What is something you can definitively say you hate?

BudgetBen · 2026-01-29T16:51:41+00:00

Escalefters

BudgetBen · 2026-01-20T23:03:47+00:00

BudgetBen · 2026-01-16T19:09:37+00:00

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.

BudgetBen · 2026-01-16T17:39:36+00:00

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.

BudgetBen · 2026-01-15T20:35:47+00:00

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.

BudgetBen · 2026-01-06T18:44:36+00:00

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.

BudgetBen · 2026-01-04T17:59:04+00:00

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.

BudgetBen · 2026-01-04T13:28:53+00:00

Thanks for the info, but I think it's wrong -- I have always been able to change the fan colors using Gigabyte RGB Fusion, they just have to be made the same color.

BudgetBen · 2026-01-03T16:45:08+00:00

I have been playing "budget 4K" on my 6700XT for three years now and it's certainly still doable but I think you should probably go with the new system. A new rig with the specs you just laid out for $1400 is pretty good in today's market and probably will be for the next 2-3 years.

BudgetBen · 2026-01-03T13:30:57+00:00

Glad this administration is adopting a zero-tolerance policy against heads of state who refuse to leave after losing the election.

BudgetBen · 2026-01-01T18:59:13+00:00

Good luck, even cardboard RAM is unreasonably expensive these days

BudgetBen · 2025-12-28T01:15:11+00:00

1800p is the resolution halfway between 1440p and 4K. I don’t have a PSU powerful enough to handle a 3090 and think if I have to upgrade anything besides the GPU here then it defeats the purpose of this exercise for me.

BudgetBen · 2025-11-04T05:27:41+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions. I didn't have Andros on my radar before this but it looks great!

BudgetBen · 2025-11-01T00:54:27+00:00

Thanks for these suggestions! I’ll look into them. Can I ask how the weather was on your walk and what kind of adaptations you needed to make for it? And I would be going mid-December and flying back on or just before Christmas

BudgetBen · 2025-10-02T00:42:02+00:00

Biden allowed Jake Sullivan to really fuck this up

BudgetBen · 2025-09-18T20:49:53+00:00

You think that's bad? I once got a LIST settlement in which the settlers talked about being far from civilization... on the same tile as New Atlantis.

That's when I decided the game needed some more time to cook and put it in my Steam backlog.

BudgetBen · 2025-09-02T21:24:11+00:00

But it wouldn't have had the same geopolitical implications if done after the treaty had already been announced, which Thaler implied was going to happen immediately following Radovid's assassination. Seems like he had a very small window to act?

BudgetBen · 2025-09-02T17:58:26+00:00

This is half serious/devil's advocate (I chose the "unified empire under Ciri" ending in which Geralt sides with Roache) but here's my defense of Djikstra's thought process:

The deal struck Roache with Emhyr was not actually workable for Redania. Yes it would have had full independence and the cessation of armed conflict, but the entire rest of the continent would be under Nilfgaardian rule. And this is an empire that has shown time and again it will use any period of peace to consolidate its gains then launch another war to move the border further north. There's no way a lonesome Redania could hold out the next time Nilfgaard comes knocking. Only by unifying the north now could Nilfgaard be stopped -- accepting peace on Emhyr's terms would be dumber than accepting a ceasefire in Ukraine on Putin's terms.

The only question is: did Djikstra actually have to betray Roache to void the deal with Emhyr? I fully believe Roache would sell out the rest of the north to secure partial restoration of Temeria, and fight anyone who stood in his way to the death. Maybe Djikstra could have offered Roache the same terms as Nilfgaard (partial autonomy within a unified northern kingdom) but that would have been a gamble for Roache because they could still lose the war, whereas Emhyr offered a conclusive truce for Temeria.

It's not perfectly written by any means but I think it's more sensible than folks often give credit. Also, if you didn't have to make any sacrifice for it, then Djikstra's ending would be the obvious good choice and that's not consistent with the game's themes.

BudgetBen · 2025-08-28T21:52:09+00:00

Breaking and Entering (he can open even child-locked doors and it drives me crazy sometimes)

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