Weirdest issue I’ve ever seen.

ashrr

Adept
Hello people,

I have this really weird issue which appears to make no sense and I’ve been trying to fix it for close to two years now. I’m at my wits end and I’ve almost given up but I figured I’ll post here if anyone has seen something like this.

Copying from my original thread on reddit -

I've been having this issue for a long time now, and it persists even after replacing just about every component. I play a lot of games, especially Overwatch and Fortnite, but my mouse is never consistent. It doesn't seem to be a software issue because the sensitivity changes after stuff that has nothing to do with my PC directly. Some of which are -

Flipping a switch in another room, turning WiFi off or on in my router even though I'm connected via Ethernet, changing WiFi channels, changing cables like ethernet or power, adding ferrite chokes to my keyboard or even headphones, changing power sockets and so on. Some things make the mouse feel faster, while others make it sluggish. My case is a Lian Li O11 Dynamic which is all glass on the side and front. If I cover the glass with a sheet of metal like say a side panel from another case, my mouse feels more precise in game and the game also feels smoother (micro stuttering is reduced).

Another issue is that my mouse gets incredibly sluggish if I'm playing a competitive game of Overwatch in a full server with 11 others. My bullets and other in game actions are also severely delayed, feels like I'm being weighed down by lead boots or something. Obviously, this also leads to extremely poor hit registration where I miss shots that should have hit and sometimes hit shots that were clearly misses. My latency is a stable 35ms with no packet loss. Now if the server isn't fully populated and has only about 4-5 players, the issues are far less pronounced to the point where it's definitely playable.

Also, if I wiggle my ethernet cables around vigorously, these issues disappear almost completely and games feel great to play. But it always comes back after 10 minutes or so. Unplugging the ethernet cable fixes this I think, but I don't have too many games where I can test offline. When I'm having these issues, my mouse is sluggish in Windows desktop too and scrolling in my browser is rather choppy.

If I change some component, things are okay for a while too but it always comes back. Last week I got a new router and everything was perfect for a few hours until it went back to the delay.

Things that I've already tried -

Multiple Windows clean installs with different versions (builds, Win 7, Win 8.1, 10 etc)

3 different GPUs

2 different PSUs but both were the same brand and model.

2 different motherboards

Completely new PC case, cooling and fans, rebuilding the PC from scratch and reapplying thermal paste carefully

Barebones build breadboard on motherboard box

About 10 different mice and 3 keyboards

2 different headphones

Various power cables

Shielded Ethernet cables for the connection from router to PC.

PCI-E Ethernet card

3 different routers with multiple connectivity configurations like single router, 1 router + 1 AP and so on.

3 different ISPs

3 different UPS solutions

3 different monitors and cables

Moved the PC to another room.

Basically I've replaced just about every part other than the CPU, RAM sticks and PSU model (did try another unit of the same though). CPU appears to work perfectly fine in benchmarks with no heating issues, rendering times of videos is all good. RAM passed memory, and PSU appears to be putting out appropriate voltage... though I'm aware that software readings are inaccurate. My in game framerates are consistently high (200+) but they still feel very choppy and swapping my mouse from a USB 2 port to USB 3 makes it feel extremely different.

Someone suggested that it could be a grounding issue, but I called 5 different electricians and they all said the grounding was just fine. I'm at a complete loss here and since I play competitively, it's hurting my performance in matches.

My specs - i7 6700k, 1070ti, 16 GB GSkill 3200mhz RAM (tried at 2133 too), NXZT Kraken X62 AIO, Lian Li O-11 Dynamic case, Deepcool RF120 Case Fans, Samsung 750 Evo SSD, Seagate 1 TB HDD, Seasonic S12-ii 620w PSU (now changed to Corsair RMX850x).

Currently running a single monitor setup with an Acer Predator XB27H1U, but I also own an LG 24GM77 and an LG 24MP59G. Swapping monitors doesn't help either.

