under £900 (Black and Red) Gaming PC Part List, What is your opinion?

SpeedLynx · Aug 19, 2015

Hey guys, I have found this PC on Ebay UK with an offer price of £856.99 with the Recommended Retail Price (RRP) being at £1,362.61. What is your view on these specifications?

Case: Aerocool Red / Black Case
Power Supply: Aerocool 850W VP Pro 80 Plus Certified Power Supply
Motherboard: Gigabyte 78LMT-USB3
CPU: AMD FX 4300 Quad Core CPU 3.5Ghz (turbo 4.0Ghz)
Hard Drive: 1tb Sata Hard Drive
Memory: 16gb DDR3 1600mhz Branded Memory
Graphics Card: Geforce GTX 980 TI 6GB (Multi screen supported)
Optical Drive: 24x Dual Layer DVD Writer
Warranty: 12 Months Return To Base (Parts & Labour)
Connections: 6 x USB 2.0 / 2 x USB 3.0 / LAN / Sound
Software: Windows 10 Home 64 Bit

I'll be using it for recording games at 1920x1080 for YouTube, streaming to twitch either using Xplit or OBS, editing videos on Corel VideoStudio ProX7 and just generally playing games and making images using Paint.net or (I know) PowerPoint.

So do you feel like that is a bargain?
Do you think the Computer will be capable to do what I am wanting to use it for? Or should I wait and go for an intel processor instead?

^ Original Post

Update:
After a few days of thinking I took another look at a setup KKAW gave me, quoted below in the spoiler.

KKAW :

Since then I had a little explore on PCPartpicker and found similar items but this time sticking to one colour scheme, Black and Red (It looks cool and hey what's the point in a custom pc if it's not aesthetically pleasing, right?) I also put made the price a lot closer to my maximum budget and added windows 7 as an operating system as a price guideline. (Though I'd probably upgrade or buy windows 10 anyway).

Here is the list below.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£172.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 45.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (£16.55 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Memory: Kingston Savage 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£66.22 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive (£52.98 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£269.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: CiT VANQUISH RED ATX Mid Tower Case (£33.47 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£57.35 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£9.36 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 OEM (64-bit) (£67.95 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £836.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-24 07:10 BST+0100

In theory this should mean I can overclock if necessary?
The Windows 7 Operating system is a guideline for pricing by the way.

Update: Ok so I've decided to purchase all the parts, here's a final list of parts and price, because the prices on PCPartChecker were only estimates.

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (Estimate £172.99 @ Aria PC) (Actual £178.98 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 45.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (Estimate £16.55 @ Scan.co.uk) (Actual £18.43 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (Estimate £89.99 @ Novatech) (Actual £89.99 @ Novatech)
Memory: Kingston Savage 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (Estimate £66.22 @ Amazon UK) (Actual 65.24 @ Amazon UK) Buying 2x8GB RAM separate is cheaper than buying 2X8GB RAM together, WTF??
OS SSD: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£32.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive (Estimate £52.98 @ Amazon UK) (Actual £52.98)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (Estimate £269.99 @ Aria PC) (Actual £225.10 (Used) @ AmazonUK) Turns out that Aria adds an extra £65 VAT to the estimated price so I went for a used one on amazon instead
Case: CiT VANQUISH RED ATX Mid Tower Case (Estimate £33.47 @ CCL Computers) (Actual £37.42 @ CCL Computers) These guys force you to pay delivery, but I like that case a lot soo...
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (Estimate £57.35 @ Aria PC) (Actual £65.69 @ Aria PC) Once again I had encountered the tremendous amount of VAT that Aria adds on, but since this was the cheapest of this type of power supply I went for it.
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£9.36 @ CCL Computers) (Have not bought yet)
Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit Pro (Actual 33.00 @
Estimate total:£836.85
Total so far: £801.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts

turbopiki · Aug 19, 2015

fx-4300 will bottleneck GTX 980TI like hell
Also the PSU is bad quality

Cheaper and better

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor (£176.34 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97P-D3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£58.52 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston Savage 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£61.86 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£69.19 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£33.98 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£247.19 @ Aria PC)
Case: Zalman Z3 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case (£25.29 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£49.98 @ Novatech)
Total: £722.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-19 14:54 BST+0100

-You can get better GPU like GTX 980 should still be under you budget, but GTX 970 should be fine for 1080p
-16 gb in dual channel will do you great for your video editing needs
-also i picked good quality PSU
-Best budget case with 4 pre-installed fans
-SSD will speed up your whole system alot
-
Xeon is i7 CPU without IGPU so extra threads will help you alot with video editing and streaming

KKAW · Aug 19, 2015

SpeedLynx :

