This is absolutely possible. When your core CPU is hot...like very hot.....it won't work nearly as efficient. You will have instructions that fail and have to be retried and retried until it is successful. Over clocking CPUs is a common practice (running a CPU faster than what it is rated for). People who do this have to keep a close eye on the CPU temperature. Anyway, I'm not suprised that your laptop is running better...it makes perfect sence.