Micro-ATX mainboards were once considered minimalist devices for simple office machines, but this notion is rapidly being challenged, no more so than by this new Intel G35 chipset based P5E-VM HDMI from Asus. It includes a huge array of features normally found on premium ATX boards, a BIOS with liberal frequency and voltage adjustments, and solid-state capacitors. Is it the most complete, well-rounded mATX board ever?
December 10, 2007 by Lawrence
Lee
Product | Asus P5E-VM HDMI LGA775 motherboard |
Manufacturer | ASUSTeK |
Street Price | US$150? |
When you think of micro-ATX mainboards, you think of small, unassuming boards with
some basic features, good connectivity options, and little else: something for
a simple office or multimedia machine. This notion is being challenged
by Asus’ latest offering, the P5E-VM HDMI. Aside from its size, it doesn’t resemble
a mATX board at all. Powered by Intel’s latest G35 chipset, it includes features
typically found on premium ATX boards including a BIOS with liberal frequency
and voltage adjustments, and solid-state capacitors. It has the potential to
be the most complete, well-rounded and fully featured mATX board that has ever
entered our labs.
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Asus P5E-VM HDMI: Specifications (from the product web page) | |
CPU | LGA775 socket for Intel® Core™2 Quad / Core™2 Extreme / Core™2 Duo / Pentium® Extreme / Pentium® D / Pentium® 4 Processors Compatible with Intel® 05B/05A/06 processors Support Intel® next generation 45nm Multi-Core CPU *This motherboard supports FSB 1333/1066/800 |
Chipset | Intel® G35 / ICH9R with Intel® Fast Memory Access Technology |
Front Side Bus | 1333 / 1066 / 800 MHz |
Memory | 4 x DIMM, max. 8GB, DDR2 800 / 667 MHz, non-ECC, un-buffered memory Dual channel memory architecture |
Expansion Slots | 1 x PCI-E x16 2 x PCI-E x1 1 x PCI |
VGA | Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3500 integrated Dual VGA output support: HDMI/DVI-D and RGB Supports RGB with max. resolution 2048 x 1536@75Hz Supports HDMI with max. resolution 1920 x 1200@60Hz Supports DVI with max. resolution 1920 x 1200@60Hz Maximum shared memory of 384 MB Supports Microsoft® DirectX® 10, OpenGL® 2.0, Pixel Shader 4.0 *The DirectX® 10 driver will be provided by the chipset vendor later. |
Storage | Southbridge ICH9R: – 6 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports – Intel Matrix Storage Technology supports RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 JMicron® JMB368 PATA and SATA controller – 1 x UltraDMA 133/100/66 for up to 2 PATA devices |
LAN | Atheros L1 PCI-E Gigabit LAN controllers PCIe Gb LAN controller |
Audio | Realtek ALC 883, 8-channel High-Definition Audio CODEC – Support Jack-dectecting, Enumeration, Multi-streaming – Coaxial S/PDIF out ports at back I/O – ASUS Noise Filter |
IEEE 1394 | VIA VT6308P controller supports 2 x IEEE 1394a ports (one at midboard; one at back panel) |
USB | 12 x USB 2.0 ports (6 ports at mid-board, 6 ports at back panel) |
ASUS AI Lifestyle Features | ASUS AI Lifestyle Features: – ASUS Splendid ASUS Quiet Thermal Solution: – ASUS AI Gear 2 – ASUS AI Nap – ASUS Fanless Design – ASUS Q-Fan 2 ASUS Crystal Sound: – ASUS Noise Filter ASUS EZ DIY: – ASUS Q-Connector – ASUS O.C. Profile – ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 – ASUS EZ Flash 2 |
Special Features | ASUS MyLogo 3 |
Overclocking Features | Precision Tweaker 2: – vDRAM: 33-step DRAM voltage control – vChipset (N.B.): 24-step chipset voltage control – vFSB: 16-step FSB voltage control – vCPU PLL: 16-step CPU PLL voltage control SFS (Stepless Frequency Selection) – vCore: Adjustable CPU voltage at 0.0125V increment – FSB tuning from 200MHz up to 800MHz at 1MHz increment – Memory tuning from 533MHz up to 1333MHz – PCI Express frequency tuning from 100MHz up to150MHz at 1MHz increment Overclocking Protection: – ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall) |
