Desync / Input Lag / Output lag - Journey to Eliminate Latency

[Jadzira]

Hi everyone,

I am fighting with the problem since few years and still looking for a solution. I will keep updating the first post regularly so that you don’t have to read all the messages and can stay up to date with the latest information.

I've had many graphics cards, processors, motherboards, monitors, and around four different internet providers, yet the issue persists. I keep experiencing desynchronization. Currently, I'm playing on a 480Hz OLED, Ryzen 9800X3D, RTX 5070, 2x16GB 6000 MHz CL26, and the system is perfectly optimized, with top results in benchmarks and LatencyMon, so there's no chance of any hardware issues (besides, I've played on multiple PCs).

The most interesting part is that I play with friends who have significantly worse hardware (e.g., 144Hz) and a similar ping, and oddly enough, in games like Fortnite, even when I have the "right peek" advantage, they see me faster than I see them.

It's absolutely insane. I even thought maybe something was wrong with my reaction time, maybe I'm reacting like an old man, but I did a test on HumanBenchmark reaction time, and I get an average of 120-140ms, while my friends score around 180-190ms.

Can someone explain how this is even possible? How to fix it?
I should also mention that my entire local infrastructure is connected to Światłowód Inwestycje, which leases it to other providers.


I’ll add some more information.

1. The home network is not overloaded – my wife uses Wi-Fi, but her bandwidth is limited to only 5%, with the rest reserved for the PC.

2. QoS is set up so that the bandwidth and packet transmission priority are set to my device as the primary one.

3. Currently I have an Orange fiber optic connection 300/50 Mbps (In the past it was UPC 600/100 Mbps and INEA 600/600 Mbps). The fiber optic cable goes to the ONT and then from the modem to the PC. The connection to the PC is via an RJ-45 CAT8 cable. I have router Netgear XR500. The network card is set to 1GB/s, and all energy-saving options are disabled.

4. During network tests or gaming, all unnecessary background applications are turned off. Nothing is being downloaded, and nothing is being updated.

5. The firewall in Windows 11 has been intentionally disabled to eliminate any suspicions that something might be interfering with or blocking the connection.

6. The router has the latest firmware, everything is "up to date." Generally, both the router and the computer are working flawlessly.

7. I thought there might be an issue with the power, like some interference or something similar. I plugged a voltage stabilizer into the power outlet, and then connected the computer to it, but it didn’t change anything, and there were no significant voltage deviations displayed on the stabilizer.

I will update info once something new will be involved

Edit:
My mouse works very smoothly and I don't experience any stuttering or jittering. I have my polling rate set to 2000 Hz. In single-player mode in Fortnite, everything is smooth and responsive. The problem occurs when I face opponents. I simply start seeing everything with a delay. It's not about FPS drops because those are stable. The issue is that my opponents see me faster than I see them. And it's not a ping-related difference of around 20-30ms, but rather 150-200ms.

Edit2:
I had a similar setup in the past with an RTX 4070 and Intel 14700KF. The latency was slightly lower (possibly due to the higher CPU clock speed), but unfortunately, it was still noticeably present.

Edit3:
My setup's in the last years with the problem:

Asus TUF B550 Gaming / Ryzen 3700X / GTX 1660 Ti
Asus TUF B550 Gaming / Ryzen 5800X3D / RTX 3060 Ti
MSI Z790 Tomahawk / Intel 13700k / RTX 3060 Ti
AsRock B650E Taichi / Ryzen 7800X3D / RTX 3060 Ti
MSI Z790 Tomahawk / Intel 14700KF / RTX 4070
AsRock B650E Taichi / Ryzen 9800X3D / RTX 4070
Asus X670E E-Gaming / Ryzen 9800X3D / RTX 5070

Edit4:

Driver installer in the bios was disabled and it didn't solve the issue.

Edit5:
I don’t have a floating mouse, my hardware runs flawlessly in single-player games, even in Fortnite. The problem appears when I play against other people — I experience delays that shouldn’t be there and I’m trying to find the cause.

Edit6:
Setting interurupt priority to undefinied does not solve the issue.

Edit7:

I recently tested a power filter (PF-400USB - TAGA Harmony) that cleans dirty current. The power filter is used by audiophiles to eliminate interferences. Unfortunately it did not help, the problem still persists.

Edit8:

I recently installed a program called GearUp Booster and noticed an improvement in online game responsiveness as well as hit registration. The ping dropped by a few milliseconds, although it doesn't always work perfectly — sometimes it's better, sometimes worse. Nevertheless, there is still a noticeable difference compared to when the program is not running.





