[DRG]

We have found in the past that sometimes problems like this are ( strangely enough...) sound card related. OTOH the solution you discovered works wonders and saving the game and restarting only takes a minute .

If the game is running a big map with near maximum units on both sides there is a LOT of information that needs to be processed. That said I ran an AI vs AI game yesterday with max units both sides and a big map to turn 9 or so then broke in and played one side manually and everything ran OK. Another consideration is what else is your computer trying to do when the game is running. I have automatic HD optimizing set up and sometimes when that's running or the anti virus scanners that can slow things down a bit but I haven't seen it really slow down since I upgraded from my old Dell Pentium III but every system is a bit different.

Don