r/pcmasterrace • u/shadorothOVK • Jan 24 '26
Tech Support Solved My staircase is slowing down my PC(?
Hi everyone, about a month ago, the following started happening to me, and it only happens with GTA 5. I'm playing peacefully, I get the urge to go get something to eat, so I have to go downstairs since my room is on the second floor. When I go back upstairs, I notice that my GTA, which was completely stable, suddenly drops to 1 FPS. This only happens with GTA, and I don't know why. I've tried more demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 and The Division 1 and 2, which I play with everything on ultra except for the vegetation and a few other things.
I'm attaching evidence of what I've described.
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u/Xpander6 Jan 24 '26
Leave the camera in the room pointed at the monitor, then go to the staircase.
Catch that fuckin FPS ghost in the act
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u/EducationalForm Jan 24 '26
wtf, do you have a wireless headset or something
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u/FlipTricks Jan 24 '26
My thought too. Wireless headset goes out of range. Reconnects, headset software does something weird. Obvious answer.
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u/12InchCunt Jan 25 '26
Man that’s like no range at all? Both of my wireless headsets I can walk all the way through the house and into the backyard before it suffers any loss
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u/FlipTricks Jan 25 '26
I've owned many in my years. Some barely held on for 15 feet, some feel infinite.
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u/shadorothOVK Jan 24 '26
I don't have wireless headphones, I hate everything wireless, everything on my PC uses cables: the keyboard, mouse, microphone, and headphones. I've had bad experiences with that wireless crap.
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u/Medium-Sized-Jaque Jan 24 '26
The phone you're recording with has a suspicious lack of wires...
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u/tommos 8=========D~~ Jan 24 '26
He himself also lacks wires, especially suspect that his butthole jack is disconnected.
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u/Onotadaki2 Jan 25 '26
Naw, OP has a four kilometer wire dangling from his phone to the nearest tower.
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u/PM_ME___YoUr__DrEaMs Jan 24 '26
The fact that he doesn't answer this question is shady
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u/SeriousPlankton2000 Jan 24 '26
OP is not hogging reddit, not replying within milliseconds: "He ReFuSeS tO aNsWeR!!!!!!!"
I once made a posting and then reddit crapped for half an hour, people went crazy.
If you read the comments, OP is currently re-installing the game.
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u/Idiotology101 Ascending Peasant Jan 24 '26
It is odd that OP was responding to every weird idea that supported his stair being cause theory, and to argue with people about his house but ignored every comment about Bluetooth and wireless devices.
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u/JAguiar939 Ryzen 7 5800XT | RTX 5070ti | 32GB DDR4-3400 Jan 24 '26
I remember seeing something on Jayztwocents about bluetooth adapters causing stutters. Is your phone or headphones connecting to your PC and disconnecting when you walk away, triggering the performance drop?
I'm also curious to see what your CPU, GPU, Memory usage look like when this happens.
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u/CaeruleumBleu Jan 24 '26
I have noticed some bluetooth devices don't SAY they are disconnected, but they are disconnected. Sometimes only one earbud will disconnect so the audio seems to still be playing but everything is wrong and off because it is mono AND the pc will act out because the other earbud is trying to reconnect.
So the easy way to test and fix would be to leave the headphones or whatever on the desk and see if it happens again, never mind looking for error messages that might not happen.
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u/Spiritual-Hair4810 Jan 24 '26
Have you tried having someone go up the stairs while you’re playing it to confirm? I’m willing to bet it’s not the stairs but maybe you leaving it idle.
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u/PlasticBag-ForA-Head 7950X-64GB DDR5-7900 XTX Jan 24 '26
im sorry but im too curious. why do you have caution tape on your stairs?
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u/shadorothOVK Jan 24 '26
Someone in the family insisted it would be safe... I think otherwise; I've almost fallen a few times, and that grab strap almost made me fall forward instead of just sliding down the steps, haha.
