is there a file somewhere that dictates the fps ceiling? i'd like to play with vsync off, but with it off, the fps goes up to 100 and the fan starts spinning real loudly.

with it on, i'm experiencing input lag and mouse sluggishness.

This is generally what Vsync is used for. It will max out your framerate at your monitor refresh rate, and keep it from cycling too high. But people with lower specs will see a slight fps increase without it on.

What video card brand are you using? AMD/Nvidia? If you have an AMD/ATI card, try RadeonPro to force V-sync and enable Triple buffering to eliminate most mouse lag. Plays alot smoother, I've been trying to spread the word to AMD users.

You can force settings via CCC.

CCC is great for many games, but there are a quite a few that won't let CCC modify any settings like AA, AF at all. Dead Space 2, Bioshock, Star Craft II, FEAR and Unreal 3 Engine games like Mass Effect are examples. RadeonPro not only works alot better than CCC for these tasks, but it will allow you to force these things when a game does not officially support it; which is a big high five in my books.