CPU will not go above 30% on games

[morecazador]

okay. so i have had an inspiron 5520 (dual core at 2.01, 8gb ddr3) for a couple years now, but just 3 days ago it refuses to reach above 30% on all my steam games
I.E. dirty bomb, csgo, insurgency.
SO MY QUESTION IS
is my computer underclocking or
is my cpu dying because of how old it is.

 

[Calvin7]

How Well Can I Run a Game?
http://www.game-debate.com/hardware/index.php?gid=773&graphics=Radeon%20HD%207670M

All three games indicate the Radeon HD 7670M is not up to running the games.

Try some benchmarks to see if your score is similar.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-7670M.69483.0.html

 

[rgd1101]

check cpu temps?

 

[dontlistentome]

With a laptop I always suspect heat, especially on older laptops. You can also check Windows power settings. You want 'maximum performance' but I suppose it's possible a Windows update set it to 'balanced' or some other lower power setting.

 

[morecazador]

How Well Can I Run a Game?
http://www.game-debate.com/hardware/index.php?gid=773&graphics=Radeon%20HD%207670M

All three games indicate the Radeon HD 7670M is not up to running the games.

Try some benchmarks to see if your score is similar.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-7670M.69483.0.html

your site states i can run my games on medium, this parallels with my personal experience. everything ran fine until recently

 

[morecazador]

With a laptop I always suspect heat, especially on older laptops. You can also check Windows power settings. You want 'maximum performance' but I suppose it's possible a Windows update set it to 'balanced' or some other lower power setting.

power settings have been set to "max performance" no visible difference.

 

[morecazador]

check cpu temps?

temps report ~15 celsius