Can't figure out the cause - screen flickering/lagging issues

Greetings. I was wondering if anyone here might know where I could find someone truly proficient in troubleshooting computer hardware and performance issues. To put it plainly, my computers simply do not function correctly. The display flickers quite rapidly and stutters constantly; watching videos becomes an ordeal, and gaming is nothing short of pure frustration. I have gone through the trouble of swapping out every single component, and I have tested several entirely different machines, yet they all exhibit the exact same behavior. I have also experimented with various versions of Linux and Windows 32 64, but the results remain unchanged. This flickering is particularly glaring when I am scrolling through text on a blog; instead of a smooth transition, the image seems to "scrape" violently—I believe the technical term is microstuttering—leaving the text looking blurry during the scroll. Even when playing Quake Live, which is hardly a demanding title, and even after I strip the graphics down to the bare minimum for performance, the experience is nearly identical to running it on max settings. Everything jitters, and characters move faster than I can react, seemingly registering hits before I even see them. It likely isn't a network issue, as the problem persists during single-player sessions. Just constant lag and stuttering. I have even noticed this phenomenon on my television during the credit rolls at the end of a movie. Is it possible that the electrical current in my house is unstable? I cannot seem to pinpoint the root cause. I have owned various setups and monitors over the years, and it is always the same. Has anyone else encountered something similar? By the way, I have dealt with this for as long as I can remember; I recall that I have never actually enjoyed gaming, as it has always felt incredibly difficult.

Looks like a GPU driver issue to me. Go ahead and check Device Manager... see if there's an error icon next to the card. While you're at it, let me know exactly which graphics card you're running and the driver version.

Checking Device Manager, I see the AMD Radeon HD 7540 d. listed. It’s part of the APU, and I grabbed the driver directly from the ASRock website (VGA driver version 13.101.0.0). Honestly, even when I download the latest driver straight from AMD, nothing changes. I’ve noticed this pattern across several different builds with varying components; they all seem to act the exact same way. In my experience, having worked with quite a few different graphics cards over the years, the behavior remains identical whether you're running Windows 32 64 or Linux.

Have you tried plugging in a different monitor yet?

Maybe you just have lightning-fast eyes? Have you bothered to check how others are doing it?
Or perhaps you aren't even installing your drivers properly. There are plenty of other possibilities.
Where are you located?

If you’ve already cycled through different operating systems, then we can probably rule out driver issues.
If the system isn't crashing entirely—which is usually the tell-tale sign of a faulty RAM stick—then we're looking at something else.
Personally, I'd suspect some kind of background process is filtering traffic or running scans, causing that laggy delay.
What kind of antivirus software are you running?
Though, honestly, even that doesn't quite track if you've seen the exact same behavior on Linux. In that case, I’d lean toward overheating—either the CPU or more likely the GPU—though typically the CPU and motherboard would just trigger a hard reboot or shut down once things get too hot.

I’ve tried running things on a four-core setup with an LCD monitor, and the result is identical. Even if you account for the slight lag on an LCD, playing on a CRT is still a nightmare. I was over at a friend's place recently, and his rig runs beautifully; you can actually track a rocket's trajectory from point A to point Z, seeing every single frame. At my place, you just see the launch and then get blindsided by the impact—it makes dodging nearly impossible, even from a distance. I actually brought my own machine over to his house to test it, and the performance was just as sluggish there as it is here. It’s reached the point where I'm entertaining absurd theories, like maybe every time I plug a new computer into my home outlets, some kind of power surge messes with the hardware. I haven't dealt with any standard issues like random restarts or power supply failures; it's something else entirely, something that's throttling the system hard. I had this same frustrating sensation back when I was a kid playing on the Nintendo 64. I remember it always felt just a bit... off. On the software side, I'm just running the free version of Avast, but even after a clean format where I install nothing but the video drivers, the issue persists. It's unbelievable. I've even swapped out my peripherals. I'm located over in the Weaver district, just north of downtown.

