1 fps is usually a sign of a misconfigured graphics driver, or another program seriously interfering with the game engine operating correctly. It's a little hard to diagnose without some more information. However, a clean boot can usually rule out software problems.
the AC'97 card compatibility issue is big among all game designers. AC'97 is a budget-minded, on-board implementation of a full-blown sound card. The problem with a sound card-on-a-chip is that you lose a lot of the multiple-sound capabilities,since the CPU spends a lot of time decoding sound files that an discrete sound card can handle with ease. If there were only one or two things causing sounds (like playing music while chatting on AIM with a buddy) the problem wouldn't be apparent. The CPU is not working all that hard on doing 2 or 3 sound effects almost simultaneously. But when you put in environment sounds, footsteps, battle sounds (usually with multiple triggers each) and background music, the AC'97 card can freeze. This does not happen with all AC'97 boards because not all AC'97 implementations are the same.
To truly get the most out of your sound experience, I would recommend a discrete sound card if possible. A solid Sound Blaster, or an older (and therefore much less expensive) Audigy card would be great. You don't need a brand-new X-Fi card, but a good sound card workhorse that keeps the multiplexing and decoding off of the CPU should clear your sound issues up.