I don't know who built this PC but they clearly do not have enough experience to retail a PC.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£140.47 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£60.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£38.34 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£33.98 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0 Video Card (£264.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 Advanced ATX Mid Tower Case (£68.29 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£57.35 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£9.38 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)
Total: £673.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-19 15:13 BST+0100

1. Gaming the i5 4460 is nowhere near the FX 4300, the FX series are ancient and have terrible fps and terrible stability.
2. You are recommended to have a Tier 2 PSU minimally for a gaming build, the GTX 970 only needs 500W and a Tier 1 Excellent Quality 550W PSU will be more than enough.
3. This motherboard does everything that motherboard will do and better.
4. Best bang for buck 1TB HDD out there.
5. If you are gaming and doing other basic ~ intermediate tasks there is no way you will need more than 8 GB of RAM unless you do a lot of multitasking
6. That GTX 980 Ti is probably the blower style which is hotter, more load and will perform poorly compared to an aftermarket one.
7. This build has everything you need + a much better gaming experience.
8. Keep in mind the Windows 10 is not included in the PC Part Picker Price.

You may ask: why would i get the GTX 970 compared to the GTX 980 Ti.
The FX 4300 will bottleneck the heck out of the GTX 980 Ti. Also the SSC GTX 970 is an excellent option.

tech-wreck · Aug 19, 2015

4. best bang for what? LOL!

nice edit

anyhow, typos excepted, those are good answers up there, that pc on ebay is junk, even for a pre-built one.

KKAW · Aug 19, 2015

tech-wreck :

o.o sorry typo ....

SpeedLynx · Aug 19, 2015

Hi people, thank you for your answers, I'm very skeptical about Xeon Cores, from what I've researched they aren't really built for running games.

As for this.

The PC company that I was looking at is called FreshTech. They are on Ebay if you want to tell them to change their business plans

To start, I'm quite unsure about PC building, I mean, I understand that people call it "adult legos", but it's all very scary to me since it would be my first time.

I am seriously addicted to the GTX 980ti, are their any processors that are capable of avoiding bottlenecks? I guess I could wait another month for my next pay. I mean 6GB GDDR5 ram is extremely attractive.

What's your opinion on the GTX 980? I'm also skeptical about the 970 because of the whole 3.5GB

Also

best bang for fuck.

You've put a smile on my face XD.

Do you know if 8GB of RAM can support recording and rendering? I might go for that and upgrade later if necessary.

What's your opinion on Chillblast PC builders? I know they are pretty expensive but they are known for being really good.

turbopiki · Aug 19, 2015

-Xeon will run games same as i7 since its the same chip, the only difference is that it doesnt have IGPU
-You need to start somewhere, or you will never build your PC just watch a couple of "how to build a PC" videos on youtube
-GTX 980Ti is a waste of money for 1080p monitor, gtx 970 is able to run all games on 1080p on Ultra maybe some on high settings
-You wont use extra GPU memory on 1080p monitor, only game i know that is capable of using more than 3.5gb of vram is Witcher 3 if you play it on ULTRA
-yes it can but with 16gb of ram you would lower render time alot

if you want pre-built PC here you can select your parts and they offer good quality parts also they are cheaper thany anyone else i know

https://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/

KKAW · Aug 19, 2015

T^T I've done something like that a couple of times on the forums by accident and every time i do it everyone seems to enjoy it ^^ (i make a lot of typos especially since i type fast)

Well even i was very scared but honestly when i built my first PC with a help of a friend (he had no idea how to build one) it took me around an hour to physically build it. It's not too difficult, put the components in one at a time plug in the cables together and there you go!

Also these two videos helped me through, however the motherboard actually has a very easy to follow guide on how to build the PC and the manuals on a few other components will aid you too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIF43-0mDk4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zAdwedmj1M

It's such a rewarding experience, i would highly recommend you to build your own, i promise it won't take that long and besides if you ever face trouble you can ask in the forums and we will hep you.

Anyways if you are still feeling a tad bit skeptical and would rather have a pre built this one seems to be a great prebuilt for the price:

http://www.chillblast.com/Chillblast-Fusion-Mantis-Gaming-PC.html

If you are going to do heavy recording and rendering a 16 GB will be a good investment, however if you are only going to do it once a week or less 8 GB will suffice.

In 1080P even 2 GB of VRAM is enough. Some specific games that utilize a lot of VRAM will actually use more however for 1080P you don't get any better than the GTX 970, especially since it overclock's well.
However if you are not planning on overclocking the R9 390 is also an excellent choice.

