Possible Overheating-induced problems...worried

I'm having display issues with my computer. When I start up windows xp home, after the splash screen, the bottom bar is white or green, or both divided by a diagonal line when it should be all blue. Also, when I start up Farcry, either only half of the screen displays properly or horisontal bars that are ~2 inches wide flash and I can't load my game cause I can't really see where to click. I felt the side of my case and it's very very hot, hotter than I've ever felt it get, which is what leads me to believe that it's an overheating problem, but it's happening when I first boot up for the first time in a given day. Any suggestions? I'm going to run MBM today and see if I can get some temperatures to post. If anyone has any ideas, please suggest! I have the newest ATI drivers installed, so I don't think it's a driver issue and that worries me...

P4 @ 2.8 GHz
512 Mb pc-3200 ddr2 (2x256)
40 Gb SATA HDD
ATI Radeon X700 Pro
MicroAdvantage 12x DVD +/- RW
Samsung 912n 19" LCD

 

you might consider buying a 120mm extake fan .. and getting a good air conditioner

what heatsink do you have installed? and just where did you feel it getting hot exactly? if it was on the outside of the case and it's too hot to touch you've got a serious problem, it's possible caused permanent damage .. but I don't want to sound the pessimist ... I feel as if Intel really screwed their customers with the presscott because that thing just runs too hot, I know it has a higher tolerance level but without adequate cooling it will affect ambient temps, which sounds to me like that's your case

also be sure you have the latest mobo drivers and directx 9c ... type dxdiag at the command prompt to make sure dx9 is working correctly

 

this sounds to me like your ATI Radeon X700 Pro is acting up. overheating graphic memory can cause your symptoms.. try running you pc with an open case and if you can put a regular house-fan or hairdryer (SET TO COLD) in front of it pointing at the graphics card.. see if this makes a difference so u can find out if overheating is the problem...

also, you mentioned that you have got the newest ATI drivers installed was that before or after you started having problems?
and do u have a prescott cpu?


btw it would be good if you dont post more than one thread with the same topic...

 

Alright, well I did feel the outside of the case, and that was extremely hot, but yesterday when I got home from work, I took of the side (the one that was uber hot happened to be the easy-off side), and tried just running it like that. I turned it on and got the same problem. After that, I shut it down and realized that I was using the analog>DVI converter for my monitor, so I removed that and just used the analog plug on the gfx card. Problem solved? I rebooted and everything was fine. I turned to computer off for a few hours to see if it was just tricking me, then came back and everything was still fine and I played Farcry for a good 2 hours, put my hand next to the open side and didn't really feel too much heat...hmmm

It IS a Prescott, 2.8 GHz, with the Dell stock heatsink (junk I've heard). It's a Dell 4700, and from what I've read, many people have had overheating problems and have replaced the cheap copper-foil heatsink with a better one, and removed the green chimney-like apparatus from the case as well.

I do have Dx9c and the latest mobo drivers

Also, if I do get case fan and/or a new heatsink apparatus, in you opinions, should I blow the air onto or away from the CPU, and should I use the case fan to bring air in, or push it out?

Sorry, I normally don't post the same topic in more than one forum but I wasn't sure if it was a hardware or software issue. Still, I realize that that would be addressed if it were in the wrong forum heh, nobody has posted a response in the software forum anyway. Sorry again though, won't happen again.
Thanks everyone

-Joe