Stuttering Graphics with NVIDIA GTX 970

I just finished setting up my new PC and am enthusiastic to finally have a build that can play all games on High graphic settings with a silky smooth response/fps. However, with SWTOR I'm still experiencing some minor stuttering issues and one major fault that is impeding gameplay. A prime example of this would be the first time I opt to fire the Carbine Blast ability of my Imperial Agent the screen will flicker to black. The audio continues in the background and if I minimize the SWTOR engine and bring it back on-screen everything resumes as if nothing happened. I know that SWTOR is prone to a variety of fps issues regardless of your build's quality (due to the lackluster game engine). However, I'm surprised to see something as major as an in-game blackout. This fault occurs only the first time I activate Carbine Blast. I have tested it repeatedly. The timing of the screen black-out/stutter occurs at the exact same point in animation every time (roughly1.5-2 seconds in) and only the first time I activate the ability. The black-out will not happen again unless I launch the game at a later point in time. I suspect that because Carbine blast is a visually intensive ability that any sequence which is more GPU intensive would cause my screen to blackout until I refresh the game engine. In-game on Drommund Kaas the fps meter stays consistent at approximately 55-65 fps. Occasional stutter occurs intermittently when the numbers lower to about 50 and are yellow or red in color. Is this typical for someone with my build? In other games such as Guild Wars 2 or Elder Scrolls Online I can get an fps of 80-90 on Ultra without pause. General gameplay is still pretty smooth, but I am disappointed that lag still persists in this game regardless of build.

My computer is fresh with a clean install running Windows 10 64-bit Professional.
My graphics card is a NVIDIA EVGA SC ACX 2.0+ with drivers installed from December of 2015. (Direct X 9 has been installed as recommended by some on these forums to improve rendering).

SWTOR is the only game that I am experiencing any issues with. The consistency of the issue made me wonder if some sort of power-saving mode or setting change is being made each time I activate a more visually intensive ability. When I first ran SWTOR oddly enough it advised me to put all graphic settings at the lowest possible points. Please find attached my dxdiag.txt

I would greatly appreciate any insight or suggestions as I am still relatively new at building PCs.