You're assuming the following:BumFlannel wrote: ↑01 Jan 2026, 08:01Yet what you are saying is a VERY LIMITED choice of hardware combinations is what is needed to fix a problem that the VAST MAJORITY of people don't have.
• The "issue" itself (it's always a vague, snake oil unobtainable unicorn), which can be absolutely anything
• The sample size of users which have the issue (blurbusters input-lag section is filled with trolls/misinformation sources and it's a small sample size compared to the entire population of competitive players)
• The sample size of users which are aware of the issue (psychologically / physically)
• The severity of the ""issue"" on general experience during competitive gaming (assuming the ""issue"" refers to power quality related topics)
You do realise that the intersecting subset between IMC instability ("RAM instability") & EMI-related issues (be it power quality - capacitive, conductive, switching noise from either the network or in-house devices themselves) are similar, if not equal, in terms of symptoms present to the end-users, right?
Yes, this is perfectly possible. It's a non-zero chanceBumFlannel wrote: ↑01 Jan 2026, 08:01Are you saying it's logical to assume that that the vast majority of gamers have the correct combination of hardware simply by chance?.
No, they aren't aware. That's a trivial claim for me to put out when it's obvious. Variance within units (PSU,GPU,CPU) exists.BumFlannel wrote: ↑01 Jan 2026, 08:01Or that the majority of gamers are perfectly aware of your "secret sauce" of hardware combinations while we are not?
Again, what issues? I don't know how everyone is able to confidently claim it's a particular ambiguous term called "THE ISSUE"?BumFlannel wrote: ↑01 Jan 2026, 08:01There is only one PSU on the market where you won't get these issues? And you say you aren't spreading bullshit.
Until he has a solid foundation by having good hardware choices, he cannot do any further troubleshooting attempts.
For all I know, he could've had 7 bad HW choices or completely terrible software tuning practices which lead to his issue.
Not to mention that esports games are constantly updated & you cannot have a equal testing environment in them.
Those can be attributed to psychological & physiological factors as well, if you aren't aware of thatBumFlannel wrote: ↑01 Jan 2026, 08:01The problem randomly being fixed at times where you can blatantly see, feel, and experience for some uncertain amount of time, a night and day difference
Though, the latter one is present, as you're at the mercy of your routing when it comes to online gameplay.
See this discussion
this
&
this discussion
Placebo is a possible explanation, don't see a problem in mentioning it.BumFlannel wrote: ↑01 Jan 2026, 08:01(and don't give me the placebo bs, that word is overused and misused in this topic 99.9% of the time and the other 0.1% of the time is just assumption that placebo is even at play),
I have no idea what you've written here...BumFlannel wrote: ↑01 Jan 2026, 08:01is it that what you deem to be an inferior hardware combination(which appears to be almost all hardware combinations available somehow, i'd love see your budget and testing methodology that shows this to be true) suddenly deciding to be competant of its own volition across the board for a while, even though it should never be capable of that due to inferiority?
I simply suggested the OP to have a good baseline foundation before attempting any severe changes, such as moving out or attempting to fix any power quality issues.
Not at all, I just think it's ridiculous that no one here wants to solve anyone's issue but only run around in circles without providing concrete steps to solve anythingBumFlannel wrote: ↑01 Jan 2026, 08:01It's clear you're trying to appear to have a superior intellect while you just come across as having a superiority complex.
To be specific, the user you're trying to defend has been shown 1st party resources on how to tackle troubleshooting on Windows, yet refuses to read either out of stubborness or inability to comprehend the language, at least from my view
That question wasn't aimed at you, unless this is your alt account?BumFlannel wrote: ↑01 Jan 2026, 08:01What? In my case the answer is yes, but why are you even asking this question. It has absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand.read any graphics programming book?
It does, all of these total system latency & outside latency topics require in-depth knowledge in:
• Electrical engineering
• Computer architecture & systems
• Programming (kernel, graphics etc.)
Users who aren't aware of it shouldn't give any concrete suggestions.
