NCASE M1: a crowdfunded Mini-ITX case (updates in first post)

Rhialto said:
What is the RPM at 50%? I ask because I'm still on a 660 Ti and RPM is 1890 at 50% and that is when I begin to hear it and start to be annoying but no need to go there with fan curve I defined I can keep fan below 50% so I'm very curious to know on a 1080 Ti (with blower) what RPM it give when at 50%.

Also curious to compage a FE with other blower models like MSI Aero, ASUS Turbo but can't find anyone who tested both.


Your signature shows a Strix but you traded it for another 1080 Ti right?
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IIRC it was between 1800-1900RPM. It's louder than a FE at 50%, but not by much and the noise profile is rather good. Also, considering a FE will stagnate around 1700MHz after extended load time, the slight noise increase on the SC for 1949+MHz is worth it. With the SC at least, there's only 2 fans, so the noise isn't as crazy as the STRIX was at higher speeds.

I would say 60% is the highest I want the cooler to go, and I even set a profile this way, but the card peaked at 71C after the whole day of playing yesterday and it did that along with a max of 50% fan. So you get slightly higher noise output, but at the cost of the cooler being more sufficient to the point that you don't actually need more than 50% fan. It would take very low volume speakers or low volume open headphones for the GPU to overpower your listening. If I had to equate it to the FE, I'd say it's equal to a FE cooler at 55%.

And yeah, I've got the STRIX Ti to sell. I need to adjust my signature still :). The TXp will be going back, and both the STRIX OC Ti and the TXP will end up for sale.
 
p3z said:
IIRC it was between 1800-1900RPM. It's louder than a FE at 50%, but not by much and the noise profile is rather good. Also, considering a FE will stagnate around 1700MHz after extended load time, the slight noise increase on the SC for 1949+MHz is worth it. With the SC at least, there's only 2 fans, so the noise isn't as crazy as the STRIX was at higher speeds.

I would say 60% is the highest I want the cooler to go, and I even set a profile this way, but the card peaked at 71C after the whole day of playing yesterday and it did that along with a max of 50% fan. So you get slightly higher noise output, but at the cost of the cooler being more sufficient to the point that you don't actually need more than 50% fan. It would take very low volume speakers or low volume open headphones for the GPU to overpower your listening. If I had to equate it to the FE, I'd say it's equal to a FE cooler at 55%.

And yeah, I've got the STRIX Ti to sell. I need to adjust my signature still :). The TXp will be going back, and both the STRIX OC Ti and the TXP will end up for sale.
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I'm a bit lost, so now you have an EVGA 1080 Ti Black Edition? I thought it was a FE (coming from a Strix) and wanted to know the RPM for the FE at 50%.

I agree, below 80C nothing to care. My profile is set that way also. My last point is a safety one where at 90C the fan would go from 52% to 100% and that never happened or I would sure have heard it.
 
Rhialto said:
I'm a bit lost, so now you have an EVGA 1080 Ti Black Edition? I thought it was a FE (coming from a Strix) and wanted to know the RPM for the FE at 50%.

I agree, below 80C nothing to care. My profile is set that way also. My last point is a safety one where at 90C the fan would go from 52% to 100% and that never happened or I would sure have heard it.
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Ah, sorry about that. But yes, my sig is now updated and the Imgur link might explain the progress of my work.

I have a Titan X 'FE' and also a Titan Xp 'FE', but I'm not sure what their fan RPM is at 50%. With the auto profile the TXp would get to around 57% max and 84C. Perfectly acceptable noise and performance was good, but what joy is a Titan if you run it on a stock fan profile?
 
EK-FB_ASUS_Z270I_Strix_RGB_1.jpg


https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fb-asus-z270i-strix-rgb-monoblock-nickel

For Strix owners - Kinda amazing right...
 
Anyone here have coil whine issues with an EVGA 1080 Ti FE? Already ordered my waterblock to take advantage of a sale but now I am starting to fear the FE will have this issue.
 
Got tired of the coil whine issues of the GTX 1070 Xtreme Gaming, tried a Superclocked, which ran the fans at 50% and were pretty loud at that speed, though coil whine, while present, was only heard up close.

I think that I'm going to get an Arctic Accelero Xtreme III, since I had good results in my mATX / GTX970 build. Does that fit in the case with the Superclocked, or should I get a Founders Edition card?
 
gsilver said:
Got tired of the coil whine issues of the GTX 1070 Xtreme Gaming, tried a Superclocked, which ran the fans at 50% and were pretty loud at that speed, though coil whine, while present, was only heard up close.

