Don't know exactly but i would throw away your prefs and reinstall your videocard drivers

There is also a monitor tool similar to everest called
PC Wizard 2008 here you can look in windows what the status of your hardware is.

Also google maya 2008 system requirements to find the correct drivers ( I always use google the Autodesk website itself is a nightmare to navigate)

Edit;

Just wondering do you have a model open in maya? or is it an empty scene?

I also read somewhere that you can tweak the maya.env file to be quicker if your hardware isn't up to it, but i wouldn't mess with it if you don't know what you are doing