CPU Problems

[jbrown67]

Recently I have noticed a lag on my computer. Simple flash games run slow now, they never used to, and most games have a very noticeable lag (I'm not talking new games, old ones like Civilization III). My PC is clean, I do not download unneccesary things, Its been recently De-fragged and Updated though the probelms started before that. I have unchecked the unnecessary boxes in msconfig, and have even cleaned up my registry. My /C: Drive Is practically empty, I thought maybe a lack of space was causing the malfunction.
I have been told that the CPU may run slow due to power supply problems, could be the case, not sure.
I clocked the CPU speeds while running a simple Chrome Browser and noticed something, My CPU speed keeps switching down, more than half of its capabilities, the two following photos were taken hardly 2 seconds apart, absolutely nothing changed, I had only been looking at the CPUID program, with the chrome browser minimized, at the Google homepage.
The Computer Runs incredibly hot, its an Alienware Aurora9700 I can get the dxdiag and any other information If needed, any help with my problem would be greatly appreciated. The computer serves as my lifeline, and I need it in working condition (able to maintain its 2GHZ:ish: speed) for a Auto CAD class, as well as for my personal time; I would very much like to play Civilization IV again(smoothly) as III is a bit dated.

again any help or useful comments appreciated.

 

[Collie147]

How old is it? if it's running hot it might be that the heatsink/fan is covered in dust, if you know what you're doing, take it apart and give it a clean with some paper and a plastic straw (and a few q-tips) if not, then leave it to a pro. But as for the rest... the CPU is an AMD turion, right? I'm no expert but you might need to go into the Bios and check the settings there, it's got a powernow function, and I know that some mobile processors won't step up to full speed unless its required, so you could check your power settings in both windows and your bios.

 

[jbrown67]

I gave the fan a good Cleaning, its about 3-4 years old now, and yes an AMD turion. I went through the Bios and the powernow function is definitely on, in my windows power settings its set to run cpu at full capacity, which is part of the source of frustration.

 

[buzznut]

The powernow is throttling your cpu, its like cool and quiet for laptops. If the BIOS is having trouble recognizing when you need power, I would turn off powernow unless you need mobility. Considering your windows setting, it sounds like you are not concerned with battery life.

I imagine that the machine is getting a bit old now and may be not functioning at 100%. Not sure why you're having a pb with powernow suddenly, could it be a driver update of some kind? Well, I would turn it off in the BIOS until you find a source. And you may want to keep an eye out for laptop deals.

 

[buzznut]

Do you have dedicated graphics? not that it really matters, just curious.

I am assuming it has not always run hot. You could try to remove the old TIM on your cpu and gpu and replace with some AS5.

I suspect you may have a gpu problem.

 

[jbrown67]

Nope I do not have integrated graphics, is it easy to fix or replace the GPU? And it has always run pretty hot, however it hasn't been until recently that it ran hot enough to melt a plastic bag that found its way underneath it. Getting a new laptop is something I wanted to avoid but I have in fact been shopping around. If possible I would just like to fix this one. Thank you so much for your replies.