Quote Originally Posted by Puzz3D
I think the SoundMax is a problem because it's not a very powerful audio device, and uses your main cpu to do all the work. I once had a system with a weak onboard audio device, and it caused terrible lag in STW/MI. Total War has a large number of voices that have to be mixed. Lowering the sound quality and unchecking hardware mixing in the game will reduce the demands on the hardware.

"SoundMAX is a computer "sound card" which has been built directly into the motherboard of the computer. It uses the computer's main processor rather than a separate processor on a separate sound card. This is often called "onboard audio" or "integrated audio."" - Analog Devices SoundMAX FAQ

Another possibility is that you are running out of physical memory. Before starting the game, press ctrl-alt-del to bring up the task manager, go to the performance tab and see how much physical memory is available.
Intersting.. I try thst today!



For the Phscial Memory, I end task out of all un-necressy programs (I do this for BF2 and it works fine) and it helps depending on what game I play.