DUO2 is quite old and on the slow side. Also its hardware is not very reliable, I had all sorts of problems with my old Duo2.
If you use SWAP, do not use it. I would rather made PLi image slimmer. Does your box works better without EPG? If yes, then you know the reason for problems.
Also make sure that all your network shares (if you have them) are working. I experience major slowdowns, if my primary network share which also acts as a hdd for recording, is not accessible anymore.