I think that I'm going to get an Arctic Accelero Xtreme III, since I had good results in my mATX / GTX970 build. Does that fit in the case with the Superclocked, or should I get a Founders Edition card?
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As long as its a reference PCB, you should be all good.
 
Alright. I'll do a followup once it arrives.
I'm really not a fan of the thermal glue thing, but I'm not a fan of noise, either (hoped that either the Xtreme Gaming's triple slot cooler or (originally) the Evga Seahawk would be a one-and-done solution... Oh well.


And people have been taking off the Accelero's stock fans and just using 120mm fans at the bottom, right?
 
gsilver said:
Alright. I'll do a followup once it arrives.
I'm really not a fan of the thermal glue thing, but I'm not a fan of noise, either (hoped that either the Xtreme Gaming's triple slot cooler or (originally) the Evga Seahawk would be a one-and-done solution... Oh well.


And people have been taking off the Accelero's stock fans and just using 120mm fans at the bottom, right?
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Is it this card? http://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=08G-P4-5173-KR? If so they use the ref PCB and you should be all set. For the Accelero you remove the shroud that has the 3 92mm fans and use your preferred fans at the bottom of the case.
 
anyone here using non-Strix and non-reference GTX 1080 TI? What temps are you getting? Strix is 10% more expensive than the usual, but I think it's also the better coolers that fit the ncase.
 
gsilver said:
Got tired of the coil whine issues of the GTX 1070 Xtreme Gaming, tried a Superclocked, which ran the fans at 50% and were pretty loud at that speed, though coil whine, while present, was only heard up close.

I think that I'm going to get an Arctic Accelero Xtreme III, since I had good results in my mATX / GTX970 build. Does that fit in the case with the Superclocked, or should I get a Founders Edition card?
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I'm surprised you find the SC card 'loud' at that speed. It's not quiet by any means, but it's not annoying like I've found other AIB cards to be. The FE with a default profile will be relatively quiet and slightly quieter than the EVGA card. However, you won't get much boost from a default profile FE card. As mentioned, your SC should be a FE board with aftermarket cooling, so I'd vote for the Accelero as well.

noobzilla said:
anyone here using non-Strix and non-reference GTX 1080 TI? What temps are you getting? Strix is 10% more expensive than the usual, but I think it's also the better coolers that fit the ncase.
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You can check up this page and a bit before. I've got a 'iCX' SC Black Edition in now. Max temps are 71C @ 50% with two 120s underneath.
 
p3z said:
You can check up this page and a bit before. I've got a 'iCX' SC Black Edition in now. Max temps are 71C @ 50% with two 120s underneath.
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I'm surprised you exchanged your Strix. I thought the Strix was supposed to be one of the better ones. Maybe you got a bad one?
 
noobzilla said:
I'm surprised you exchanged your Strix. I thought the Strix was supposed to be one of the better ones. Maybe you got a bad one?
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Oh it's not a bad card, and I'm more than confident that in the right situation that the STRIX runs cooler and more efficiently than even the EVGA card. It just so happens that for our cases that it's not the best cooler/card. The GPU is large to the point that it's essentially compartmentalizing the case and trapping hot air in the bottom. At that point you just run into issues with recirculating hot air over and over. That being said, the fact it kepts it at 70-75C at 75% fan is still pretty impressive. It just gets to an annoying noise level at that point.

And currently I still have all 5 GPUs that have been test fitted (that you can see in my sig album). I've got to make a final deciison rather soon, but it's down to me throwing an AIO on the TXp or potentially the Ti FE (getting this from a 1080 step-up) or sticking with the EVGA card. Outside of my particular EVGA card being a mediocre OC'er, it's been fantastic.
 
Thanks to Qrash's post from several months ago I manages to sort out Corsair SF600 cable management (especially the 24-pin stiff cables)

Here's mine, side and top view.

Cable does not touch the GTX 1080Ti FE that I have in there (although it's hard to tell from the pics).

Now I have AMPLE space to install a rad and 120mm fan.


CSF600_Cable_Side.jpg
CSF600_Cable_Top.jpg
 
Jiv_au said:
Thanks to Qrash's post from several months ago I manages to sort out Corsair SF600 cable management (especially the 24-pin stiff cables)

Here's mine, side and top view.

Cable does not touch the GTX 1080Ti FE that I have in there (although it's hard to tell from the pics).

Now I have AMPLE space to install a rad and 120mm fan.


View attachment 23823 View attachment 23824
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Nice and tidy. Great job...

Do you run an SSD in the front position? How the temp?
 
