GPU keeps overheating how to stop this???

[Banzai!!!]

So in the past few days I have been getting very poor performance whenever I play games. I will usually have 30+fps for a few minutes but then it will suddenly drop to 5fps or even lower for a few minute and then my fps will go back up again and thus the cycle continues. However whenever I do anything else beside gaming on this pc it is fine it's only when I play any game does my gpu begin to heat up.

Pics show my pc being idle and then what happens when im running a game.

I have only been getting poor fps in the last few days and was able to play the games I have with no problem. I tried changing the graphics on these games to low but the GPU continues to get hot.

PC Specs:
MOBO=GA-G41M-ES2L
GPU= GeForce 9600 GS
CPU=Intel (R) Core(TM) 2 Duo CPU E7500 @ 2.93GHz
RAM= 3GB
2GB DDR2 667 CL5
1GB DDR 667 CL5
OS=32bit operating system/Vista
Monitor=1366x768 pixels
DirectX 10

[irishron]

The +12v and -12v are well below what is permissable.

I would say you need a new power supply according to those.

[Banzai!!!]

The +12v and -12v are well below what is permissable.

I would say you need a new power supply according to those.

What does this mean? Does this mean I'm not getting enough electricity to my graphics card? How much would a new power supply cost?

[irishron]

This is what it means.

Price depends on quality and where you live. My present ome was $110 USD over three years ago.

[Totalheadache]

install msi afterburner and report your temps back...

http://downloads.guru3d.com/Afterbur...load-2952.html

it's an old card might need a good clean out and the tim replaced. after cleaning it out and telling us what your temps are (use the in-game monitoring software) you can try and run a few stress tests for pc...if your psu is flaky these tests will most likely cause a shutdown and will prove whether irishron is right or not. atm it's a def possibility...but as you say hot gpu will cause the issues you have highlighted.