Lingering lag, CPU overloads and absolutely unworkable Logic Pro

Hey all, I'm running macOS Monterey version 12.3.1 on a MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) with a 2.3 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9 Processor. This problem has been the bane of my life for a considerable amount of time. It made me quit music for a long while, but since returning I've learned exactly how to replicate the issues, and it seems absolutely nobody else experiences this from all the forums and googling that I have done.

This happens with almost any plugins but since I used FabFilter in my latest troubleshooting I'm going to walk you through this issue with FabFilter Pro Q3 as the only plugin in the project. I am monitoring my MacBook performance with iStatistica which allows me to see the processor usage (%, 8 cores, 16 Logical). After adding a single instance of FabFilter you can see in the first two screenshots the processor is at 2% when turned off, then goes up to 5% when turned on which is perfectly normal.

After 30 seconds you can see I started to move the bands around and this takes the processor up to 8%, still within reason.

50 seconds pass, and without any major changes to the EQ (or project) we can see it rise to 19% (more than double without any major changes to the EQ).

At 58 seconds, it is now at 45%!

In the second to last screenshot, just over a minute has passed since the EQ has been switched on and the processor is now at 78% capacity.

Bear in mind, I have not made any huge changes (no dynamic bands) and nothing else has happened in the project, yet within just over a minute the entire project begins to lag and with only a single plugin being in use. No MIDI, either, just an audio track. In the final screenshot, even after 2 minutes has passed and the audio track has been deleted completely, the processor still remains at over 70%, and I have to quit Logic and wait for it to go back down.

This happens with most, if not all, plugins on Logic, although my MacBook should definitely not struggle like this with a single instance of FabFilter Pro Q3, it's just ridiculous.

My audio preferences are as follows:

Core Audio: Enabled, I/O Buffer Size: 1024, Processing Threads: 16, Process Buffer Range: Large, Multithreading: Playback Tracks (have tried '& Live Tracks, too), Summing: 64 bit, ReWire: Off

Things I have tried:

Complete reinstall of Logic

Complete reinstall of plugins, with updating of drivers

Apple Diagnostics scan which detected 0 faults

All apps and background apps closed except for Logic

Screen brightness turned down to minimum and cooling pad for MacBook

SMC/PRAM reset

Sent the MacBook in for repairs, to which Apple responded there were no problems found.

So what the **** is happening? Am I cursed?