CapN,
Although yours might be a unique problem, I'd still run through the gambit of troubleshooting for BZFlag performance issues.
1.) Download and install the latest "chipset" drivers, from the chipset manufacturer's website. In other words, if you have an ATI chipset on a Dell video card, skill Dell, and go straight to ATI's website. If the video card has additional functionality on it (such as video capture), then to be aware that using chipsets drivers may disable additional functionality.
If this doesn't help...
2a.) If you have Windows XP, 2000, or Me editions, enable "auto-update" within the O/S. Get all the latest updates which should include DirectX/OpenGL (built-in on Windows XP) and other service releases (SR) from Microsoft. Feel free to unselect the ones you don't want (such as Messenger).
2b.) If you have Windows 98, make sure you have the 98 SE update installed. If not, you'll need to purchase this or *ahem* "borrow" a copy from a friend. Download the latest DirectX package, which is often required for many games.
If this doesn't help...
3.) Check in on your OpenGL settings and make sure everything is as it should be. A configuration tab is usually included with your video card's drivers, and listed under the "Advanced" tab when looking at display adapter properties. Make sure the following is correct:
* "Use fast linear-mipmap-linear filtering" or similar option should be enabled.
* "Buffer-flipping mode" should be set to "auto"
* "Anisotropic Filtering" should be "enabled"
If this doesn't help...
4.) Rename your bzflag.bzc file to another name, such as "bzflag.bzc.bak". This will allow BZFlag to create a new BZFlag settings file, and if something terrible happens, you can always delete the new one and rename the old one back to the original name.
The bzflag.bzc file is located in your default "My Documents" folder. This folder is in "C:\My Documents" for Win 9x, or within your profile folder, under the same name in Win 2k/XP. It is possible to change this default location to another folder, so make sure you know what folder is your default for documents.
If this still doesn't help...
5.) May be you have an O/S or hardware related problem? Do a defrag on your hard disk drive to maintain speedy access to files. Also, you might want to consider checking in on your BIOS and seeing if any changes need to be made there.
For the tech inclined...
6.) I'd advise against using Windows' ACPI at all costs. Microsoft does a lousy job in assigning resources to PnP cards on a PCI bus. If you don't have a lot of expansion cards in your PC, and you have at least 1 IRQ for each device on your system, opt to run your system in non-PnP mode.
This is a task only for those who know their systems well, because now you will be responsible for assigning resources (including IRQs) to system devices such as expansion cards. This will work great in Win 9x.
In Windows 2k/XP, you will need to make this choice at installation, by opting for a "Standard PC" HAL (hardware abstraction layer) instead of an ACPI compliant PnP system HAL. If you've already installed Win 2k/XP and would like to switch, you'll have to do a reinstall (this will not change your install apps or alter settings) by booting from your Windows CD and peeking at this Microsoft Knowledge Base article for additional help:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.as ... -us;299340
Hoping for some help with possible settings for my video card that might help.
as I tried some of your other suggestions first thinking cuz the PC was so new that it couldnt be the driver. None of the other suggestions helped, I thought I was going to have to go back to school for another degree to try your option 6!!!! 
