Definitely wouldn't be limited to Magic Engine... Skype does the same thing with Burnout Paradise. However, for ever 9 times it does it for Burnout - it works fine 1 time.
You don't need a 3.0ghz for ME..if you are having issues then there is something else wrong... I get 60 FPS on pretty much all games at full screen on a P4 2.4 - and my machine does't even break a swe ...