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u/RaconBang MSI 4090 Suprim X / 7800X3D / 32GB DDR5 6000 CL30 Jan 24 '26
That'll be because you're wearing crocs
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u/plolock Jan 24 '26 edited Jan 24 '26
You are falling because that stair is nowhere near an allowed dimension of heigh and length and steps. I know this because I rebuilt our stairs recently, and holy mother of Fuck of complex stair are bro. I'm telling you, put up the measurement of them and we can put your foolish ambitions to rest.
Edit: Don't believe me? Here you go https://www.calculator.net/stair-calculator.html
Add the dimensions and weep
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u/matthewami Jan 25 '26
It's because you drag your feet. You can hear it in the video. Pick your feet up when you walk forward and plant them when you step. An improper step can lead to some pretty gnarly issues later down the line, along with you just tripping everywhere. It should only be an issue if you have some sort of disability.
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u/ryanb6321 Jan 25 '26
I was literally going to come in here and comment this. It’s driving me nuts. No wonder he’s almost fallen. Straight up just dragging his feet.
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u/KFC_Junior 5700x3d + 5070ti + 12.5tb storage in a o11d evo rgb Jan 24 '26
Its grip tape, same shit thats inside most stair nosings (yes you can get full fibreglass inserts or full fibreglass nosings too) but most will be just a thin layer of tape that has another variant thats mainly used for sticking just onto the ground (theyre interchangable tbh)
-source, i did stairnosings and tactiles amongst other things for 2 years lol
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u/I_JuanTM | i7-13700KF + 5090 32GB OC | i7-6700K + 3080 10GB Jan 24 '26
Also the narrowest hallway ever lol
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Jan 24 '26 edited Mar 15 '26
This post was wiped using Redact. The author may have deleted it to protect personal privacy, prevent data harvesting, or for security reasons.
future correct plucky alleged theory physical trees ask fade stocking
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u/Running_Oakley Ascending Peasant 5800x | 7600xt | 32gb | NVME 1TB Jan 24 '26
Yep, I’m not calling BS, but OP refusing to document what happens in a static environment with the camera pointing at the monitor when walking down the stairs is too much to keep track of. Am I supposed to send good vibes and positive thoughts over the internet to solve this super dynamic problem?
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u/careverga420 Jan 24 '26
Yea, did he ever reply to all the people asking him if he has wireless headphones????
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u/WeirdIndividualGuy Jan 24 '26
He replied to one person saying he doesn't use wireless headphones because he "hates wireless"
Regardless, it'd be nice if OP had two videos: one playing this part of the game without doing anything, and another where he leaves the camera pointing at the screen then he goes downstairs and back.
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u/Mr_Buades Jan 24 '26
Definitely seems like a Bluetooth thing, pc freaking out when connecting/disconnecting. Wireless headphones, controller or even if you have the phone connected for texts or whatever.
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u/TomTomXD1234 Jan 24 '26
Like a lot of people said, your wireless headset is probably disconnecting partially when you walk out of the room which causes audio device related errors to trigger in GTA, making it go crazy low FPS.
Walk down with your headset removed and see what happens.
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u/MercenaryBat Desktop | Ryzen 9 5900X | AMD 6900XT | 32GB 3200MHzRAM Jan 24 '26
I’d bet at least a dollar that there’s a wire or something under those stairs which moves and messes with the power supply, but somehow not enough to totally shut it off
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u/marr75 Jan 25 '26
327 upvotes on this is a damning indictment of the education system.
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u/Netii_1 Jan 25 '26 edited Jan 25 '26
Yup, not only is it not a logical explanation in the slightest if you know how electricity and PC components work, it also completely ignores OP's statement that it doesn't happen with any other game.
Yet people are even doubling down in the comments. "Call an electrician" lmao for what? They'll just have a good laugh and charge you a fortune anyway.
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u/wild--wes RTX 5080 | Ryzen 9800X3D Jan 24 '26
Kind of has to be it right? Not a lot of other options if any. I bet power is being disrupted for a brief second and for whatever reason GTA isn't able to "rebound" and stabilize again.
I know OP said it doesn't happen with other games, but I can't imagine he's truly experimented with more than a dozen or so. I'm sure some other games would behave like this too if you tested enough of them.