That's definitely clever...but what happened to that USB 3.0 cable? :D

You most likely have the room to run it between the PCIe slot and the I/O side of the board and along the bottom back of the case.
 
Jiv_au said:
Thanks to Qrash's post from several months ago I manages to sort out Corsair SF600 cable management (especially the 24-pin stiff cables)

Here's mine, side and top view.

Cable does not touch the GTX 1080Ti FE that I have in there (although it's hard to tell from the pics).

Now I have AMPLE space to install a rad and 120mm fan.


View attachment 23823 View attachment 23824
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Looks really good. Glad to have helped.
 
Hey guys,

I plan to make my ncase build as soon as there is a nice mITX AM4 board on the market. I saw this build (https://pcpartpicker.com/b/tyfH99) today and want to add an LED strip too.

Maybe someone knows the LED strip he is using? He wrote it is from cablemod, I would guess it is a 30cm magnetic LED strip?

Didn't want to buy the wrong one, so some advice would be really helpful.

Thanks :)
 
Jiv_au said:
Thanks to Qrash's post from several months ago I manages to sort out Corsair SF600 cable management (especially the 24-pin stiff cables)


View attachment 23823 View attachment 23824
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See you have put the second 92mm cooler on the back rather on the cooler. Any reason for this? I have two 92mm fans myself, but both are on the heatsink, and I am wondering whether your situation is better or not.

p3z said:
Oh it's not a bad card, and I'm more than confident that in the right situation that the STRIX runs cooler and more efficiently than even the EVGA card. It just so happens that for our cases that it's not the best cooler/card. The GPU is large to the point that it's essentially compartmentalizing the case and trapping hot air in the bottom. At that point you just run into issues with recirculating hot air over and over. That being said, the fact it kepts it at 70-75C at 75% fan is still pretty impressive. It just gets to an annoying noise level at that point.

And currently I still have all 5 GPUs that have been test fitted (that you can see in my sig album). I've got to make a final deciison rather soon, but it's down to me throwing an AIO on the TXp or potentially the Ti FE (getting this from a 1080 step-up) or sticking with the EVGA card. Outside of my particular EVGA card being a mediocre OC'er, it's been fantastic.
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I would have just removed the fan shroud if I were you. Like said earlier, when I had the 1080 Strix and two bottom fans helping to push air in, both noise levels and temperatures were bad. But once I removed the fan shroud and changed the bottom fans to exhaust, the GPU temps fell and noise (from the bottom Noctua fans) was completely fine now. But the best part was how the CPU temps fell a whole 10C, as it didn't pull in hot air from the GPU.
 
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La_Menthe said:
See you have put the second 92mm cooler on the back rather on the cooler. Any reason for this? I have two 92mm fans myself, but both are on the heatsink, and I am wondering whether your situation is better or not.
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I have wondered this too. Has anyone tested mounting the fan in both places?
 
mcbirds said:
Is it this card? http://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=08G-P4-5173-KR? If so they use the ref PCB and you should be all set. For the Accelero you remove the shroud that has the 3 92mm fans and use your preferred fans at the bottom of the case.
Click to expand...

I have been thinking of using the accelero extreme III after seeing other Ncase users with it. Is it difficult to remove the shroud and fans? Does it require breaking anything, or does it just disconnect? Also, is there some kind of adapter to plug the bottom case fans into the graphics card?
 
p3z said:
Oh it's not a bad card, and I'm more than confident that in the right situation that the STRIX runs cooler and more efficiently than even the EVGA card. It just so happens that for our cases that it's not the best cooler/card. The GPU is large to the point that it's essentially compartmentalizing the case and trapping hot air in the bottom. At that point you just run into issues with recirculating hot air over and over. That being said, the fact it kepts it at 70-75C at 75% fan is still pretty impressive. It just gets to an annoying noise level at that point.

And currently I still have all 5 GPUs that have been test fitted (that you can see in my sig album). I've got to make a final deciison rather soon, but it's down to me throwing an AIO on the TXp or potentially the Ti FE (getting this from a 1080 step-up) or sticking with the EVGA card. Outside of my particular EVGA card being a mediocre OC'er, it's been fantastic.
Click to expand...

I'll keep an eye out what you decide keeping. I was willing to spend the extra on the Strix thinking it's the best one for the ncase, but will hold off for now. I'm hearing about people taking off the fan+shroud and using 2x 120mm fan exhaust at the bottom. Though I read that some people got worse results and it's better to not add anything for the Strix.
 
La_Menthe said:
See you have put the second 92mm cooler on the back rather on the cooler. Any reason for this? I have two 92mm fans myself, but both are on the heatsink, and I am wondering whether your situation is better or not.