Back Panel I/O Ports | 1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x S/PDIF Out (Coaxial) 1 x D-sub Port 1 x HDMI/DVI port 1 x IEEE1394a 1 x RJ45 port 6x USB 2.0/1.1 8-channel Audio I/O |
Internal I/O Connectors | 3 x USB connectors support additional 6 USB ports 1 x Floppy disk drive connector 1 x IDE connector 1 x COM connector 6 x SATA connectors 1 x CPU Fan connector 1 x Chassis Fan connector 1 x Power Fan connector 1 x IEEE1394a connector Front panel audio connector 1 x S/PDIF Out Header Chassis Intrusion connector CD audio in 24-pin ATX Power connector 1 x 4-pin ATX 12V Power connector System Panel(Q-Connector) |
BIOS | 8 Mb Flash ROM, AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.3, ACPI 2.0a, ASUS EZ Flash 2, ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 |
Manageability | WfM 2.0, DMI 2.0, WOL by PME, WOR by PME, PXE |
Accessories | UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable FDD cable 3 x Serial ATA cables 3 x Serial ATA power cable 1 x HDMI-to-DVI conversion adapter I/O Shield User’s manual 3 in 1 Q-connector |
Support Disc | ASUS PC Probe II ASUS Update Anti-virus software (OEM version) Multi-language MB installation guide |
Form Factor | uATX Form Factor, 9.6”x 9.6” (24.4cm x 24.4cm) |
Going by specifications, the P5E-VM HDMI has just about everything.
Off the top of our head we can only think of two things it does not include:
eSATA and wireless networking. Asus also boasts a variety of overclocking features,
which are almost always limited on mATX parts, so it’s a pleasant
surprise to see them. Compared to the GMA 3100 found on the G33 chipset, the
GMA X3500 has many improvements, including better shader support and DirectX 10
compliance.
PACKAGING & LAYOUT
The packaging is extravagantly glossy but a standard size. There are many accessories within.
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Overall, the P5E-VM HDMI is a beautiful looking board and it carries with itself
with a swagger that you just don’t see in mATX boards. The use of copper (or copper-colored)
chipset heatsinks gives it a look of regality. The layout is efficient. Power and drive connectors are all on the edges, reducing clutter.
The use of short solid-state capacitors not only improves the reliability and
lifespan of the board, but also helps make the overall appearance cleaner and
more sophisticated. There is a 4-pin fan header in the top right corner labeled
CPU_FAN and two additional 3-pin headers are located between the northbridge
and the USB ports — the higher one is dubbed CHA_FAN1 (even though there
is no CHA_FAN2) and the one below it PWR_FAN.
Generally systems that support two case fans will have one in the front and
one in the rear, so it would have been better for one of these headers to be
located on the right side for better accessibility. In addition, the PWR_FAN
header won’t accommodate a 4-pin fan as there is a capacitor directly above
it. Our only other concern is the placement of the CMOS jumper — it is
hidden away between the front panel connectors and the SATA ports. Inside the
majority of cases, the bottom of the board will almost touch the floor, making
this spot incredibly difficult to get to once it’s been installed. There is
also a strange component just above the first PCI-E 1x slot perpendicular to
the rest of the board with two sets of pins soldered to the bard. In the manual
they are designated “ASM_2” and “ASM_1” — no further
explanation is given.
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The northbridge heatsink is very long with lots of surface area, and plenty
of distance between the fins. The southbridge heatsink is similar but with an
odd tunnel design in the middle that serves little purpose unless air is directed
through it. Though it could use some improvement, it’s still far better than
the standard black Asus southbridge cooler utilized over the years. Both heatsinks
are attached to the board with push-pins.
