This issue has led to my death over 10 times and makes it almost unbearable to play the game. Maybe DayZ should update massive performance issues such as this before delving into things such as persistent items. That can hardly be considered more of a priority than something that hinders players from playing.

They obviously don't care about the performance issues, they are too busy adding new things to the game as if it isn't in Alpha. FIX YOUR HORRIBLE PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS FIRST, THEN ADD PERSISTENT ITEMS, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!