Nvidia graphics driver causing noticeable frame stuttering

… or is there something
I can do to fix it other telling people to disable Threaded
“Optimization”?

Yes.

You can create custom “Application Profile” for your game using NVAPI and disable “Threaded Optimization” setting in it.

There is a .PDF file on NVIDIA site with some help and code examples regarding NVAPI usage.

In order to see and manage all your NVIDIA profiles I recommend using NVIDIA Inspector. It is more convenient than the default NVIDIA Control Panel.

Also, here is my code example which creates “Application Profile” with “Threaded Optimization” disabled:

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>

#include <nvapi.h>
#include <NvApiDriverSettings.h>


const wchar_t*  profileName             = L"Your Profile Name";
const wchar_t*  appName                 = L"YourGame.exe";
const wchar_t*  appFriendlyName         = L"Your Game Casual Name";
const bool      threadedOptimization    = false;


void CheckError(NvAPI_Status status)
{
    if (status == NVAPI_OK)
        return;

    NvAPI_ShortString szDesc = {0};
    NvAPI_GetErrorMessage(status, szDesc);
    printf("NVAPI error: %s\n", szDesc);
    exit(-1);
}


void SetNVUstring(NvAPI_UnicodeString& nvStr, const wchar_t* wcStr)
{
    for (int i = 0; i < NVAPI_UNICODE_STRING_MAX; i++)
        nvStr[i] = 0;

    int i = 0;
    while (wcStr[i] != 0)
    {
        nvStr[i] = wcStr[i];
        i++;
    }
}


int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
    NvAPI_Status status;
    NvDRSSessionHandle hSession;

    status = NvAPI_Initialize();
    CheckError(status);

    status = NvAPI_DRS_CreateSession(&hSession);
    CheckError(status);

    status = NvAPI_DRS_LoadSettings(hSession);
    CheckError(status);


    // Fill Profile Info
    NVDRS_PROFILE profileInfo;
    profileInfo.version             = NVDRS_PROFILE_VER;
    profileInfo.isPredefined        = 0;
    SetNVUstring(profileInfo.profileName, profileName);

    // Create Profile
    NvDRSProfileHandle hProfile;
    status = NvAPI_DRS_CreateProfile(hSession, &profileInfo, &hProfile);
    CheckError(status);


    // Fill Application Info
    NVDRS_APPLICATION app;
    app.version                     = NVDRS_APPLICATION_VER_V1;
    app.isPredefined                = 0;
    SetNVUstring(app.appName, appName);
    SetNVUstring(app.userFriendlyName, appFriendlyName);
    SetNVUstring(app.launcher, L"");
    SetNVUstring(app.fileInFolder, L"");

    // Create Application
    status = NvAPI_DRS_CreateApplication(hSession, hProfile, &app);
    CheckError(status);


    // Fill Setting Info
    NVDRS_SETTING setting;
    setting.version                 = NVDRS_SETTING_VER;
    setting.settingId               = OGL_THREAD_CONTROL_ID;
    setting.settingType             = NVDRS_DWORD_TYPE;
    setting.settingLocation         = NVDRS_CURRENT_PROFILE_LOCATION;
    setting.isCurrentPredefined     = 0;
    setting.isPredefinedValid       = 0;
    setting.u32CurrentValue         = threadedOptimization ? OGL_THREAD_CONTROL_ENABLE : OGL_THREAD_CONTROL_DISABLE;
    setting.u32PredefinedValue      = threadedOptimization ? OGL_THREAD_CONTROL_ENABLE : OGL_THREAD_CONTROL_DISABLE;

    // Set Setting
    status = NvAPI_DRS_SetSetting(hSession, hProfile, &setting);
    CheckError(status);


    // Apply (or save) our changes to the system
    status = NvAPI_DRS_SaveSettings(hSession);
    CheckError(status);


    printf("Success.\n");

    NvAPI_DRS_DestroySession(hSession);

    return 0;
}