CPU spikes ALOT!

[1CoLoRz2]

Hello people,
here's the issue. ive had my HP Pavilion dm4 for about 2 years now. At first, it was a great laptop. it ran any program i threw at it just fine. until about a year ago..
It started as not a big deal, occasionally my PC would experience a bit of lag. which i thought was normal. but after awhile, it started to get worse. Almost every time i play a video or game the CPU will go from about 40 percent, and instantly jump to 100 percent and begin distorting sounds and lagging. its gotten even worse the last month, and i can almost do nothing on my laptop anymore. i have bought a fan to put under it, which helps a little but it still does it on everything...
PLEASE HELP! this laptop costed me almost $800

 

[Applepienation]

Have you ever gotten it cleaned or cleaned it yourself? If buying the cooling pad slightly helped, then it could be that there is so much dust/hair/whatever inside it that it is causing the CPU to run extremely hot, and start to throttle to try to manage temps.
I would suggest trying to download a temperature monitoring program, such as Speedfan or Coretemp. If temps while idle are around ~50-60 degrees celsuis, then there is a problem, probably dust.

I have a Toshiba Satellite P765 (I think), and I have to clean it out ever few months otherwise it just shuts off when playing games.

 

[1CoLoRz2]

I have tried what you have said and thoroughly cleaned my laptop, but my temperature is still very high. When my laptop idles, it's between 50-55 degrees Celsius. as i am typing this, the HDO temp. is at 34 C, Temp1 is between 50-55 C, core 1 and 2 are between 55-60. Under heavy usage the core temp. gets up to 98 degrees C. The laptop i'm using is known for over heating. know of anything else that can help?