Hi cwsink, thank you for the welcome and the response :)
Yes, I am experiencing symptoms:
1) audio drop-outs (an audible pop, followed by a full second of complete silence), before the audio comes back when I'm using Ableton Live.
2) Sometimes when I move my mouse (plugged into the laptop), the screen "freezes" for a few seconds before responding to my movement.
3) Sometimes when I type on an external keyboard (also plugged into the laptop), the screen "freezes" and the last keystrokeeeeeeee (like this) would repeat it self multiple times.
I will run the trace later on today and post the results here.