I would have just removed the fan shroud if I were you. Like said earlier, when I had the 1080 Strix and two bottom fans helping to push air in, both noise levels and temperatures were bad. But once I removed the fan shroud and changed the bottom fans to exhaust, the GPU temps fell and noise (from the bottom Noctua fans) was completely fine now. But the best part was how the CPU temps fell a whole 10C, as it didn't pull in hot air from the GPU.
Click to expand...

Yeah this was one of the things I had considered but ultimately decided against. I figured if I was going to run a card modified, I'd either do a FE with a hybrid mod or just do something like an Accelero.

noobzilla said:
I'll keep an eye out what you decide keeping. I was willing to spend the extra on the Strix thinking it's the best one for the ncase, but will hold off for now. I'm hearing about people taking off the fan+shroud and using 2x 120mm fan exhaust at the bottom. Though I read that some people got worse results and it's better to not add anything for the Strix.
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Yeah, La_Menthe's idea is actually a great one and is similar to the concept of using an Accelero on a FE card. In hindsight I should have tried this config out, but I did get a bit irate after tearing down and rebuilding my system several times. I can only imagine what I'd do if I had true watercooling.

I can say that I'm definitely returning the TXp (it's boxed up and shipping label attached) and the STRIX is being sold/traded tomorrow (don't worry, I'm getting another CPU, not GPU ;)).

I've decided I'm going to figure out how well the Ti FE I'm getting from EVGA will OC. If it's great, I think I'll invest in a hybrid kit, and if not, it'll go in my GFs and I'll keep the BE SC card in mine. That'll leave me with a TXP (2016) and a 1070 to sell.
 
Frazhna said:
I have been thinking of using the accelero extreme III after seeing other Ncase users with it. Is it difficult to remove the shroud and fans? Does it require breaking anything, or does it just disconnect? Also, is there some kind of adapter to plug the bottom case fans into the graphics card?
Click to expand...

I've never actually used it. Looks like it sort of just clips on though. I know Gelid sells an adapter to that will let you plug your fans into the GPU. You can also of course just use SpeedFan.
 
p3z said:
Yeah this was one of the things I had considered but ultimately decided against. I figured if I was going to run a card modified, I'd either do a FE with a hybrid mod or just do something like an Accelero.



Yeah, La_Menthe's idea is actually a great one and is similar to the concept of using an Accelero on a FE card. In hindsight I should have tried this config out, but I did get a bit irate after tearing down and rebuilding my system several times. I can only imagine what I'd do if I had true watercooling.

I can say that I'm definitely returning the TXp (it's boxed up and shipping label attached) and the STRIX is being sold/traded tomorrow (don't worry, I'm getting another CPU, not GPU ;)).

I've decided I'm going to figure out how well the Ti FE I'm getting from EVGA will OC. If it's great, I think I'll invest in a hybrid kit, and if not, it'll go in my GFs and I'll keep the BE SC card in mine. That'll leave me with a TXP (2016) and a 1070 to sell.
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I had the accelero III outtake config with my 290X and it worked well. I wouldn't mind doing the same, but I do mind losing warranty :/
 
Chapeau said:
Nice and tidy. Great job... Do you run an SSD in the front position? How the temp?
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Thanks. I don't have any 2.5' SSD at the moment, only an NVMe (Samsung 960 Evo 1TB).

p3z said:
You most likely have the room to run it between the PCIe slot and the I/O side of the board and along the bottom back of the case.
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At the moment I've got it looping around the graphics card (between the side panel and graphics card).
The USB 3.0 cable has ample length so that I can negotiate the graphics card around it when installing or removing.
But squeezing it between the PCIe slot and the I/O side might work too. Thanks, I'll give it a go.


La_Menthe said:
See you have put the second 92mm cooler on the back rather on the cooler. Any reason for this? I have two 92mm fans myself, but both are on the heatsink, and I am wondering whether your situation is better or not.
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I'm currently getting about 60~65C when gaming.
Back fan and CPU fan are both connected to the CPU fan header using a splitter. But I should probably run the back fan at 100% as it's for exhaust heat for the whole case.

I think the general consensus being reached by NCASE M1 owners on this thread, whether that's heat generated from CPU or GPU, is to...
GET THAT HEAT OUT OF THE CASE IMMEDIATELY AT THE SOURCE AND DON'T RELY ON CASE-INTERNAL AIRFLOW that we take for granted in ordinary cases.
Your post above on using bottom fans as exhaust for GPU is a good example.
Also, using radiators+fan to exhaust heat directly outside is probably the best approach for this case, assuming one's setup can accommodate it.

