[Xitami] Server load too high

[WhiteShepherd]

I've been getting some strange errors as of late.  I run a ikonboard 
forum (and 3 other forums) under Xitami (console) 2.4d9 and perl 
on Win2k.  The system is a Athlon 1000Mzh with 256 Megs of ram.  
The system is strictly dedicated to Xitami/Mysql for my CGI needs.  
I figured my server would be pretty well equipped for light to 
moderate use.

However more and more I get the error "Server load too high."  
Between all the different forums there doesn't seem to be more 
than 20-30 people connected most the time.  So I don't understand 
why the server is overloaded?

Anyone with experience with this error and how to fix it?

  Thanks!  Gene