Photoshop :: Spinning Balls - But Still Able To Work?

The cursor changes from the pointer into the spinning balls as if PS is applying a filter or preparing to save, However I can still use the the tool while this is happening to brush or clone. For example when I use the clone tool (9 out of 10 times this is when it occurs) and im working on something quite delicate and the cursor changes to the spinning balls I am still able to carry on cloning but it very difficult to keep my accuracy because you cant see where your cloning.

Initially I thought I could just ignore it and it would only happen every so often and maybe for a second or two, but its quite frequent and and does last a while. Added to that the annoying disappearing cursor trick that also keeps happening, it all making PS very frustrating to use at the moment.
 
Photoshop cs6 version 13.0.4 64bit
Mac Pro Late 2012 2 x 3.06 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon
64GB RAM
OSX 10.8.3