I had that problem on my old laptop: anything that used SDL (simple direct layer) sound via ALSA or something like that had a stuttering delay. It was really annoying! The card was an integrated Realtek something-or-other, and I never fixed it properly other than using OSS instead (OSS was the only option for W:ET).
Problem with OSS is that it will block all your other sounds (i.e. instant messages, incoming emails etc.).
Sound card delay
I had that problem on my old laptop: anything that used SDL (simple direct layer) sound via ALSA or something like that had a stuttering delay. It was really annoying! The card was an integrated Realtek something-or-other, and I never fixed it properly other than using OSS instead (OSS was the only option for W:ET).
Problem with OSS is that it will block all your other sounds (i.e. instant messages, incoming emails etc.).
Current laptop works without a problem though.