Ok, I'm back.
I've been going through the exact same methods I've already used before, again.
and...
I think I might have fixed the problem, at least for now.
What I've done is extremely basic and maybe I just got lucky, because I've already done this before and it didn't work:
Create an installer using NVcleanstall:
- V516.94 (Thanks Necrosaro)
- Nothing but the drivers.
- MSI on (obviously). Priority: high. Policy: All close processors.
- Disable HDCP.
Safemode reboot. Pull out Cat Cable.
Run Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) in safe mode.
Remove absolutely everything + Restart.
Run the custom Nvcleanstall Nvidia installer.
Turn off PC. Plug in Cat cable.
Turn on. Run Latencymon passive. No issues.
Run Latencymon while having a game open on one monitor, a YouTube Video on the second monitor and furiously start refreshing tabs.
(Refreshing tabs seemed to cause a lot of popping when a video was playing previously)
Result:
The Nvidia drivers don't even show up as a major contributor anymore.
Now maybe I've spoken too soon (knock on wood) but even if the problem is gone I might still purchase an AMD card in the future, I'm curious to see if it's really better out of the box, as already discussed, DPC should be used when benchmarking by tech sites and if AMD is simply "cleaner" than Nvidia that should matter. What good is a slightly faster GPU when it creates other (devastating) problems from the get-go?