CPU maxes out as 23%

[jbz1b]

sorry if this is a repeat the site froze for several minutes last time I tried to post this. My CPU has refused to run at over 23% for over a day now - all four cores operate at exactly 0.50Ghz out of 2.16 for a minute at a time. I shut off my computer overnight, turned it back on and within 4 minutes it decided to go back to running at 23% consistently(though briefly it was operating at its burst speed of 2.66Ghz). The makes even facebook essentially unmanagable, to say nothing of higher demand websites/applications. It shut off yesterday without saying why when I was operating on battery power - I plugged it back in and the battery was nowhere near drained. The problem started immediately afterwards. Any idea what could be causing this?

 

[ElectrO_90]

Check your CPU temperatures
It will throttle when running too hot, maybe your fan has died.

 

[jojesa]

Check if your devices is overheating HWMonitor
Check if the fan is spinning or the air intake is blocked.
Check your power options in Windows and changed from Balanced to High Performance
Could you post your system model or your system components.

 

[asoroka]

Also you may need to remount your Heat Sink if the thermal paste has broken seal.

 

[jbz1b]

My cores are running at 48 to 52 degrees celsius. Other people have posted online that their N3540 CPUs(which is what mine is) operate fine at this temperature - though I'm open to posts that it isn't. I'm running an Acer Aspire Es1-512-P0SY - I did replace the large parts of the plastic shell last year but the internals are otherwise what they would be at the factory. My power settings allow 100% use both while plugged in and on battery power.

 

[jojesa]

Have you install any programs or any updates before the issue started?

 

[jbz1b]

Not to my knowledge, but I did try running a system restore yesterday in case the forced shut down was related to an update and the game I had been playing had obscured the notices about the shut down. I came back after supper - over 3 hours after I had started the system restore and it the little circling circles were still going around on my computer. I googled 'how long should a system restore take' was told that if it took over 3 hours the system had frozen and so I shut it off. I guess it makes since to try again - but any advice on how much time I should give it before deciding it "failed"?

 

[jojesa]

System Restore can take up an hour but not 3 hours...at that point the system is frozen.
Remember that System Restore can could fix problems but unfortunately, it doesn't always work and sometimes it creates more issues.
If System Restore is not working, because of system corruption, you could perform an In-place upgrade which will restore only Windows system files.

 

[TerryLaze]

My cores are running at 48 to 52 degrees celsius.

When at 0.5Ghz right?
CPUs have fail safes that lower your clocks to keep temps in safe margins so you will never see very high temps.
You will have to find a way to clean your system from dust build up to see if that will fix your problem.