Ice Particles = Severe Lag

[Fumples]

Hi. I'm running E6400 (2.14 dual core), 4GB of DDR2 RAM and an 8800GTS 320mb. I've tried playing Cryostasis Demo, and my performance is pretty decent most of the time, but when I'm fighting enemies, my framerate dips to under 10. I found out the source of the problem, but I have no idea what to do. When using the water shooter, etc, my performance dips, but it still is playable. When I shoot an enemy and those small shards of ice come out, my framerate drops fast. REALLY ******* FAST. I even tested this, by shooting the dead enemy. Ice shards come out. My framerate dips 10. I shoot again, my framerate dips 10 more, as more shards come out. After they eventually disappear, the framerate goes back up to 30 or 40. Is there any possible way I could remove this effect? I have no problem with the water, but my framerate shits the bed with the ice shard effect.

Or even better, is there a possible workaround?