SpeedLynx · Aug 19, 2015

Hi Turbopiki, thank you for the information about Xeon cores, I really didn't know that. I tried out the custom PC builder and here's what I got.

http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/saved/960846)

CASE: Corsair Carbide 230T Mid-Tower Gaming Case (Black/Red Colour)
CPU: INTEL® Core™ i5-4690K Quad Core 3.50 GHz 6MB Cache LGA1150 + HD Graphics *** Extreme OC ***
CS_FAN: Default Case Fan
FAN: Cooler Master Hyper 412S CPU Fan with 4 x Direct Contact heat-pipes, Extreme performance and Ultra quiet *** Extreme OC *** [-6]
FREEBIE_CU1: FREE Intel Q2 2015 Standard Pack [+0]
HDD: 1TB Seagate Hybrid Gen3 SATA-III 6.0Gb/s Cache 5400RPM SSHD [+16] (Single Hard Drive)
MEMORY: 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3/1866mhz Dual Channel Memory (HyperX Fury White w/Heat Spreader)
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS H81M-P INTEL H81 Chipset, Micro ATX Mainboard w/ 2 RAM slots, 8-Channel High Definition Audio, GbLAN, USB 3.0, SATA-III, 1x Gen2 PCIe x16, 1x PCIe x 1 [-25]
NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
OS: Windows 10 Home (64-bit Edition)
POWERSUPPLY: 700 Watts Power Supplies [+39] (Cooler Master 700 Watts B700 B2 Gaming Power Supply, 80+)
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
VIDEO: MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 4GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card [+271] (Single Card)
WARRANTY: DESKTOP STANDARD WARRANTY: 3 Year Labour, 2 Year Parts, 1 Month Collect and Return plus Life-Time Technical Support
PRICE: £871

Just so people know I'd probably be recording games within the range of GTA V, Minecraft, Portal 2, TF2, and maybe some Assassin's Creed and Witcher 3. If I used a second monitor does that change anything? Though I'd probably only use the second monitor for looking at Twitch Chat or Browsing Social Media during streaming. As for editing, the program I use has multi layer editing (for chromakeying), The amount of videos I'd edit per week depends on the complexity of the video and how long it takes to edit tbh.

For those who understand video stuff:
My Camera outputs files as a 1920 x 1088 .MOV at 25fps, the recorder at my College however outputs as 1920 x 1080 .MOV but with an Apple ProRes 422 Codec (This makes the file larger) their cameras output a 1920 x 1080 .MTS file (I realise this is unpractical but I doubt they'd change that)

Here's an example from what I am editing at the moment:

It's taken me about 2-3 weeks to get this far and I'm not even close to finishing :pfff:

Ok, so the GTX 980 is probably a little overkill, I think I'm a little powerhungry, though isn't it a good idea to futureproof a little?

Oh if you are wondering here's what I'm currently using. (Prepare to be appalled)

Case: Dell OptiPlex 745
Power Supply: 280watt Power Supply from Dell
Motherboard: Dell 0MM599 with Q965 Chipset
CPU: Pentium D 945 Dual Core CPU 3.4 Ghz
Hard Drive: 80GB WDC WD800JD-75MSA3
Memory: 2x 1GB Samsung DDR2 333MHz and 2x 1GB Micron Technology DDR2 333MHz (Totalling 4GB DDR2 333MHz)
Graphics Card: 1GB AMD Radeon HD 5450 650MHz
Optical Drive: 16X Philips DROM6316 HH SATA
Software: Windows 10 Home Edition

Welcome to the Stone Age of PCs, am I right? XD
I'm using a 37inch LG3000 as a Monitor, but I have another monitor which is currently disused due to limitations of hardware.

Also does using a Webcam whilst recording/streaming affect anything, if so I'd be using a Logitech HD Pro C920, this outputs an image at 1080p

Oh also, do any of you guys watch LinusTechTips/NCIXTechTips on youtube, I've kinda used them for research so far.

madmatt30 · Aug 19, 2015

Christ mate - can only echo what everyone's said.
That rig is the most unbalanced bag o sh1te I've ever seen!.

Don't use cyber power mate seriously.
If youve got money to spend & honestly can't build your own then use overclockers.co.UK custom build option.

They're by far the best- you'll pay a bit more ,you'll get a better system with no weak or cheaparse components

Btw - the 980 is not good value ,go with a 970 is my advice.

SpeedLynx · Aug 19, 2015

madmatt30 :

Thank you for the advice, sorry for my stubbornness for when it comes to the Graphics Card, I can tell that I still have a lot to learn. Your profile picture is probably expressing your feelings from seeing the specs of the rig. XD

sora · Aug 19, 2015

tech-wreck :

eBay computers and computer parts are just sketchy in general.

tech-wreck · Aug 19, 2015

sora :

yeah, maybe. but for older, cheap parts for older, cheap PCs it's worth a punt now and again. the only thing i definitely wouldn't consider used is a power supply.

SpeedLynx · Aug 24, 2015

Hi KKAW,
After a few days of thinking I took another look at the setup you gave me, quoted below in the spoiler.

