So, since I started this thread, I figure I should post what I know since its kind of ballooned into many issues.

I have found the source of my slowness. There just appears to be no fix yet.

My problem, is my laptop. I have the Asus N51v and there is some bug in the kernel that causes its slowness. Here is the bug report for the issue. https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=42725

Apparently it affects all linux distros as its a kernel bug. Something to do with thermal trip points, I don't fully understand.

But, if I add thermal.off=1 to my kernel, all my slowness goes away and the laptop is great. But, if you read through that bug report, that is suggested to maybe not be a great idea. But it does make it snappy.

So, just in case any of you other people out there have the N51v, you should watch that bug report. I'm not sure it will ever get fixed, but that's the problem for me.