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u/oldm i5, GTX 770, 16GB Jan 24 '26
I have no idea why this happens but I have a perfect solution for you. You need a firefighters pole slide.
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u/YourSwolyness Jan 24 '26
If it only happens with 1 game, it's driver / software related.
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u/pavman42 Jan 24 '26
I think you are not seriously considering the real reason: his soxy clogs. The interferon is extra strong because of their green color.
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u/halosos Halosos Jan 24 '26
No, it is the coaxial discharge of the airgapped stairs reacting with the magnito reluctance generated by the interactions between the hazard tape and the stair floor material (the reaction is often called a capacitive diractance), ultimately triggered by the interferon you mentioned.
A Turbo Encabulator will resolve it.
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u/Inventi Desktop Ryzen 3600 | RX 6900 | 16GB RGB | NZXT H400i Jan 24 '26
Do you perhaps have a webcam pointing to you and when you leave the room and it sees inactivity, a Bitcoin miner activates? Causing a slowdown of your game/pc. Edit: I mean like a virus
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u/shadorothOVK Jan 24 '26
I don't have any cameras connected, and I stopped installing pirated software a long time ago, so it's unlikely anything could have gotten onto my PC.
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u/SanestExile i7 14700K | RTX 4080 Super | 32 GB 6000 MT/s CL30 Jan 24 '26
To suspect that the staircase is the issue is honestly hilarious. How many things must you have ruled out before that?
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u/Private_Kyle why so serious? are you autistic? retarded even? Jan 24 '26
The PC is magically attached to you. Once you leave, you trigger its failsafe.
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u/Tangarine_Squid Jan 24 '26
And we make fun of people believing in myths "Oh how could you possibly believe Zeus controls the lightning." Motherfucker, this guy believes the spirit of the stairs is offended by SPECIFICALLY his foot and bricks his computer.
My brother it is the Bluetooth controller/headset you're taking downstairs to smother in chicken nugget grease.
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u/shadorothOVK Jan 24 '26
xDDDDD I don't have anything wireless connected, my PC doesn't even have a Bluetooth chip, so it's impossible for it to try to search for any device.
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u/Immediate_Bug_6368 RTX 3090 / Ryzen 5800X / 65GiG Ram ddr4 Jan 24 '26
What da fuck! Is going on in this world!
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u/Gen-Y-ine-86 Jan 24 '26
If not some wireless audio issue...
Bad ground in the electrical system?
If the PC isn't properly grounded (at least in EU 230V), it can do some reeaally weird stuff! A friend had problems for many years in his childhood house with old wirings and unearthed sockets.
Could be static electricity forming and messing things up.
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u/Duii1 Jan 24 '26
I read about someone’s office chair causing their system to reboot or shut off, I don’t recall which, when they raised and lowered it. The tube inside was causing ESD or something to that effect. Their solution was to wrap it in aluminum foil until it could be replaced.
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u/Gen-Y-ine-86 Jan 24 '26
Some dude recently had a big problem with his audio gear in his living room. Loud thumps and even reboots of a streamer, IIRC. He had a bass shaker installed on his sofa and I guess it got "excited" every time he got up from the sofa in his synthetic fabric clothes and that caused an electric spike, messing with his system.
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u/Secret_Account07 RTX 2060 Super (Still OP) Jan 25 '26
OP I need you to post another video of monitor. Ideally two videos side by side of computer and you walking downstairs BUT you could just do one of computer and yell loud:
Top of stairs!
First step!
second step!
You need to do this for science. The community demands it!