OK, that was the "fix" for your "issue" (assuming you had a issue to begin with, even though that there's still the possibility of not knowing the exact reason behind "the issue")BumFlannel wrote: ↑01 Jan 2026, 08:01Of course it's not fun to play under those conditions. But to go back and test on old hardware and see that everything is more responsive and coherent despite these limitations confirms there is actually and issue and brings it to the forefront. You make out like you are all about the science, yet you are poopooing a legimate testing method here.
That does not automatically translate onto every possible user that comes here, as the symptoms for the vast majority of PC-related issues are vague in nature?
Even if it does, do you understand that you're asking the user to completely change his entire life around to have "good feel", while he may be having simple HW instability issues?
It's akin to a coming to a doctor and coming with a "oh it hurts here" (pointing to a random place) complaint.
What "proof"? That CS2 is a unoptimized mess when you want to play at usable frame rates (+500FPS) & that modern hardware is botched due to the severe overclocking done out of the box, making it easy for the user to incorrectly configure his hardware & thus lead to system performance regression such as the symptoms OP has outlined?BumFlannel wrote: ↑01 Jan 2026, 08:01Why don't you give people actual proof of what you are claiming.
The OP asked for troubleshooting steps, I gave him what I think is a rational starting point.
I don't think it's inferior, I think they're a good starting step, as most hardware components available to the consumer are borderline scams.BumFlannel wrote: ↑01 Jan 2026, 08:01Oh, you can't, because you haven't tested every possible hardware combination even though you claim to know the majority of it is inferior.
It's about minimizing variance / bottlenecks from hardware picks...
Achieve what, exactly?BumFlannel wrote: ↑01 Jan 2026, 08:01As i said above, show your testing methodology, your results, and I'd also be interested to know your budget to be able to achieve this. To me is sounds more like you don't have any issues so you've deemed your hardware combination to be the "correct combination".
You seem to be suggesting that OP's issue is rooted in power quality, while I think that those endeavours are fruitless if there's a chance that his hardware can be the bottleneck at hand.
Not to mention external factors, rooted in physiology change throughout the day & years as well
Considering how much I've been providing to these forums in terms of information & data, which gets burried within countless of genuine disinformation (not misinformation) posts, how exactly am I "hypocritical"?
I'll even do it simpler, as users seem to inferring negative things out of my posts.
My suggestion would cost a total of ~2k USD, namely: (which will be much less if he trades his current PC in)
9800X3D — 429$
4090/5080 — "0"$ (he already owns it)
Thermalright PS120SE – 30$
ASrock or ASUS 8 PCB layer motherboard with a ALC1220 or ALC897 chipset (e.g.: ASUS X870-P, B850 Livemixer at minimum) — ~200$
2x KSM56E46BS8KM-16HA (can be difficult due to current market pricing) — 200–300$
AX1600I — 600$
990 PRO or SN8100 — ~200$
Corsair 5000D or some random cheap case which can accomodate the rig above — 20–200$
+
DAV3 — 60$
G515 Rapid TKL or Huntsman V3 — 169–209$
a non-USB headset of choice (can be anything for the time being, just something not routed through USB)
a non-USB microphone of choice (can be anything for the time being, just not routed through USB)
(lets disregard the display, even though a OLED would be a substantial upgrade; his 540Hz E-TN is enough)
Where, if it "fails", you get a great system upgrade.
There's also the discussion of his software tuning practices being terrible & leading to issues upon installation, which can be easily an issue. This can be a relatively easier endeavour as it's essentially free of charge (no necessary funds need to be invested, only time in finding what the issue is)
Whenever I see "I tried everything", I always assume that the user tried the absolutely worst possible tuning practices which get purported online as some 'holy grail'
Your 'suggestion' (vague claims) would either entail:
A) Paying for a company to analyse his power quality for a week/month/year & apply certain capacitors or inductors to filter out any noise incoming from the grid (which costs $$$$, though this depends on which company he hires, along with time spend on it)
(this also assumes the company he finds are able to fix his issue permanently, without any repercussions)
B) Move out with his family (logistical nightmare) & HOPE his next place will be a permanent fix for his potential power quality issues
I wonder which one is more feasible?
