I'm using a desktop, 4400+ X2, 8800GTS and 2gigs of RAM. I also had great performance before the last patch, now games are sometimes bogged down to slide-show framerates (and sometimes it's just fine). The inconsistency in performance is very bizzare. I've rollbacked video drivers recently installed and have been defragging and checking for viruses, but maybe somethign in the latest patch caused this problem?

yea, I typically play at 1600x1200 with all high settings and in a window no less. I've tried playing full screen, everything low and at a lower resolution, and my framerate is still highly unstable. Something really went wrong with that last patch.

Happens in single player too, so it's not related to lag.

Glad to know it happens on faster comps too

My fps are going from a steady 30s (don't forget, I'm using a laptop - so it's pretty good enough for this game as long as the fps are steady) to less than 20 for a few secs, then it goes back to 30. I can't find a single thing that has changed on the screen. I mean, same number of units, combat still going on, so no big changes. Then all of a sudden back to 20, then back to 30 a few secs. later.

Really don't get it.

I noticed a slow down on the exile map.  I haven't played since the past 3 patches and I remember it was just smooth as butter.  Not matter how many units are shown on the screen.

I noticed my last round, when I got a small amount of units dying my frame rate bogged WAY down.  Haven't changed a thing, and all my other games still run super smooth so I know its not my problem.