@Jim Michael
I am finally back to flying, and my machine is running better than it ever has. I wound up throwing enough money at the problem. First, let's address your suspected issue. Your CPU is apparently damaged. Don't get your panties in a bunch; there is a fix (I enjoy being long-winded some days. I realize I could answer in 2 or 3 sentences)
You will need to contact Intel and RMA the CPU. Unfortunately, you'll have to jump through the hoops that they'll put in front of you. If you're lucky, you may be able to return the CPU to the store it came from. I'd had mine for 3 months before the damage got unbearable. Yup! That's the fix. A new CPU. Here's my take on the CPU issue. Intel's CPU overheat protection system apparently does a terrible job. It's supposed to throttle down to avoid overheating. Mine apparently did throttle down because the system felt much slower than it should have, but I kinda ignored it It didn't throttle down enough to avoid heat damage.
Why did your CPU overheat, you may ask. That's a great question. I choose an air-cooler. I'd read good things about the Noctua NH-D15 cooler, but the heat from the I9-14900 family was apparently no match for it. I bought a 2nd I9-14900 (the KF version as opposed to the K this time) and was able to run X-Plane beautifully with the NH-D15 installed. Since Intel claimed the issue was heat damage, I decided to go with a water cooler, the Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360. To my astonishment, the computer seemed to run much, much faster. I can finally see 80 & 90 FPS with relatively high graphics settings (albeit in cruise only). I'd never seen more than 45 FPS with the air cooler and Vatsim was a non-starter since I couldn't keep 20+ FPS, Anyhoo, I finally got my I9-14900K from intel, swapped it back in the computer and I couldn't be happier.
I should mention that it took about 3-4 weeks from start to finish with Intel. Seems their reply time, (in my case) was about 3 or 4 days. Each email was prefaced with an apology for the delay in responding. Maybe they've sped up the response by now.
Here's the reply you'd hoped I'd given - Heat damage. RMA or return the CPU, get a good water cooler.
Hope this helps and good luck!