It's all just crystal ball gazing.
State exactly which CPU, GPU, and motherboard you're running.
Clearly, your vision is perfectly fine.
First off, that Hardware is simply too weak for gaming.
Games demand high-end Hardware.

I’m thinking the power supply might be the culprit here.
If you can, maybe try swapping it out for a stronger one and see if that helps.

I’ve cycled through several different new builds now, yet they all exhibit the exact same behavior. My current setup consists of:
APU: AMD A6-5400K with graphics: AMD Radeon HD 7540D
MOBO: ASRock FM2A75M-DGS R2.0
RAM: 8 GiB DDR3

On my previous machine, I went through the trouble of swapping out the power supply and nearly every other component, but even then, nothing changed. At this point, I’m starting to doubt whether the issue lies within the hardware or the software itself. It feels more likely to be an issue with the electrical stability in my apartment building or some other external factor beyond my control.

Well, if you tried it on a friend's PC and the exact same issue popped up with your case, then we're definitely looking at a Hardware problem...

The power supply isn't actually the issue here—if the voltage were truly too low, the whole system would just shut down. That’s exactly why you have a PSU in the first place; its job is to regulate and stabilize everything.

Hmm. Let me know about your RAM setup—are we looking at a single 8GB stick, or maybe 2x 4GB?
If it's 2x 4GB, was that bought as a matched kit, or did you add them later?
Same question applies if it's 4x 2GB.

Nicholas Miller6, I’ve personally seen entirely new builds behave in the exact same way, despite having completely different components and drivers. There isn't much chance that we're looking at six separate instances where everything happened to go wrong simultaneously.
Jeffrey Grant4, in my experience, I had an old machine from back in 2008 with 2GB of RAM and I tried every possible configuration—1, 2, 4, or 8 gigs. No matter which combination I threw at it, the screen would just flicker the same way every single time.

Well, you've pretty much covered all the bases here
it could be any of those things, but you already ruled them out 😁

So, are you saying this exact issue has been haunting you for years, even when swapping out different parts?
Hmm...

Do you have any massive power draws in your house? Things like central AC units, large refrigerators, or deep freezers?
I mean, we all have those basics, obviously—but I’m wondering if there’s anything else running on that circuit.

Even though it might be a separate issue, phase interference can kick in if your PC is plugged into one circuit while your monitor is on another. It’s a huge deal with sensitive setups—like at a major convention center where you have multiple projectors running in parallel—or with high-end audio gear.
Then again... in that scenario, you’d likely see screen flickering rather than the actual system stuttering during a game.
Honestly, I'd love to get my hands on your rig just to run some tests myself.😁

...maybe he should check his CPU usage, who knows what else is running in the background...

I don't think he meant he was actually swapping out operating systems and entire computers...

Jeffrey Grant4, it would honestly be a massive help if you could take a look. Having someone who understands more than just basic drivers and surface-level glitches see what I'm dealing with would be huge. If you're looking for a reason to step up to the challenge, I'll happily pay for your Uber since I don't have a car myself. We don't have anything fancy at my place—just the essentials—but I remember when my mom used to run this old-school fridge that would cause my speakers to pop every single time it kicked on and pulled power. Plus, the apartment itself is pretty subpar. It started out as a ranch-style house back in the day, but then they tacked on two extra floors, and the construction is frankly questionable. One of my older neighbors used to tell me it was the cleanest house on the block until they built that birdcage of an addition on top. I think the location is fine, but since that upper section was added later, there might be some messy wiring issues, and who knows what kind of interference that’s causing. That's really the reality of my situation.

If you think the power supply is the culprit—a solid UPS would probably sort that out for you.
I'm actually calling in from Maui 😁

but I'll be heading into Los Angeles at the end of the month—so just shoot me a DM with your number and I'll give you a shout.

I've added a UPS to the setup, but honestly, it didn't change a thing...