Major server load spikes - help! URGENT!

[X-Fan]

I'm having a major issue with my site at the moment, one which has caused me to close my forums during one of our busiest periods! :(

Basically, whenever the forums are open, the server load spikes up to a ridiculously high 40-50, and I've no idea why! The only thing I installed recently was the "Who Was Online Today" hack, and after I removed that the server load began to drop down to around 30-35 or so, but stayed around that level. My site's been running fine before this, so it has me stumped.

Can anyone help me resolve this, or give me an idea of where to look/what to look for?

Thanks!

[lasto]

wow 30-40 i panic if mine goes to 4-6 LOL

aint got a clue to your prob m8 but u do have a lot of info to display on them pages :)

Page generated in 3.10718405 seconds (27.27% PHP - 72.73% MySQL) with 34 queries

34 queries aint bad and was`nt slow to load either.

you sure its not your host doing backups at a certain time and you thinking its to do with your board ?

[Erwin]

Weird. Do you have a dedicated server? Run "top" and post your results here.