When you turn a category of sounds off, is it really off, or is it still playing, only so that you can't hear it (like what would happen if your speakers came unplugged)? I ask because the game's sound deteriorates over time for me until it gets to where it lags when it plays a sound, and if the SFX volume is set to off, it will still give me identical lag where the sound would be played, only I don't hear anything. Also, when you turn the music off for a few seconds and then back on, the song will be at the same point it would be if it had played the whole time.


Edit: Just for the record, I blame this lag on my slow computer and obsolete sound card much more than on the game.

Try to disable your sound card (Control Panel -> Device Manager -> <Your Soundcard> -> Disable )

So you would know exactly if the problem concerns just your soundcard.
If the problem persists the bottleneck is in the other place.

Thanks, I'll try that.