High load issues with MySQL

[Alan]

I have a server that is experiencing high load values for some unknown
reason.

It is an AMD64 dual proc box (3000+, I think. Maybe faster.) with 4gigs
of ram.  The drive(s) are two SATA drives that are software mirrored.

I am running the 64 bit version of Fedora Core 2.  Not certain which
kernel version.  (It is maybe a month old.)

I am not hitting swap at all.  MySQL rarely even shows up on "top".  The
CPU percentage used is almost non-existent.

The load when MySQL is being queried is 0.9 or higher.  (Usually 1.0 on
average.)

The queries should not be hammering the box that much.  What is actually
causing the scheduler to choke is unknown at this point.  

Any ideas how I can find the cause of the problem?

A previous semi-related message suggested adding "elevator=deadline" to
the kernel options.  I have not tried that yet.  (I will tonight, but
since this is a live machine and they swiped my test machine, I have to
do this carefully.)

Any ideas? Solutions?

-- 
"When a student reads in a math book that there are no absolutes,
suddenly every value he's been taught is destroyed. And the next thing
you know, the student turns to crime and drugs." - Mel Gabler - Censor