Next round of testing: in addition to the instructions posted be rspn_czar here, I added the following suggestions:
1) repaired game through origin
2) suggested by @JadeKoala-1971
a)type "graphic settings" into start, scroll down to browse, click browse and add these 2 files:
r5apex.exe and r5apex_dx12.exe
once they are both added , click on them / options / select high performance
b)enabled dx 12 and capped FPS with this command: -eac_launcher_settings SettingsDX12.json ,+fps_max 80
3) Deleted Apex "asset" folder
Result: played 2 games No Fill Duo so far (both around 10-12 Minutes before I got killed) and no freeze / crash
Not sure if there's something wrong with the syntax in 2) above, but I still got 120-144 FPS during these games, so not sure if "+fps_max 80" actually did anything.
Have to do some IRL stuff now, but will hopefully find the time to further test if this really works later today.
BTW: before all this, I also reinstalled the latest nvidia drivers, shut down nvidia experience and all razer applications
If anyone has the time and wants to test if it works for them, I'd appreciate if you could report your findings here.