Performance issues using AU with notebook

Hi everyone, 

I'm a podcast editor working with AU on a Dell notebook that seems to have a pretty solid configuration for the job. However, I constantly have performance issues that annoy me and slow my workload down.

I would like to understand what might be causing this and if there is something I could do to minimize or prevent this from happening. 

The main problems are: a short lag when I move several clips on the timeline at once and a tiny delay between pressing play and having the audio to be reproduced.

I usually edit shows that run from half an hour to one hour. Our main product is a daily news podcast, with two hosts, one interviewee (sometimes two), and a track for actualities. soundtrack does not run through the entire show, only as bg for the opening and closing sections and for short moments between segments of the interview.

One action I use quite frequently is "selecting all clips after / before the played" to move them where I need. I know "ripple delete" has a similar effect, but I have more precise control when I drag the clips, especially when I'm on more elaborate projects that allow different uses of Soundtracks and sfx. 

What i'm using

• Dell g15, core i7 13gen
• 16gb RAM ddr (8gb allocated to AU)
• 512 gb SSD (AU and creative cloud are installed in it, but the projects and their media are usually stored in an external HD)
• GPU: Nvidia RTX 3050

This machine is connected to

• An external Samsung monitor via HDMI
• An external Dell monitor (usb-c displayport adapter, on which I use a displayport cable)
• A Logitech wireless mouse
• A Keychron K5 keyboard (usually via bluetooth)
• A cabled Sennheiser headphone

As for drivers, I used to work with AU using MME. Lately I've been trying FlexAsio which seems to have improved the performance bu haven't really solved that lags, only made them more sparse.

What bugs me is that I seemed to have a more stable performance using an old Mac, from 2014, with 8gb ram and an ssd, no dedicated GPU, AU 2019, installed, the last update this mac could run

So, my questions are

1. What could be the main reasons why I'm experiencing this lack of performance on my notebook? 

2. Is there anything I could do in terms of configuration on my notebook that could improve AU's performance? Would editing thw projects directly from the native ssd have an impact?

3. Does the Nvidia GPU help my in anyway? How can I confirm that I'm making proper use of it regarding AU?

4. Are there any good practices regarding editing and the use of AU's actions that might help me avoid these lags?

I appreciate you help. Let me know if something needs to be further clarified.