Gradient problems

ive got a serious issue with illustrator,if anyone can pls assist me it would be great so i can solve this problem once and for all!
no matter on what pc i use illustrator and i do various designs using alot of gradients and i mean alot of gradients,illustrator after a while starts going slower and slower and then the objects cant hardly move and then i get a messegae error from illustrator crashing down.is there smthing about gradients thats make illustrator not be able to function.ei like a max of gradeints in a project?or is there smthing i must do on mu document in or to avoid problem like this in future?
best reagdrs.

greetings wade!
i did what you advised me to do and saw a good result.took the raster effects to 72 so i can work around the objects (within the document) without the pc taking for ever to make the objects move.but when multiple objects from other documents where brought into the one document so i can have a clear view of my desgin,my pc took a while to intergrate all the objects that did have gradients of 72res(as i lowered as advised),and all of  a sudden, a failure  was encountered and there was a message by the programs stating:
a)cant move objects there isnt enought memory ID = -108
2)the operation cannot be complete there isnt enought memory ram available
and then all of  my artwork turns into black outlines.
and i can asure that my pc is a good machine upto date for these times.

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    .:Adobe Community Expert for Fireworks:.
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