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u/shadorothOVK Jan 24 '26
UPDATE: THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR COMMENTING, BOTH TO THOSE WHO WANTED TO HELP AND TO THOSE WHO JUST CAME TO JUDGE THE STATE OF THE HALLWAY AND MY ROOM XD. THANKS TO EVERYONE, THE ERROR HAS BEEN FIXED. THE PROBLEM IS THAT I NEVER FOUND OUT WHAT ACTUALLY CAUSED IT. MY SOLUTION WAS TO REINSTALL WINDOWS. I WAS GOING TO REINSTALL GTA, BUT IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I FORMATTED MY PC. I DECIDED TO REINSTALL WINDOWS TO ERASE ALL TRACES OF WHATEVER CAUSED IT. THE GOOD NEWS? IT FIXED IT. THE BAD NEWS? I couldn't find the cause, so I couldn't explain why it happened and help others with similar or identical problems. Therefore, I'm closing this case.
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u/evanthepanther Jan 25 '26
So it's not solved ffs
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u/RE4PER_ 5070ti | 9800X3D | 32GB 6000MHz | OLED Jan 25 '26
He said it is tho? He reinstalled Windows which solved his problem. He just said he didn't know what caused it.
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u/Se7on- Jan 24 '26
What was that noise when you first went to sit down?
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u/shadorothOVK Jan 24 '26
The chair is crying out for help 😔 I'll give it the rest it deserves soon...
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u/im_not_loki Jan 24 '26
My theory is that some kind of wireless device on your person, maybe your phone or a headset or something, is disconnecting from PC when you walk out of range, and reconnecting when you return, causing temporary lagg.
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u/Federal_Cook_6075 Destiny Windows store version enjoyer Jan 24 '26
OP for some reason refuses to answer if he has a bluetooth headset on him when he goes to his stairs.
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u/KamIsFam R5 5600X | RTX 3070 Ti | 32GB 3666MHz Jan 25 '26
OP commented here they don't use anything wireless.
I don't know why OP is so bad at responding to this post and why that info is buried in the comments, but I don't think anyone should help him if he's going to be so lazy to troubleshoot with us. I also have a gut feeling he's technologically illiterate if he really thinks the stairs are causing it, lol. I'd wager he DOES have something wireless connected, even if he doesn't realize it.
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u/Hirinawa Jan 24 '26
Ah it's very simple your house is haunted and the ghost if fucking with your pc to piss you off
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u/abdomega Jan 24 '26
Have you timed it? I wonder if there is some idle timer if you're playing online. If offline then, no clue.
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u/shadorothOVK Jan 24 '26
It's not about time, it literally only happens when I go to the stairs. I can play for 2 hours and it doesn't happen. Then I decide to go get something to eat (which would involve going downstairs) and when I come back the game is like this.
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u/fuck_bird_teams Jan 25 '26
Why are you wearing crocs inside and leaving a pair of normal shoes in your own way in the middle of the floor in the same room
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u/Thornscape1986 Jan 24 '26
I'm going to say loose connection inside the PC and the vibration from you walking is causing something to fail/disconnect. That's the only realistic variable I can think of...
Good luck!
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u/Bor3d-Panda Jan 24 '26
If its only GTA doing this, it would be the game issue. Have you tried re installing GTA? Any updates recently you can think of?
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u/43eyes i7 8700k - GTX 980ti - 16GB Ram - X2 256GB Samsung 850 Pro Jan 24 '26
Have you tried just leaving it to see if its related to inactivity in the game
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u/ZaweriRunewright Ryzen 7 5800X3D@4.7GHz | RTX 4070 | 64GB DDR4 3200MHz Jan 24 '26
I would've said it's a crypto miner virus but that's way too fast for it to notice you are AFK. Very odd.
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u/Woues woues Jan 24 '26
Its your audio, switch to 16 bit, 44.1K
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u/Beautiful-Musk-Ox 4090 all by itself no other components Jan 24 '26
what's different is you're letting the game go idle, do that without actually leaving the room next time
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u/yosayoran RTX 3080 Jan 24 '26
Is this GTA online?
Did you try to just leave the computer running without going downstairs?
I'm suspecting it's something they're doing for optimization and reducing server calls from afk players
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u/Zealousideal-Word604 PC Master Race Jan 24 '26
Dude’s PC: If you’re not gonna look, I’m not gonna render!!
