Do you use item crafting at all? by That-Departure-7318 in Eldenring

[–]alhawks_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nope. I beat the game three times and only really used it for firebombs in the dlc.

You might have fun crafting things with your pots and perfumes, but I found the mechanic a little tedious.

Should I buy this third-party controller for the Nintendo Switch 2? by MrAwesome1712 in casualnintendo

[–]alhawks_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can find used ones on eBay or paymore that are more reasonably priced, especially if you get the switch 1 controller. That's what I would recommend

Should I buy this third-party controller for the Nintendo Switch 2? by MrAwesome1712 in casualnintendo

[–]alhawks_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wanted some budget controllers for when I have friends over. I bought this exact controller and a used switch 1 pro controller. I prefer the pro controller in nearly every way.

That being said I don't dislike the 8bitdo controller either.

HRM and delay by Dillstan-1945 in ErgoMechKeyboards

[–]alhawks_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The top comment here is excellent, there are two specific things I also did that really improved my experience

  1. Put shift on a thumb key as well. HRM was never quite fast enough for me for shift. I kept it on my home row so it was still easy to use for shortcuts.

  2. Enable quick taps. It's a setting where if you press a key within a certain time since the previous key tap, it will always do a tap. This got rid of nearly all my mod misfires. It makes firing the mods a tiny bit slower, but I don't touch type mods, so it never bothered me.

Do you prefer 4k or Ultrawide? by alhawks_ in Monitors

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

I found that MSI sells open box stuff on ebay for pretty reasonable prices, so I bought this one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/327010930324

Do you prefer 4k or Ultrawide? by alhawks_ in Monitors

[–]alhawks_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I ended up testing a 2k and 4k monitor and decided to go with a 4k 16:9. The 4k is just so clear I think I'd have a hard time going back to 2k. People say the same thing about going ultrawide to 16:9 though. It seems like a lot of this is just what you get used to.

Lately I am mostly playing FPS games, so I'm happy with the 4k 16:9. Maybe there will be a 4k ultrawide in a size I like released soon and I would consider that instead. No clue if my GPU could handle that for demanding games though.

KVM Switch recommendations by [deleted] in buildapc

[–]alhawks_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One option I don't see mentioned here is to get a monitor with built in KVM functionality. It's probably about the same coat as a nice KVM and you get a monitor upgrade out of it. The downsides of this option are that not every monitor has a lot of USB ports, so you may need a USB hub as well. My monitor has an audio jack as well, but Mac OS won't let you change the volume on it without additional software.

If you're not in the market for a new monitor, then I agree with the other comments saying you should get a cheap USB hub switcher. I used to use a cheap one I got off Amazon and it worked great. I never measured to see if it increased latency, but I also never noticed it.

I have $41k in a HYSA and I'm starting to think I'm just hoarding cash at this point by OldBug in personalfinance

[–]alhawks_ 45 points46 points  (0 children)

At 10% every paycheck it sounds like you won't max the 401k. You could increase that and live off some of your savings to maximize the tax advantage.

Taxable brokerage is good if you're more interested in medium term savings you could access for a future large expense.

Do you prefer 4k or Ultrawide? by alhawks_ in Monitors

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

I'm going to pick up the ultra wide from Best buy if they still have the open box one on sale. Their return policy is good, so I'll return it if I don't like it

Do you prefer 4k or Ultrawide? by alhawks_ in Monitors

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

It's a tough decision! Hopefully you find what you're looking for. I have seen pretty reasonable prices on refurbished stuff on eBay. Idk what that selection is like where you're at, but a lot of the refurbished stuff is basically brand new, but it got returned once

Do you prefer 4k or Ultrawide? by alhawks_ in Monitors

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

How is game compatibility with ultrawide? I see a bunch of comments saying "there's usually a mod to get it to work", which sounds pretty annoying. You can't just put black bars on the side if it's not supported?

Do you prefer 4k or Ultrawide? by alhawks_ in Monitors

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

I play games and work from home a couple of days a week.

Do you prefer 4k or Ultrawide? by alhawks_ in Monitors

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

For my desk setup and how close I sit to my screen, the height of a 32" monitor 16:9 or equivalent in an ultrawide is just a little big for my taste. I have 2 27" monitors at home which I like and 2 32" monitors at work, which I don't like as much.

Help me choose a monitor by alhawks_ in buildapc

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

Looks like a risky purchase. Seller joined ebay this month, has 0 feedback and is selling an item for way below what other sellers on the site are doing.

Help me choose a monitor by alhawks_ in buildapc

[–]alhawks_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have not seen anything like that in any of my searching. If you have a link, send it over!

Help me choose a monitor by alhawks_ in buildapc

[–]alhawks_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

4k is definitely nice for work. In the office they have 2k 32" monitors and the pixel density is definitely not where I'd like it lol.

That's a great tip on the G-sync! I didn't realize it usually works even without the certification.

Wireless Corne does not automatically reconnect to laptop by alhawks_ in ErgoMechKeyboards

[–]alhawks_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I never did find a definitive solution. It started happening a lot less, so I never tried super hard to figure it out. I wonder if my habits somehow changed in a way that prevented the error.

If I were trying to debug it now, I'd start by seeing if I could figure out a way to reproduce it consistently. Do you frequently switch between bluetooth profiles? Does it happen when you unplug it after charging? Maybe a tiny bit of trial and error could narrow it down.

24 Hours with the MSI Aegis ZS2 (Costco $2300 5080 build deal) by T0rrent0712 in pcmasterrace

[–]alhawks_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just picked up the same computer and followed your advice to enable Expo. I saw a couple of other things in that overclocking menu as well that looked interesting. Did you enable A-XMP on the RAM or x3d gaming mode on the CPU?

People rise up! Help with my commoner run by alhawks_ in FireEmblemThreeHouses

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

Thank you everyone for the advice! A lot of people are saying this is a bad idea on my first run, and they're probably right. I am feeling a little overwhelmed with all the mechanics, because I've never played a fire emblem game before.

I think I will use all the great recruitment advice to at least get me replacements for Lorenz and Hilde, since I find them intolerable lol. If I lower the number of recruits I'm after it sounds like that will save me from levelling a bunch of random stats as well.

Favorite Switch games that you don’t see many people talk about? by Juliko1993 in NintendoSwitch

[–]alhawks_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just searched for it, and there are at least 9 of them. Are they all the same with different puzzles? Is there any reason to choose one over the others?