I identified the "parasite" (thanks to you):
WhiteCap 4.7.4
Without it, Media Center uses ~ 1% of the processor.
Is such a use of the processor due only to the plugin (SoundSpectrum, Inc.)? MC is responsible (partially)?
If I understand well, this visualization uses only the CPU but not the GPU... Strong damage!
Stick an old graphics card in with low mem/speed. You'll quickly find it's definitley using the GPU!
I think the sheer amount of data whitecap is sending down the pipe would be causing the high CPU
usage. From the DirectX stuff I've been doing recently, I've found that as soon as you start
rendering more than the graphics card can cope with the CPU usage shoots up...
Sure theres someone more clever out there that can explain that better!
I think You'll find you get equally high cpu usage if you load whitecap in Windows MediaPlayer.