Had I put that fan on the CPU heatsink (NH-U9S with 2 x NF-A9 PWM), I think only some of the hot air would have exhausted from the back vent, and the rest would accumulate inside the case.
If I was to improve on this, I would put a custom shroud between the back fan and the NH-U9S to capture and exhaust as much of the hot air as possible.

Kattstrumpa said:
I just wanted to tell you guys that I'm finished with my build!
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That is a work of ART. Congratulations on your first custom watercooled build.
 
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Sebbie said:
Anyone who have the Asus strix ITX MB and the Noctua U9S air cooler?`
Does the M.2 plate interfere with the U9S using a standard 25mm fan attached to the air cooler blowing the air upwards?
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(Late reply) No problem there.
NH-U9S + 92mm fan (25mm thickness) provides plenty of room for the M.2 and GPU even if it's pointed up.
The good thing about Asus Strix Z270I is that the CPU socket position is closer to the top of the case compared to other mobos, so away from many components.
 
noobzilla said:
I had the accelero III outtake config with my 290X and it worked well. I wouldn't mind doing the same, but I do mind losing warranty :/
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La_Menthe would have to confirm, but it looks like that shroud may come off without you having to do much at all. Let alone touch the warranty/stickers that ASUS cards are notorious for.
 
Has anybody replaced the front panel headphone/mic jacks? Mine are going bad and I'm not sure where to look for replacements.
 
BaK2BaK said:
Really nice!
Straight tubing and great cable management makes it look very clean!
I would only find a black replacement to that Noctua fan...
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Yeah I have to agree, that brown Noctua looks out of place with all the black used in the build.
 
rfarmer said:
Yeah I have to agree, that brown Noctua looks out of place with all the black used in the build.
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I searched for "quiet 92 mm fan" in Google and a list on QuietPC.com appeared. If you are running the Noctua NF-A9 PWM at full speed (2000 rpm) its specifications state that it pushes the most air (46.4 CFM), but at 22.8 dBA. None of the other fans can push this much air, but they are quieter. If the NF-A9 is too loud at full speed for you or it rarely runs that fast because you are using its PWM control, then another fan may be acceptable. The specifications of many "ultra quiet" fans indicate they push not very much air, so do be careful in your selection.

I looked at be Quiet and their all black Silent Wings 2 fan an dit spins at up to 1800 rpm and pushes 32.6 CFM at 17.4 dBA. Fractal Design has their Silent Series R3 92mm, but it pushes even less air at full speed (1500 rpm, 24.4 CFM, 18.3 dBA). Perhaps a more acceptable alternative is Noctua's NF-B9 redux-1600 PWM which is grey and black fan: 1600 rpm, 37.8 CFM, 17.6 dBA.
 
Qrash said:
I searched for "quiet 92 mm fan" in Google and a list on QuietPC.com appeared. If you are running the Noctua NF-A9 PWM at full speed (2000 rpm) its specifications state that it pushes the most air (46.4 CFM), but at 22.8 dBA. None of the other fans can push this much air, but they are quieter. If the NF-A9 is too loud at full speed for you or it rarely runs that fast because you are using its PWM control, then another fan may be acceptable. The specifications of many "ultra quiet" fans indicate they push not very much air, so do be careful in your selection.

I looked at be Quiet and their all black Silent Wings 2 fan an dit spins at up to 1800 rpm and pushes 32.6 CFM at 17.4 dBA. Fractal Design has their Silent Series R3 92mm, but it pushes even less air at full speed (1500 rpm, 24.4 CFM, 18.3 dBA). Perhaps a more acceptable alternative is Noctua's NF-B9 redux-1600 PWM which is grey and black fan: 1600 rpm, 37.8 CFM, 17.6 dBA.
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I bought one of these for my build and ended up not using it. http://www.performance-pcs.com/nois...pro-92mm-fan-pe-p.html#Additional-Information Noiseblocker Silent Pro 92mm PE-P. 1800 rpm, 36 CFM and 20 dBA. Really nice mounting hardware included for anti vibration.
 
rfarmer said:
I bought one of these for my build and ended up not using it. http://www.performance-pcs.com/nois...pro-92mm-fan-pe-p.html#Additional-Information Noiseblocker Silent Pro 92mm PE-P. 1800 rpm, 36 CFM and 20 dBA. Really nice mounting hardware included for anti vibration.
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That looks a good find. The Noiseblocker brand has a good reputation. Why did you not use it?

I notice that it is not a PWM fan. Lately I have read many posts that express a preference for PWM control versus Voltage control. Either should work fine, right?
 
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