Game lag - probably due to frequent disk writes

[werepacman]

Long ago after some update I noticed that game became less responsive.
It takes few seconds to move up or down when selecting items.
Entering and exiting zoomed map takes much longer.
When I enter close map screen blinks few times before control becomes available.
Stepping on pile of items also takes small delay.

Part of this could be due to disk writes and reads. Because when I moved save files to ramfs game returned its early dexterity. I use opensource graphical drivers.
But it seems such classic game should not require much resources.
Perhaps there can be bone some optimization. I'm using i5-2390T CPU @ 2.70GHz with built in graphics.

[Sami]

Depending on the situation there can be quite a bit of disk access during the gameplay and map transitions, but naturally it shouldn't render the game as laggy as you describe - assuming the hard disk and filesystem is in normal and good operating condition. If you'd provide a savegame which seems to excessively lag on your end I can take a look if there's something specific hindering the usual, desired performance.