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The back panel offers both VGA and HDMI connections (DVI can be used via the
included HDMI to DVI adapter), as well as analog and digital coaxial audio.
Both video outputs can be used simultaneously.
BIOS
The BIOS of the P5E-VM HDMI is as expansive and flexible as any we’ve encountered in fuall ATX boards geared to performance enthusasists. The screenshots below give you a slice of this BIOS.
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Notable BIOS Controls | |
Setting | Options |
Multiplier | 6 to maximum |
FSB Frequency | 200Mhz to 800Mhz in 1Mhz increments |
PCIE Frequency | 100Mhz to 150Mhz in 1Mhz increments |
DRAM Frequency | Varies depending on FSB Strap setting |
DRAM Timing Control | Numerous, various |
CPU Voltage | 1.1000V to 1.7000V in 0.0125V increments |
DRAM Voltage | 1.80V to 2.44V in 0.02V increments |
North Bridge Voltage | 1.25V to 1.71V in 0.02V increments |
South Bridge Voltage | 1.05V, 1.20V |
Video Memory | 128MB/256MB, Fixed/DVMT |
The frequency and voltage options are impressive. Some features were unfamilar, including
“Clock Over-Charging Mode,” “CPU Voltage Damper,” “PLL
Voltage,” and others. There is still room for improvement for “undervolters”, as the lower
limit for CPU voltage is only 1.1000V.
FAN CONTROL
Fan control from within the BIOS is available in the Hardware Monitor section.
With the Q-Fan feature enabled, three different CPU fan speed profiles can be
selected: Optimal, Silent, and Performance. A fan connected the CHA_FAN1 header
can also be controlled. The “Chassis Fan Ratio” can be set to 90%,
80%, 70% or 60%. The case fan will run at this speed unless the system temperature
exceeds the designated “Chassis Target Temperature” which can be set
from anywhere between 28°C and 46°C. We looked forward to experimenting with these extensive fan controls.
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TESTING
Test Setup:
- Intel
Core 2 Duo E6400 processor – 2.13Ghz, 1066FSB, 2MB L2 cache, 65nm,
65W - Asus
P5E-VM HDMI motherboard – fixed 128MB allocated to integrated
graphics - Corsair
XMS2 1GB memory – DDR2-800 - Seagate
Momentus 5400.3 notebook hard drive – 160 GB, 5400RPM, ATA - Seasonic
SS-400ET power supply - ZeroTherm
BTF90 heatsink/fan - Microsoft
Windows Vista operating system – Home Premium, 32-bit - Intel
15.7 graphics driver - QuickTime
Alternative 1.81 codec package
Measurement and Analysis Tools
- Windows
Media Player 11
to play video. - Prime95
24.14 processor stress software. - ATITool
0.26 artifact scanner to stress the integrated GPU. - Seasonic
Power Angel AC power meter, used to measure the power consumption
of the system.
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THE FAN CONTROLS
To test exactly how the different fan profiles affected fan speed behavior,
we used an incredibly complex technique called ‘stopping the fan.’ Unfortunately
our specialized fan stopping tool was in the shop for repairs so we used a SATA
data cable wedged in-between the fan blades instead. With the fan stopped,
the CPU was allowed to heat up , and at specific temperatures
we released the fan to see fast Q-Fan decided it should spin. We used
a ZeroTherm BTF90 heatsink/fan which tops out at approximately 2500RPM to cool
our E6400 processor. When cooled passively on the open testbench system, the CPU temperature stabilized
at 69°C.
CPU Temp | CPU Fan Speed (RPM) | ||
Silent | Optimal | Perf. | |
30°C | 830 | 820 | 900 |
35°C | 830 | 820 | 900 |
40°C | 830 | 820 | 1360 |
45°C | 840 | 1000 | 1590 |
50°C | 840 | 1320 | 2220 |
55°C | 1080 | 1730 | 2450 |
60°C | 1320 | 2160 | 2450 |
65°C | 1880 | 2480 | 2450 |
69°C | 2160 | 2410 | 2450 |
As expected, the Silent profile waited the longest to spin up and spun up the
least, never reaching the fan’s maximum speed even at 69°C. The Performance
profile behaved much more aggressively, beginning to ramp up between 35°C
and 40°C, and reaching maximum speed at 55°C. The minimum speed was
also slightly higher. The Optimal profile had the smoothest increase in fan
speed, gradually picking up at around 40°C and topping out at 65°C.
