I skim the titles of the first 3-4 pages of the main feed (top posts).
Then I skim the titles of the first 3-4 pages of "new", maybe more depending on how many are good vs. spammy.
I really enjoy both, but if I had to pick it would be "new". It's seconds of effort to pick through the spammy new posts and I'll often find interesting things there that don't "get traction" for no real reason.
And - as much as everyone, myself included, is attracted to a good dumpster fire [1], I really do prefer articles that are technically or historically oriented and that I either learn from or could even constructively comment on. Vs. politics. Meh. Perhaps the scoring system for "top articles" over emphasizes too much comments and views (which could be just bickering or controversy) over content.