Vista Slow operation

[Chuko]

Just joined in and have seen issues here and on other forums concerning issues with Vista performance. However, I have yet to see a solution and was hoping someone has some information to remedy the situation. Following are the particulars of my system and statistics. The first thing is the type of system I have and the performance as seen by Vista.

CPU Type DualCore , 3000 MHz (15 x 200)

CPU #0 Intel® Pentium® D CPU 3.00GHz, 3000 MHz

CPU #1 Intel® Pentium® D CPU 3.00GHz, 3000 MHz

Motherboard Name ASUS P5VDC-X

Motherboard Chipset VIA Apollo PT894

System Memory DDR2, 2 each 1 Gig modules, 2048 MB Dual Channel (Kingston)

Display:

Video Adapter Radeon X1600 Series Secondary (512 MB)

Storage:

IDE Controller VIA Bus Master IDE Controller - 0571

Disk Drive HDS722525VLAT80 (7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)

Disk Drive IC35L060AVVA07-0 (60 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)

Chipset Properties:

Motherboard Chipset VIA Apollo PT894

Memory Timings 1.5-2-2-6 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)

Command Rate (CR) 2T

Vista Performacne Scores

Processor 4.8

Memory 4.8

Graphics 4.1

Gaming Graphics 4.6

Primary Hard Disk 4.9

Now for the problem.

The processor usage shoots up extremely high with very small loading. Processor usage for CPU 1 (or 0) pegs to 80-100 %, the second CPU usage also reads high but not has extreme.

Watching Task Manager has little affect because the processors high usage prevents the data from being visually updated.

This usage occurs primarily when A) the mouse cursor is passing over hyperlinks or B) just scrolling the mouse over the 3 Gadgets I have.

This occurs with no other programs running and the default installation.

I have a subscription to MSDN so I have tried this with Vista Ultimate X64, Vista Business X64, Vista Home Premium X64 and Home Premium X86 (Currently installed). In all situations the problem persists.

I have shut down most all of the unnecessary services that are running according to other "Tweak" recommendations.

The system isn't totally unusable but when I have to wait 4-6 seconds every time the cursor passes the above listed obstacles it is frustrating.

I tried to find a way to trace individual process usage to determine which is causing the problem but have been unsuccessful.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

I feel for the performance that my system offers these issues should not be paramount.

Thanks for any assistance that is provided.

Chuko the confused.