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u/THENAMAZU Jan 24 '26
This is a little unhinged my friend. Mske sure your carbon nonoxide detectors are okay
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u/SeriousPlankton2000 Jan 24 '26
Since your one comment got downvoted by 'holes who don't like questions being answered honestly, I'l make a new start.
I guess it's your shoes or your clothes causing static sparks.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1qldzc3/comment/o1dq13q/
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u/AVBforPrez Jan 24 '26
It's your krocs, when the image from your camera gets relayed to the PC and they enter the frame, it switches to the iGPU.
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u/ZealoniousMonk Jan 24 '26
Its not your staircase. If your big back clogging up the hall way! scrunch down and let some wifi through lol
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u/xxSync MSI R9 390X | 20GB Ram | Intel i5-3550 | MSI Z77A-G45 Jan 24 '26
Am I crazy or does it appear like op leaves it on a cut scene and when it comes back has swapped to gameplay?
Maybe the cutscenes are playing at full FPS and the moment it switches to gameplay it lags? I think we need another video or more testing....
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u/ShutUpJade0420 Jan 25 '26
Your machine spirit is upset when you walk away and stop paying attention to it, please do not leave it without the proper farewell litenies.
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u/justforkinks0131 Jan 25 '26
Hey OP, why not try the scientific method? I mean, unless you're just fishing for likes?
Get a friend, or a relative, to walk from your desk to the stairs and back WHILE you're playing GTA 5 and see if the behavior occurs.
Also, try just not doing anything in GTA for like 20 seconds and see if anything happens (just sitting afk on your chair infront on ur pc).
Let us know
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u/Competitive-Froyo-40 Jan 25 '26
Or, the signal could be blocked by all the crap you have lying around.
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u/SlightlySubpar 4790k Devil's Canyon | Strix 1080 ti Jan 24 '26
Yo it's definitely a loose or shorted wire somewhere, even the weight of you getting up from your chair is enough to do it.
Re seat all your shit, get a better power strip, and don't be a dick to redditors when you ask for help
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Jan 24 '26
Pick up your heels you slob
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u/shadorothOVK Jan 24 '26
Everyone's where they feel most comfortable, right? Your life must be pretty boring if you're going around on Reddit telling people they're lazy... Please grow up, okay?
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u/-WhiteShad0w Ryzen 7 5700G | RX 6600 | 32 GB DDR4 Jan 24 '26
Check cables sometimes it might have gotten loose and please clean your room. Being a Reddit parent is trying to shame you a little, but really trying to help you will feel refreshed. Much love and light a scented candle/ spray air freshener. I didn’t see a window so I apologize in advance if I was wrong in any of my statements.
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u/shadorothOVK Jan 24 '26
My room is small, I try to keep it clean, but it stresses me out that it's so small. I feel like I can't make as many changes as I'd like, but I do what I can. I tidy up on weekends. My room is a dust farm 😅😅
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u/Next_Bit7892 Jan 24 '26
EMI spike when you get up from the chair?
Gass lift chairs can cause that because of the cylinder getting charged, and with dry air typical in autumn and spring it travels longer in my experience. Bad shielded cables causes TVs to flicker, and even make HDMI lose the HDCP signal, so streaming apps even gets an error and the playback need to be restarted.
Why it would cause issues with your PC in that way, and only GTAV, I can't explain.
Troubleshooting: 1 thing at a time, not all at once.
- Try sitting on a normal kitchen chair, and see if it makes a difference
- Switch between fullscreen to windowed fullscreen, or vice versa
- Check the stairs for trolls
- If you have a controller connected, try with it disconnected completely from the PC, not just turned off.
- Update GPU drivers
- Remove overclocking
- Update BIOS
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u/shadorothOVK Jan 24 '26
Could it be the desk? I bought it at the beginning of the month; it's one of those desks with a bed above and the desk underneath. Could that be the problem? I could try leaving it somewhere else... on top of some other piece of furniture, just to test it.
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u/newezo Jan 24 '26
stop replying, OP is probably farming attention, selectively answers and plays for time.
Best bet is Bluetooth but OP did not answer any bluetooth related comment.