If I move my iPhone away from my PC like to a different room, it becomes better. Another bizarre thing I experienced... I had a second monitor sitting on my desk but it was completely disconnected from mains or gpu. Yet moving it away from the desk changed the way my mouse felt. Finally, unplugging my power cable and holding down my power button for ~30 seconds makes my computer feel great for a while. The next 5 minutes after bootup is perfect in terms of responsiveness, hit registration and so on... but the delay slowly comes back.

The only thing that sort of makes it usable is if I tie one copper wire to my case and put the other end in a flower pot full of soil. Doesn’t make sense to me because like I said many electricians checked my earthing and said it was all fine.

More info - My apartment is in the second floor and there’s a power transformer right in our compound.

Your help would really be appreciated. Cheers!

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Didn't you watched those led indications on your spikeguard? It clearly indicates not just ground but even if live or & neutral is open & or reversed etc.
Electricians are dumb anyways. I always trust spike guards and order those guys to correct the wires accordingly to get the desired results whenever I rent a new apartment.
So may be your ground is fine but what about live & neutral?? It makes huge difference. Every connection should be in place.
Also, when was your entire household wiring done? If it was a decade ago time to rewire entirely with genuine brand copper wiring.

Use stabilizer as well for added security along with ups which you already use.

Having transformer near, inside or under your flat has no -ve effect whatsoever.
 
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You mentioned that you have a UPS solution, could you try to run entirely on battery power, with the mains/other wires disconnected?

Optionally, please call the local tantrik and ask him to do a complete exorcism of the flat. Also, get rid of Apple products, as they are said to be the devil's work :p

Finally, as they say in IT - time for a user change :p
 
definitely grounding issues. do you get slight electrical shocks when touching case? get a (good) electrician to look into it

I get slight electrical shock if I plug into a socket near the ceiling which is currently being used for my AC but the electrician said the grounding pin wasn't making proper contact there since it was a 15A socket. The one I normally use doesn't give me any electric shocks.

Didn't you watched those led indications on your spikeguard? It clearly indicates not just ground but even if live or & neutral is open & or reversed etc.
Electricians are dumb anyways. I always trust spike guards and order those guys to correct the wires accordingly to get the desired results whenever I rent a new apartment.
So may be your ground is fine but what about live & neutral?? It makes huge difference. Every connection should be in place.
Also, when was your entire household wiring done? If it was a decade ago time to rewire entirely with genuine brand copper wiring.

Use stabilizer as well for added security along with ups which you already use.

Having transformer near, inside or under your flat has no -ve effect whatsoever.

Yeah I've tried the spikeguard on nearly every socket in the house that I can reach without getting up on a ladder, and it only shows ALL OK... no indication of reverse polarity. Household wiring would have been done in early 2009 which was when the flat was built, but is that really a long time as far as constructions go? No other device or appliance shows any kind of issue, but then again I guess my computer is the only thing that really has sensitive components. Would a stabilizer help? How should I hook it up? Currently, I have a Luminous Zelio Sine Wave Inverter running in UPS mode powering my PC plus a few other sockets around the house for charging phones and stuff when the power goes out (PC is the only one that has somewhat high power draw, all TVs etc aren't connected to inverter), and then I plug in a Belkin surge protector which then connects to my PC, monitor and router.

You mentioned that you have a UPS solution, could you try to run entirely on battery power, with the mains/other wires disconnected?

Optionally, please call the local tantrik and ask him to do a complete exorcism of the flat. Also, get rid of Apple products, as they are said to be the devil's work :p

Finally, as they say in IT - time for a user change :p

I've tried using the PC during a full power cut on battery backup, no difference. As for the iPhone, I keep it as far away from my PC now as possible, and it helps a bit, but not that much.

Yesterday, I tried unplugging all my routers and plugged in my ACT ethernet cable directly, which seemed to help quite a bit, but I couldn't really test it long enough and it's not a feasible solution for me since the whole house depends on wireless. We have a Chromecast, Google Home, Fire stick, 2 laptops and a few phones and tablets using it. It's not a bandwidth issue either. I've set up QoS rules to give my PC 60% priority in a 100mbit connection.