These profiles should satisfy most users.
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For those looking for complete, customizable control, we loaded up SpeedFan
to see what could be done. CPU0 Fan and Speed02 correlated to CPU_FAN, AUX0
Fan and Speed01 to CHA_FAN1, and Sys Fan to PWR_FAN (no speed control available).
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To enable manual fan control of the CPU and case fan headers, we had to set
PWM 1 and 2 mode to “Manual PWM Control.” While the case fan header
had a full range of control, the CPU fan header had a lower limit — it
stopped decreasing the fan speed at approximately 30%. In addition, this header
could only control 4-pin PWM fans.
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Asus’ PC Probe also offered an extensive range of fan speed, temperature, and
voltage monitoring data, as well as adjustable threshold limits.
POWER & HD VIDEO PLAYBACK TESTING
Our test procedure is designed to determine the overall system power consumption
at various states (measured using a Seasonic Power Angel), and to test the integrated
graphics’ proficiency at playing back high definition videos. Standard HD-DVD
and Blu Ray discs can be encoded in three different codecs by design: MPEG-2,
H.264/AVC and VC-1. MPEG-2 has been around for a number of years and is not
demanding on modern system resources. H.264 and VC-1 encoded videos on the other
hand, due to the amount of complexity in their compression schemes, are extremely
stressful and will not play smoothly (or at all) on slower PCs, especially with
antiquated video subsystems.
We
used a variety of H.264 and VC-1 video clips encoded for playback on the PC
for testing. The clips were played with Windows Media Player 11 and a CPU usage
graph was created by the Windows Task Manger for analysis to determine the approximate
mean and average CPU use. High CPU usage is indicative of poor video decoding
ability on the part of the integrated graphics subsystem. If CPU usage reached
extremely high levels and the video skipped or froze, we concluded the board
(in conjunction with the processor) failed to adequately decompress the clip.
Enhanced Intel Speed Step was enabled and Aero Glass was disabled during testing.
Video Test Suite
720p H.264: BBC’s HD in Full Bloom is encoded with H.264. It features time-lapsed photography, mainly of various flowers blooming with vibrant colors and high contrast. |
1080p H.264: Rush Hour 3 Trailer 1 is encoded with H.264. It has a good mixture of light and dark scenes, interspersed with fast-motion action and cutaways. |
WMV3 VC-1: Coral Reef Adventure trailer is encoded in VC-1 using the WMV3 codec (commonly recognized by the moniker, “HD WMV”). It features multiple outdoor landscape and dark underwater scenes. |
WVC1 VC-1: Microsoft Flight Simulator X trailer is encoded in VC-1. It’s a compilation of in-game action from a third person point of view. While the source image quality is poor compared to the other videos in our test suite, it is encoded using the Windows Media Video 9 Advanced Profile (aka WVC1) codec — a much more demanding implementation of VC-1. |
Test Results: Power Consumption | ||||
Test State | System Power Consumption (AC) | |||
2.13Ghz (EIST) | 2.13Ghz (1.100V) | 1.60Ghz (1.100V) | 1.20Ghz (1.100V) | |
Off | 3W | 3W | 3W | 3W |
Sleep (S3) | 4W | 4W | 4W | 4W |
Idle | 56W | 53W | 53W | 49W |
Prime95 | 97W | 77W | 73W | 60W |
Prime95 + ATITool | 99W | 79W | 75W | 62W |
At stock settings, the system power consumption reached almost 100W when both
Prime95 and ATITool’s artifact scanner were run concurrently. When undervolted
to 1.100V, there was a significant reduction of approximately 20% at load. Underclocking
also yielded some further power savings, though not nearly as dramatic. We can
only imagine what numbers we would’ve seen if the board allowed us to go below
1.100V. Undervolting (if stable) is an easy way to keep the electric bill low
and allows slower, quieter CPU and system fans to be used.
