D, even though better processors exist for that socket type (Because it's a Intel 945P chipset)
Save any money you were going to spend on this system and start a fund to make your own new system!
By the way, I have that same chipset in my computer, and I used a ATI HD 5670 1GB video card from Sapphire. It's PCI-E 2.0 and I had no issues at all. It consumes little power, so your power supply will adequate with it. It has multiple display outputs as well. Any faster of a video card will just bottleneck in your system anyways.
I hope this helps a little
Edited by Dimi (05/11/11 06:05 PM)
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frith
God

Registered: 10/27/09
Posts: 7,512
Loc: Philadelphia, PA
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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: Society]
#14438063 - 05/12/11 12:13 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Society said: Compatibility is my biggest issue.
[...]
I wouldn't mind just replacing the power supply, but I have no idea how I'd be able to find one that will fit in the same HP case.
[...]
What can I replace it with?
99.99% of the time nowadays manufacturers use standard parts.
a power supply is a power supply. doesnt matter what machine it goes in, unless it is a more unique design like a home theater pc or a server. you have neither of those. you have a normal, off the shelf, mid-tower computer.
any PSU will be fine. heres a decent one for $30: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371003
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imachavel
I loved and lost but I loved-ftw



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Re: Is building your own PC worth it? ... [Re: frith]
#14438389 - 05/12/11 02:13 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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i think it is a home theatre pc. when i looked it up it said it's a windows media center theatre pc. although a lot of pcs have windows media center installed, i don't expect them to be called windows media center theatre pc's.
i don't know for sure, look up the motherboard, i think i posted it. you're probably right
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I did not say to edit my signature soulidarity! Now forever I will never remember what I said about understanding the secrets of the universe by paying attention to subtleties!
I'm never giving you the password again. Jerk
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