Putting AI calculations on another CPU thread so turns take less time and lag/crash possibly less. <-Right now my i7 2.2ghz is 100% on 1 core most of the game. I have to play on my 4.0ghz i7 desktop to play after turn 100 in a medium+ size galaxy stably. This could also be used for other game mechanics as well.

Turn on that multi-threading please. It gets unplayable late game. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja1TwxxRZT0

Yeah, please! Sometimes it feels like playing ES on a netbook and not on my quadcore.