Test Results: Video Playback | ||||
Video Clip | Mean CPU Usage | Peak CPU Usage (Either Core) | System Power (AC) | |
Core 0 / 1 | Average | |||
720p H.264 | 19% / 15% | 17.0% | 35% | 63W |
1080p H.264 | 33% / 20% | 26.5% | 63% | 65W |
WMV3 VC-1 | 24% / 28% | 26.0% | 49% | 65W |
WVC1 VC-1 | 45% / 32% | 38.5% | 67% | 73W |
WVC1 (1.6Ghz) | 40% / 48% | 44.0% | 75% | 65W |
WVC1 (1.2Ghz) | 100% / 100% | 100.0% | 100% | 58W |
Video playback was excellent as none of the clips gave the test system any
problems. The demanding WVC1 clip was also played with the system underclocked
to 1.6Ghz and 1.2Ghz. At 1.6Ghz there was a moderate increase in CPU usage,
but also a sizable decrease in power consumption. At this speed, it still rendered
the video smoothly with plenty of headroom. Intel’s slowest dual core processor
happens to be clocked at 1.6Ghz, so in conjunction with a G35 motherboard, all
of Intel’s slower dual core processors are fast enough to play back the majority
of H.264 and VC-1 videos adequately. At 1.2Ghz, the clip stuttered frequently
and there were complete pauses in some spots. If underclocking, we recommend
keeping the clock speed to at least 1.4Ghz for proper VC-1 playback.
COMPARING G35 and G33
It’s not really a faceoff between chipsets, rather, it’s one between specific motherboards. A chipset comparison would require many different board samples. However, it’s interesting to compare this board against the Intel DG33TL reviewed last week, equipped with the earlier G33 chipset and GMA X3000 graphics.
Comparison: Asus P5E-VM HDMI (G35) vs. Intel DG33TL (G33) | ||||
Test State | P5E-VM HDMI (G35) | DG33TL (G33) | ||
Average CPU Usage | System Power (AC) | Average CPU Usage | System Power (AC) | |
Off | N/A | 3W | N/A | 2W |
Sleep (S3) | N/A | 4W | N/A | 3W |
Idle | 0% | 56W | 0% | 52W |
720p H.264 | 17.0% | ~63W | 14.5% | ~55W |
1080p H.264 | 26.5% | ~65W | 25.0% | ~58W |
WMV3 VC-1 | 26.0% | ~65W | 28.5% | ~58W |
WVC1 VC-1 | 44.0% | ~73W | 52.0% | ~71W |
Prime95 (x2) | 100% | 97W | 100% | 96W |
The new Asus shows a slight improvements in video playback. Looking at the power
consumption numbers we find that at idle there was only a 4W gap, but the difference was negligible when running
Prime95. The most notable differences occurred
during video playback testing, where power consumption was up to 8W higher.
These results seem to indicate that the more advanced integrated graphics of
the G35 chipset simply has a higher overhead.
During stress testing, both chipset heatsinks became very hot. While
this was expected on the much smaller southbridge heatsink, it was more of a surprise on the much larger northbridge heatsink. This may be
due, again, to the more advanced GMA X3500 graphics.
OVERCLOCKING
Normally we don’t delve into overclocking, but we were curious to know whether all these settings were window dressing or
if you could actually accomplish a good overclock. We used an Intel Core 2 Duo
E6400 (8 x 266Mhz) with CPU voltage increased to 1.40V and multiplier lowered
to 6x and Corsair Dominator PC2-8500 memory. FSB frequency was raised in 5Mhz
increments until it would not boot into Vista.
With all other settings at default, the system booted into Vista at 435Mhz.