Honestly, I've even considered the fact that it's me but I've played in multiple LAN tournaments in the past two years and have had no issues. Same thing when I go to friends' houses.

Any time I change a component or rebuild my PC, everything is perfect for 15-20 minutes. Then it slowly turns to crap again. To describe it further, it feels like a severe desync between any input that I give and the computer responding. Opening video files takes a few seconds in Windows (i've tested my SSD and HDD, they're fine) instead of being instant, browsing is slow, and in games... let's say I press the right click button to scope in with a gun, it takes a little bit of time before it actually happens. Same thing with movement and other abilities. Feels like I'm playing with 400ms instead of 40.
 
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Its very weird that only your pc is suffering and not other electrical peripherals but pc being multi functional it is easy to sense trouble within your electricity.

Idle house wiring replacement time is anywhere from 10yr-15yr but it all depends with what brand and material was used for the wiring. If it was cheaper then even within 10yr you need to rewire.

Connect your stabilizer to the wall outlet, then your ups to stabilizer and then further your pc wires to ups.

Do you got inverter system in your house?
 
Yes current setup is inverter running in UPS mode and it’s socket powers a surge protector which powers PC etc. I have a cheap ups that seems to do more harm than good if I plug into the socket, but I also had an APC earlier which didn’t help the issue. It doesn’t work anymore though.

The biggest changes I see is when I physically move stuff around like monitor away from cabinet or router farther away. When I do that everything becomes responsive again for a while but it invariably comes back after a few hours. I’m suspecting EMI interference maybe?

Maybe I should force electrician to come and install separate earthing for my room alone with a wire going straight down from my window.
 
Does look like some kind of interference, may be try covering your pc case with aluminium foil or something? what other equipments are near your pc? did you try moving pc to your friends home or nearby apartment or something? so we can atleast isolate where the issue is..like if it is within the pc or external factors.
 
Does look like some kind of interference, may be try covering your pc case with aluminium foil or something? what other equipments are near your pc? did you try moving pc to your friends home or nearby apartment or something? so we can atleast isolate where the issue is..like if it is within the pc or external factors.

I wrapped it in aluminium foil and it made no big difference BUT if i block the full glass window with a side panel from an older metal case, the feel of my mouse changes. It doesn't make it better, in fact it's a little slower, but it's definitely noticeable right away. But the weird thing is my previous case was nearly all metal with a smaller plastic window, and these issues were still there.

Previous case - http://www.deepcool.com/product/case/2014-05/9_840.shtml
Current case - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lian-li-pc-o11-dynamic-midi-tower-white-window-ca-76t-ll.html

As for other equipment, I used to have a full dual monitor set up but I've stripped all that down to the essentials. On my desk is the case, monitor, mouse, kb, headphones and surge protector. The router is on the floor for now, about 3 feet away from the desk. No big electrical appliances in the room except a split AC on top.

I haven't tried moving the PC to a friend's place yet... this case is not very good for portability since both the side panel and front are mostly tempered glass. I'm worried about scratches or cracks.
 
hmm interesting.have you ran it without AC running in the background? Transformer is a source of emf AFAIK, may be that is also playing a role. but if that is the case you shouldn't have this issue when there are power cuts.
 
hmm interesting.have you ran it without AC running in the background? Transformer is a source of emf AFAIK, may be that is also playing a role. but if that is the case you shouldn't have this issue when there are power cuts.

Quite recently in fact :( My AC wasn't working for a month. I really feel like it's either interference or some kind of charge build up because if I hold the power button for 30 seconds with psu switched off, it becomes responsive for about 5 minutes.
 
I wrapped it in aluminium foil and it made no big difference BUT if i block the full glass window with a side panel from an older metal case, the feel of my mouse changes. It doesn't make it better, in fact it's a little slower, but it's definitely noticeable right away. But the weird thing is my previous case was nearly all metal with a smaller plastic window, and these issues were still there.

Maybe you need a Faraday cage for your setup like in the Enemy Of The State movie.
 
Have you checked it with a wired mouse ? BTW what is your motherboard make and model number mate ?. I can see you have failed to give this information in your post.
 
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