Notebook Fan Broken, High CPU

My 3 year old notebook CPU fan broke down last week. I intend to get the fan replaced, but there's no stock in my area, so I'm temporarily using my notebook with a notebook cooler. To ensure the notebook cooler is cooling my notebook, I installed speedfan to monitor the CPU temp, and indeed the cooler is working as it should.

However, I notice right after my notebook fan broke down last week, the notebook speed becomes slower, and sluggish. The CPU is also running higher, ie., in the range of 20-30%, as compared to 4-10%, even on idle.

I'm sure it's not malware or virus, as I'm always online sanboxed with Prevx and Hitman Pro on demand.

Could this indicates some other hardware problems other than a broken fan? I'm running on Vista Home Premium SP2.

 

I believe it's absolutely normal to see a performance decrease. The cpu is trying to protect itself so lowers its speed...result: less heat...performance decrease.

Advice: it's better to stop using the notebook till you get the fan replaced. The notebook cooler helps a bit but it's not made to cover exactly your situation.

 

I agree with NoIos. While the notebook cooler may be helping, it cannot penetrate into the heart of the notebook to provide the necessary massive amount of air flow required to remove all the heat generated by the CPU when running full speed. So the CPU has gone into self-protect mode to keep from burning up, or from destroying the socket. That's a good thing in a pinch, but I agree again with NoIos, you should stop using that notebook until this is fixed because, as in PCs too, the CPU fan is used to help cool other heat sensitive devices that surround the CPU socket and right now, they are not getting any relief.

Yes, but if the fan is not moving, or spins too slowly, being mechanical and subject to wear and tear, I would suspect the fan first.