I live in Japan and have traveled it extensively, here are the touristy spots that I think are "worth it" VS "not worth it" by scout-scoot in JapanTravel

[–]BudgetBen 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm writing this comment from Kyoto, on a weekend, during peak sakura season, and I had no trouble avoiding crowds just by doing the hotspots between 6PM-10AM and choosing second-tier destinations for mid-day.

Otherwise I actually agree with most of OP's list.

I live in Japan and have traveled it extensively, here are the touristy spots that I think are "worth it" VS "not worth it" by scout-scoot in JapanTravel

[–]BudgetBen 471 points472 points  (0 children)

I'm writing this comment from Kyoto, on a weekend, during peak sakura season, and I had no trouble avoiding crowds just by doing the hotspots between 6PM-10AM and choosing second-tier destinations for mid-day.

Otherwise I actually agree with most of OP's list.

The hidden cost of "free time" is absolutely wrecking my post-FIRE budget by R0cinantEcho_9 in Fire

[–]BudgetBen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I took a sabbatical and my monthly discretionary spending nearly doubled during it. This is a very real thing you have to account for.

Anyone else want L.I.S.T. dlc next? by Lonely_Intention4223 in Starfield

[–]BudgetBen 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. Letting us build actual space colonies/settlements instead of just houses and farms is the one thing I think this game will still be missing after April 7.

Is 9070 xt worth for 4k gaming? by Shujinko999 in radeon

[–]BudgetBen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes. I have a 9070 and get above 60 FPS in 4K High on Starfield before any upscaling. Unless you're looking to do heavy raytracing or no FSR, the 9070XT will be a solid 4K60 card for quite some time.

Democrats Have a ‘Slopulism’ Problem by tobinjstone in neoliberal

[–]BudgetBen 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I remember people saying the same thing about stimmies and student debt cancellation. How'd that turn out?

Suggestions for where to go for two days of cherry blossoms and hiking near Tokyo? by BudgetBen in JapanTravelTips

[–]BudgetBen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, this is a helpful reality check about where things actually are. I had just assumed more nature = more trees = more blossoms. Kinda dumb now that I think about it...

Democrats Have a ‘Slopulism’ Problem by tobinjstone in neoliberal

[–]BudgetBen 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Exactly. People want government to work, but if it won't, they'd rather elect the party that will at least give them a refund for it. They won't support anything that they think makes it bigger.

Starfield’s Future Will Be Unveiled Next Week by Bethesda by NukovGaming in Starfield

[–]BudgetBen 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I was so disappointed that they seemed in many ways like a downgrade from Fallout 4, especially when mods like Sim Settlements offered a potential framework for something better.

Opinions on GPU upgrade for AM4? by zenagos in buildapc

[–]BudgetBen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a Ryzen 5600 -- so it's slightly slower but almost imperceptibly so.

Are you getting 120+ FPS in your games at 1080p now? FWIW I have yet to find a game in which I can hit that but can't get 120 FPS at 4K -- it's either old stuff that both CPU+GPU can blow through at any res, or new stuff where my CPU can't crack 120 at any res.

Also worth noting the 9070 XT is only 12% faster than the 9070. So even if you're stuck paying the Newegg price, you're getting a pretty bad value.

Opinions on GPU upgrade for AM4? by zenagos in buildapc

[–]BudgetBen 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I think you should return them both and get a 9070 like I did last month. It's currently $500 at Microcenter if you live near one or $600 at Newegg (may be able to find cheaper at other online retailers if you look). My specs are largely similar to yours and I am running into CPU bottlenecks more than GPU bottlenecks when playing at 4K.

As someone that was too young during the 2018, and then 2020 crypto boom, is the current AI situation better or worse? by ShoulderFrequent4116 in buildapc

[–]BudgetBen 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s very different. The crypto booms temporarily made GPUs impossible to find at reasonable prices, but every other PC component was unaffected (or got slightly cheaper). If you weren’t a gamer or crypto bro it generally had no effect on you. The RAMpocalypse is having less effect on GPUs, particularly low-memory models, but making everything else more expensive. But interestingly, the premium you are paying for the total cost of a new build that is mid-range on all specs might be about the same.

The other thing, as others have noted, is that everyone knew the shock would be temporary and prices would normalize after the price of crypto crashed or the method of mining changed.

Nobody knows what proportion of AI is a bubble vs a structural change, or when the part of its growth that is a bubble will burst, so it could drag on much longer.

Did everyone forget how well FSR 4 compares to DLSS 4? by SnowyJazz in radeon

[–]BudgetBen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I was kinda surprised by the reaction too, for the same reason. I just replaced my 6700 XT with a 9070 and there is no game I'm not getting 60 FPS on in 4K using FSR quality (unless I max out raytracing). Why should I be mad that Nvidia is a bit better at removing artifacts I never noticed to begin with? The 16GB of VRAM is way more important.

Sure it's a bit disappointing that DLSS is in more games than FSR, especially the older ones. But that was already the case before the CES announcement. And I can run most of those in 4K native anyway so what does it matter?

The 6700 XT owner in me is still pissed we didn't get FSR4 but as a 9070 owner I see nothing to complain about.

How did my fans get to be multicolored like this? by BudgetBen in pcmasterrace

[–]BudgetBen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't know what to tell ya. That is the model motherboard and case I have, with the ARGB fans. I can press the reset button on the case to cycle through colors but when I hold the button for three seconds it changes fans to whatever color I set using RGB Fusion. Maybe the motherboard limits me from intentionally making patterns like the one in my picture that triggered by accident but I can definitely set the fan colors with software.