I made a short video to show, how the problem looks like for me.

phpBB [video]

I have right peak advantage and I bait the enemy, I know he will run on me and I am ready but I see everything later.
I have reaction time like a professional rally driver 120-130ms in humanbenchmark,
very good hardware 480 hz / 480 fps / 29ms ping
and in game there is delay like hell, everyone sees me faster and shoots faster.


If you would like to experience the same thing I am

Test the latency yourself - https://kkmet.com/ping

Put 0ms on left and 150/200ms on the right then test.
That's how it is for me.

[Tuhin Lavania]

Im dealing with the same problem since many years now, but recently ive had a bit of a breakthrough.

Same experiences as you. People who i play with/against have significantly worse hardware ( are on consoles, or lower pc hardware )
i have two systems ( this problem is on both ), current one is a 4090 with a 13900k and a 360hz screen. I will not expand into my problems here since you have listed most of them (superfast enemies, less time to react and etc )

I have my system connected to a stabilizer, which is a audio grade stab ( with emi rf filters ). A month back, i was just browsing and suddenly it hit me to check and open the 20amp plug of the stabilizer which is connected to a 20amp socket. I opened it and to my amazement, the grounding wire was not connected. ( the green one ) i connected it immediately and hopped back in the game and immediately i noticed the enemies were slower.
Now this is definitely not a placebo, as i mostly play against the same players everyday ( custom games ) and i know what ping they are playing on and how they are.
The next day the electrician came to my home to fix grounding of other sockets where i knew had that problem. Even he said, yes improper grounding may pose problems to your PC. After that fix, i usually dont complain much when i play. There are less wtf moments now. Enemies who were unkillable before are now killable, not with ease, but yes its possible.
I dont know how much fixing grounding has helped this problem, but its definitely better than before and its for sure not a placebo, coz like i said i play with/against the same guys. So i know how tough/easy they are.

Please check your grounding as it might create electrical interferences which may cause desync in online games.

Might also be related to isp as i have also changed to all available isps in my area and my current one is a bit better than the other. Network jitter plays a huge role but it is something i dont have control over. Different ftth connections behave differently on the same ping.

[Z3CrosS]

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[adrian_13371]

Chipsets

Can you stop with that chipset thing? You're spreading misinformation, there is zero proof that your theory is true, your "double image/cursor" test is a joke. OP even stated that he tried multiple motherboards so your theory is debunked

[Unreazz]

Hi,

I've been experiencing the same symptoms as you since 2017, and I want to share my experiences with you.

I first encountered these issues when I moved to a different city. Almost immediately, I noticed that something was off—all online games felt much harder, and nothing was like before. At first, I ignored it, but eventually, I started looking for solutions. Initially, I suspected that the issue might be related to the power supply in my house, so I moved a few streets away. However, after setting up my internet in the new apartment, I still had the same problems. That’s when I realized that the issue wasn’t just tied to a single house—it was affecting the entire area.


Things I tried after moving:

• Built a completely new PC

• Upgraded my cable internet to a business plan, which provided a static IP address

• Added a VDSL connection, so I had two separate internet services (cable + VDSL)

• Tested 3 different routers—two local models and an OpenWRT router with pre-tweaked settings for QoS testing

• Bought 3 different network interface cards (NICs), including one that supports SFTP

• Subscribed to multiple VPN services and even set up my own VPN server

• Had my DSL provider manually reset the DSLAM

• Switched my DSL port and initiated a line reset

• Disabled DLM port optimization

• Separated my cable modem and router and enabled DMZ mode

• Tested gaming proxy services like KillPing, WTFast, and others

• Switched from Windows Home to Windows Server and manually installed all drivers

What actually helped (even if only temporarily):

The only things that ever provided any improvement were:

• Using a VPN on my cable connection (but this only worked for a limited time)

• Switching my DSL port and performing a line reset

These improvements, however, didn’t last. At some point, the VPN method stopped working entirely. I don’t know the exact reason, but I suspect it was due to changes in my ISP's peering, as my provider was acquired by another company. I even thought my static IP address might be the issue, so I switched back to a dynamic IP, but that didn’t help either.

Before my provider was bought out, every VPN connection improved my experience. After the acquisition, none of them worked anymore—no matter which service I used. That led me to believe the peering policy had changed or that Windows itself might have played a role.

Then I moved again and only had a single VDSL connection, which performed smoothly in terms of bandwidth. The area wasn’t congested at all. However, the only way I could improve my connection was if the provider switched me to a different port and performed a line reset on that new port.


My Conclusion:

For me, this is clearly an internet-related issue, and I strongly believe peering plays a major role—at least for cable internet. With VDSL, I’m still unsure about the exact cause.

