By default, the concurrent parsing threads of Visual Assist run on all CPUs and at the same priority as that of Visual Studio and its build processes. To increase performance of the IDE and its processes, you can run the concurrent parser threads of Visual Assist with below-normal priority. If the change is insufficient, you can also limit the number of CPUs used by Visual Assist.
To change priority of the concurrent parser threads, close all instances of your IDE. Then, create and set the following DWORD in the registry:
HKCU\Software\Whole Tomato\ConcurrentThreadPriority
Set to ffffffff to run at below-normal priority (THREAD_PRIORITY_BELOW_NORMAL).
Set to fffffffe to run at lowest priority (THREAD_PRIORITY_LOWEST).
Set to 0 to run at normal priority (THREAD_PRIORITY_NORMAL).
The setting is accessible directly in the VA Options dialog in build 2353 and higher.