At 440Mhz, the screen would blink on and off indicating that it was causing
problems for the integrated video. Our suspicion was confirmed when it booted
up without any problems with a dedicated video card installed. After some more
testing we found that the GMA X3500 was only stable up to 385Mhz — at 390Mhz
ATITool began to detect artifacts. Increasing the northbridge voltage helped
stabilized the GPU, but we didn’t want to continue with the onboard graphics
hampering us.
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Using a Radeon X1950XTX instead gave us a lot more headroom — we reached
a limit of 450Mhz before the board failed to boot. Increasing the
northbridge voltage by 0.10V allowed us to push the board further to 485Mhz.
We did not try to go any higher as we only wanted
to provide a cursory evaluation of its overclocking ability without too much
fiddling.
The chipset heatsinks got quite hot when overclocked so we aimed
a Scythe 120mm fan at them, but it did not help us overclock any further. It
is possible that our E6400 had reached its limit, though we doubt this is
the case as most E6400’s seem to be capable of 3.0Ghz, the CPU
voltage was raised quite a bit and it had more than adequate cooling. 485Mhz is already very
impressive, but it’s probable that the board is capable of even higher speed
with more tweaking. If you plan on overclocking while using the onboard
graphics, we expect you will need to pump a lot of extra voltage into the northbridge.
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Users put off by BIOS overclocking can try it from the desktop using the Asus
AI Suite utility. Unfortunately we were presented with an error message when
we tried to run it in Vista.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Asus has produced a compelling product with the P5E-VM HDMI. The Intel
chipsets provide a huge range of features and an improved graphics engine.
Asus built upon those strengths by implementing solid-state capacitors,
an admirable fan control system, and a wide-open BIOS that makes the board a
surprisingly good overclocker. This last capability really separates it from the
rest of the pack. Unless the extra expansion slots are required, it’s a serious contender for power users
and gamers, which
can’t be said of the majority of mATX mainboards. Housed in a good mATX case such as the Antec NSK3480 or a Silverstone TJ08, the P5E-VM HDMI mated with a good gaming graphics card could form the heart of a quiet, small, yet powerful gaming rig. Despite the improvements in image and video quality of the GX3500 integrated graphics, no gamer could be happy with its performance in modern 3D games (for reasons detailed explicitly from this gaming-oriented review posted by the Register just a couple of days ago.)
The board’s higher power requirements probably wouldn’t be noticed by other reviewers, but energy efficiency is a characterstic we’ve examined and valued for years. Power
consumption was generally higher; with a faster and more advanced DX10
GPU, this may have been unavoidable. A lower limit for CPU undervolting would be nice to see, as the current 1.10V is basically the
same as SpeedStep. Minimizing
CPU voltage can result in substantial reduction of power consumption. Lower CPU voltage options could easily be implemented in a new BIOS release.
On a more practical level, the board is expected
to retail initially for $150~200 — lofty pricing for a mATX board. ($132 was the lowest online price we found just moments before this review was posted.) For HTPC applications, AM2-based mATX boards have developed nicely, offering excellent integrated graphics with both nVidia and AMD690G chipsets, and usually selling at prices under $100. It will be interesting to see whether the higher pricing of this Asus is mirrored in G35 mATX boards from other brands. Whatever the initial selling prices are, we expect it won’t be long before they slide downwards, in the pattern common to almost all in consumer IT products.
The Asus P5E-VM HDMI is not the perfect product
for a silent or green PC, but for all other purposes, it’s close to perfect.
The new X3500 integrated graphics core is Intel’s best thus far, and it provides a nice boost, making HD video possible on this board even with the slowest of Core 2 processors being produced by Intel today. Finally, if you are an enthusiast who has been longing for a socket-775 mATX board
with the overclocking prowess of a premium ATX board, your wait is officially
over.
PROS * Long list of features | CONS * Undervolting is limited |
Our thanks to ASUSTeK
for this motherboard sample.
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Articles of Related Interest
Intel DG33TL mATX mainboard
Asus M2A-VM HDMI: AM2 mATX motherboard
Hiper Media Center Barebones PC
Albatron KI690-AM2: A Mini-ITX Powerhouse
AOpen i945GTt-VFA m-ITX C2D motherboard
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