Ubuntu – Optimus laptop – Chopping and stuttering videos with Intel onboard graphics and screen tearing with Nvidia graphics

I have a Clevo P640RF laptop with an Intel 6700HQ processor and an Nvidia 965M with optimus switching. After about a week's worth of arm wrestling with the laptop, I have finally managed to stabilize the operating system. I am running Ubuntu 16.04 with Unity and have installed the latest versions of kernel (4.7.7) and firmware (1.161). In addition, I have installed the nvidia-370 driver and have managed to achieve the following

• Nvidia PRIME works! I can switch between Onboard and discrete successfully
• System is stable. No crashes or lockups

Issues:

• Severe screen tearing when I use the Nvidia graphics card. The screen tears when watching videos, browsing, and when dragging windows around. I have tried a lot of things but haven't managed to solve it.

• No screen tearing with the intel graphics card. On the other hand, there is a small but noticeable stutter when watching videos in the browser or in video players. I can't seem to find a solution for this stutter. However, I made an interesting discovery today regarding the onboard intel graphics. I tried playing a video in VLC and forced the output to openGL. The stuttering vanished and the video playback was buttery smooth. However, this doesn't work with the Nvidia card and is limited to only videos played back in VLC.

Can someone please help me solve the video stutter issue? I got this laptop with a 14 day RMA option. Other than these issues with Linux, I love the hardware and the overall feel of the machine. If I don't fix this, I'll have to give it back with a heavy heart. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!