IIRC EAC is very suseptable to which ASPI drivers you are using.

On my system I had similar (but less extreme) speed reduction when I reloaded windows. Got the Adaptec ASPI drivers (free download from Adaptec site) and now I'm up to about 8X ripping on a 40 speed drive, Athlon XP1900.

There are also some settings in EAC which can be tweeked but I can't recall what they are at present.

I actually set mine up by using a utility downloaded from Chris Myden's website ( www.chrismyden.com/nuke/modules.php?op=modload&name=Elite_DAE&file=painless ) which sets EAC up in a very good state of tune with no thinking required

Good luck, Sim