Vista - Sluggish Audio playback

First of all computer specs:

Nvidia 6800 Ge-force 512mb video card
AMD Athlon 3500+
Sound Blaster Audigy 4
2 Gigs of DDR 3200 Ram
160GB SATA Hard Drive

latest vista drivers for major hardware

Just recently installed windows vista

When i play back any audio, it randomly slows down my music as if i were
pausing and playing really fast, or the artist is stuttering lol, this is
VERY ANNOYING. At the same time though it seems my entire computer goes
sluggish for a fraction of a second as well. Just randomly about every 5-10
seconds everything slows for a quick second and goes back to normal. What
can i do? To both help my music and my computer, the music is my main issue