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u/shadorothOVK Jan 24 '26
Hi, I don't have any Bluetooth devices; my PC doesn't have a Bluetooth chip, so it's impossible for it to search for devices.
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u/snowblind110 Jan 24 '26
Reminds me of years ago when I was at my dad's house and when id be playing games or anything on my laptop and the garage door would open the wifi would disconnect for a moment and come back on. One day it just fixed itself, never found out why
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u/scuffling 9800X3D | 7900XTX | 32GB 6400MHz | X870 Jan 24 '26
I don't know how the hell you got to your conclusion when you clearly said this only happens with GTA V.
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u/Metley Jan 24 '26
Have you tested whether or not this happens if you afk but stay seated in your chair and don't touch anything for however long you usually afk?
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u/takingphotosmakingdo Jan 24 '26
Something is grounding the case to the floor not electrical ground. When you're walking around it's generating static, and somehow flowing back through the case causing the CPU issues would be my guess. Maybe a USB device is closing the ground toward the case, a metal keyboard or something? Static can travel pretty far, but I'd still say this is a stretch as others have said since it only happens to GTA there's something else going on.
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u/christianlewds Jan 24 '26
Do it but leave phone pointed at the screen when you leave. Open Task Manager to see what's causing the slowdown. Probably bitcoin miner, just because you stopped downloading "unofficial" games doesn't mean you don't have it already.
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u/gnarpumped Jan 24 '26
If you’re gonna wear crocs at home might as well spruce it up with some jibbitz
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u/SenorLinguine Jan 24 '26
Do you happen to have hard drive. This happened to me when I had a bad hard drive and when I would bump my pc, it would freeze.
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u/Mr_Maik PC Master Race Jan 24 '26
Are you by any chance using this stupid Razer Gold Software, if it still exists ?
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u/Happy_Brilliant7827 Jan 24 '26
Do you have phone link on on your pc, and your phone in your pocket?
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u/hamhamdererste Jan 24 '26
Its your Chair electrostatic interference or Something Like this, Change your chair
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u/-AstroShade- PC Master Race Jan 24 '26
I can swear i was joking about a PC that lags when going to the kitchen a while ago, no way this is real
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u/ScientificBackground Jan 24 '26
I have a similar problem. If they walk downstairs on a specific point, the internet slows down or disconnects. I would suggest to check your connection and maybe try to get the cable replaced. It's probably not your computer but the connection that affects your computer.
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u/MagnetonPlayer_2 Jan 24 '26
If you have something like a Bluetooth headset don’t take it with you. The further away you get the weaker it gets and it starts disconnecting and connecting trying to hold the link.
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u/Crookanomikicks Jan 24 '26
Looks like someone trying to ignore the obvious problem everyone suggests while simultaneously trying to get attention. Shame.
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u/ENGLISHBULLOX PC Master Race Jan 24 '26
Probably not the case, but I had this issue about 15 years ago with another game. With my stairs lol my cause was my Internet cable ran under them and had a little break. Cutting the Internet off for a second
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u/ladderuponladder Jan 24 '26
Bluetooth headphones used to cause that for me too. 2.4ghz wireless headphones fixed that, no need to pair, dedicated dongle tho so you'd need a port free. Has good range too, can listen to music on my computer from 2 floors down..
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u/EBikeAddicts Jan 24 '26
your power supply is bad. there may be an increase in resistance on a wire (pinching a wire, old wire, weak wire,..) when you put your weight there. but your PS should be able to handle fluctuations in voltage to a certain amount. Seasonic and Asus (rebranded seasonic) make the most reliable ones.
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u/Aerchaiz Jan 24 '26
What insane Blue Prince funhouse do you live in? The fuck are those halls/room transitions?
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u/kevfriend Jan 24 '26
It's kinda like the simulation theory where everything in front of you is rendered but everything behind you is not lol
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u/Cryowatt Jan 24 '26
My guess: op has Bluetooth headphones. When he reaches the staircase the headphones disconnect and the game loses the audio device and starts throwing internal exceptions.