It's not hardware-related, and while power supply could play a role, a line reset fixes the connection temporarily, which suggests a network-level issue.

In my opinion, this problem can't really be fixed at the user level unless your ISP actively works on it and is capable of doing so. Otherwise, moving to a different location (with different routing and peering) might be the only way to escape it.

I can’t tell you exactly what the problem is, but I can say with 2000% certainty that it’s an internet-related issue—and network quality has a massive impact on gaming performance.

[Jadzira]

If man bought high speed monitor, and he sees same "floating mouse" = jittering mouse (jitters are always hardware - PC/cars/brain), that's not monitor it is only hardware. If this so hard to understand, tell thank you to your anomality input sektarians religion for your brain.

I should have mentioned this earlier. My mouse works very smoothly, and I don't experience any stuttering or jittering. I have my polling rate set to 2000 Hz. In single-player mode in Fortnite, everything is smooth and responsive. The problem occurs when I face opponents. I simply start seeing everything with a delay. It's not about FPS drops because those are stable. The issue is that my opponents see me faster than I see them. And it's not a ping-related difference of around 20-30ms, but rather 150-200ms. At the bottom of my post, you can find a link where you can compare my in-game experience.

Could you elaborate more on the chipset topic? What exactly do you mean, and how could it help resolve this issue?
I can reach out to AMD support and request their involvement in verifying the problem.

[Jadzira]

I would be very grateful if we could remain calm and avoid any arguments. Let's focus on the most precise conversation possible to reach fully working solutions.

There has been a suggestion that the issue is caused by the chipsets. Over the past few years, I've had numerous configurations:

My setup's in the last years with the problem:

Asus TUF B550 Gaming / Ryzen 3700X / GTX 1660 Ti
Asus TUF B550 Gaming / Ryzen 5800X3D / RTX 3060 Ti
MSI Z790 Tomahawk / Intel 13700k / RTX 3060 Ti
AsRock B650E Taichi / Ryzen 7800X3D / RTX 3060 Ti
MSI Z790 Tomahawk / Intel 14700KF / RTX 4070
AsRock B650E Taichi / Ryzen 9800X3D / RTX 4070
Asus X670E E-Gaming / Ryzen 9800X3D / RTX 4070

People I play against online had similar systems and hardware, yet they did not experience the same latency as I do.

Lmao are you autistic? I had the problem that i couldnt even get out of platinum after 2k Hours of Gameplay. I think im really sure that I have the problem which you have. Its Chipset, even if you dont wanna believe it.

If you say, in my case it is chipset problem, how I am supposed to solve it? How did you solve your problem?

[Z3CrosS]

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[Jadzira]

you dont have a problem, your Radiant. Btw try disabling your driver installer in BIOS. In my case it was MSI utility driver

I did it and it didn't solve the issue.

Skill matters. As i always tell perfect PC would not make you 100k+ mmr from 1k mmr, but surely it can help to take higher results. There is a difference between perfect PC and pc with incomptability symptoms.

You tried many setups and you see that they are working with same symptoms (+/- some have better smoothness some not).
What i see:
Asus TUF B550 Gaming / Ryzen 3700X / GTX 1660 Ti - First setup and i guess from which all started. After you started to change many components, but you can notice within your list, that one component always sees next new board

1st setup: 1660ti + B550 + 3060ti
2nd setup: 3060ti + Z790
3rd setup: 3060ti + B650E + 4070
4th setup: 4070 + X670E E

That's mean you always kept gpu from previos setups and plug it to new. Malfunctionning GPU can damage system & vice versa, same with monitor, because on data bus run electricity. The problem there is zero possibility to test GPU on that level, but you can search "shimmering/popups" after GPU change on reddit - many threads like that.

If you have possibility to change setups, next time try to build everything new, choose vendors wisely and never use pirated OS.
Overall read my article & thread, i would not double info.

I never said there were the same components— I was selling my own configurations.
Some of the computers were built from scratch (everything was new), yet the problem persisted.
I think that if there were general issues with the chipsets, they would affect a much larger group of users.
Since we’re not seeing mass reports of this issue, people are either unaware of the problem or the cause lies elsewhere.

[drosku]

hey you can test out something a “proper” windows installation i suggest you update literally all of your drivers and then inject the updated drivers into a win11 23h2 iso so windows wont use their original drivers you can use a lot of tools to do that( microwin is easiest) and make sure your nic has no affinity in interrupt afinity tool lmao on my current machine is pined by default on core 0 which make me stutter:D give it a try and after u reinstall windows since u probably would try microwin u have to reinstall store or u dont wanna use microwin the other methods are way consuming, and just dont do any tweaks and try what i said