KKAW :

Since then I had a little explore on PCPartpicker and found similar items but this time sticking to one colour scheme, Black and Red (It looks cool and hey what's the point in a custom pc if it's not aesthetically pleasing, right?) I also put made the price a lot closer to my maximum budget and added windows 7 as an operating system as a price guideline. (Though I'd probably upgrade or buy windows 10 anyway).

Here is the list below.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£172.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 45.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (£16.55 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Memory: Kingston Savage 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£66.22 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive (£52.98 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£269.99 @ Aria PC)
Case: CiT VANQUISH RED ATX Mid Tower Case (£33.47 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£57.35 @ Aria PC)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£9.36 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 OEM (64-bit) (£67.95 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £836.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-24 07:10 BST+0100

In theory this should mean I can overclock if necessary?

SpeedLynx · Aug 24, 2015

Ok so I've decided to purchase all the parts, here's a final list of parts and price, because the prices on PCPartChecker were only estimates.

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (Estimate £172.99 @ Aria PC) (Actual £178.98 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 45.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (Estimate £16.55 @ Scan.co.uk) (Actual £18.43 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (Estimate £89.99 @ Novatech) (Actual £89.99 @ Novatech)
Memory: Kingston Savage 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (Estimate £66.22 @ Amazon UK) (Actual 65.24 @ Amazon UK) Buying 2x8GB RAM separate is cheaper than buying 2X8GB RAM together, WTF??
Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive (Estimate £52.98 @ Amazon UK) (Actual £52.98)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (Estimate £269.99 @ Aria PC) (Actual £225.10 (Used) @ AmazonUK) Turns out that Aria adds an extra £65 VAT to the estimated price so I went for a used one on amazon instead
Case: CiT VANQUISH RED ATX Mid Tower Case (Estimate £33.47 @ CCL Computers) (Actual £37.42 @ CCL Computers) These guys force you to pay delivery, but I like that case a lot soo...
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (Estimate £57.35 @ Aria PC) (Actual £65.69 @ Aria PC) Once again I had encountered the tremendous amount of VAT that Aria adds on, but since this was the cheapest of this type of power supply I went for it.
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£9.36 @ CCL Computers) (Have not bought yet)
Operating System: Not sure where to get it
Estimate total:£836.85
Total so far: £801.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts

tech-wreck · Aug 24, 2015

CCL use DPD for their parcel deliveries, well worth the cost

SpeedLynx · Aug 24, 2015

tech-wreck :

I'll be honest, if it means that the case will arrive with no damage or loss in transport, I agree with you there.

madmatt30 · Aug 25, 2015

You're going to want a better cooler than the freezer 7 mate if you want to have a play over clocking.

Same price - much better
Zalman CNPS10X Optima Heatsink and Fan https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0073QBIO6/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_JN-2vbFW5JZGG

SpeedLynx · Aug 25, 2015

madmatt30 :

Hey again madmatt30, thank you so much for the suggestion, unfortunately I've already bought the product. However, fortunately I have since cancelled my order before they could dispatch and hopefully I will get a refund to buy the product you suggested instead

I'll have to wait a day before I can purchase it though and make sure that I get my refund for the other product.

madmatt30 · Aug 25, 2015

You'll have no problem with amazon refund if not dispatched yet mate - it should be near instant.

That freezer 7 is OK for quietness but not for temps or over clocking.

There are better coolers than the zalman but not for under £20 - its a very very good buy at that price.

SpeedLynx · Aug 25, 2015

madmatt30 :

I agree, will I have to buy Thermal Paste or does this cooler come with it pre-pasted?

madmatt30 · Aug 25, 2015

Comes with a small sachet to apply yourself - no need to buy any.

SpeedLynx · Aug 25, 2015

madmatt30 :

Ok I'm glad.

I just checked a forum and then Zalman's website, the forum says that the RPM is 1700 - 10000RPM but Zalman's own website says it is 1000-1700RPM.

This is confusing and as a note the Arctic Pro is 900-2500RPM

Is RPM something that matters, or is it not that what counts?

madmatt30 · Aug 25, 2015

The arctic pro has a 92mm fan the zalman has a 120mm.

Bigger fans are capable of pushing more air at a lower rpm than a smaller fan - hence the speed differences.

120mm coolers are better performing & quieter than 92mm coolers 99% of the time.

SpeedLynx · Aug 25, 2015

madmatt30 :

Cool, thank you for the information.

I'll update the parts list later on today.

under £900 (Black and Red) Gaming PC Part List, What is your opinion?

Reputable

Dignified

Admirable

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Titan

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Splendid

Honorable

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Reputable

Honorable

Reputable

Titan

Reputable

Titan

Reputable

Titan

Reputable

Titan

Reputable

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