Update....I installed OS X (Tiger) and Baldur's Gate II runs fine under it. Therefore it's definitely not a hardware issue.
I think I'll just give up trying to use OS 9 as the platform and stick with OS X, even if by all accounts performance under it sucks.
I think I'll just give up trying to use OS 9 as the platform and stick with OS X, even if by all accounts performance under it sucks.