try turning of overlays:
tools>options>performance tab>advance>check "Use high Quality Mode"

svchost.exe, the one that also manages sound, has been using up 100% cpu lately at just random times mainly while i'm playing windowed games and browsing with iexplorer 7, is there a reason for this?

make sure the remote assistance service is running and not disabled
go to start then click run and type this services.msc and make sure remote desktop help session manager is set to automatic
...