I'm currently using a Radeon HD 5570, with the current version of CCC.  The card is only a few months old.

According to Catalyst, the graphics card idles at around 56 degrees celcius.  When playing a game (Skyrim in this case) it jumps up to 90+ degrees.

I don't know much about computers, and probably couldn't identify which part of my computer was the graphics card, but that seems a little too hot.

It does indeed sound too hot.
Even my passively cooled Radeon HD 6670 never became that hot.

Some questions:

*Is your Radeon HD5570 passively cooled?
  (Passively cooled means the graphics card only
   has a heatsink and no spinning fan on top of the heatsink).
  Or does it have a fan? If it has a fan, can you verify
  that the fan is actually spinning and working?

*Does your computer case have any fans?

*What is your average room temperature?

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[Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3] [AMD FX-4100 @ 4 x 3.6 GHz]
[Corsair 16 GB CL9 DDR3 @ 1333 MHz] [WD 600 GB VelociRaptor HDD] [Seasonic Platinum Series 1000 PSU]
[Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD] [Asus HD7970 DC2 @ 925 / 1375 MHz]
[Samsung S24A650D on DisplayPort @ 1920 x 1080p / 60 Hz]

It's about 27-28 C in here.  There's two fans in there, and they seem to be working, though if there was something wrong with either of them I don't know that I'd be able to tell.

You might try GPU-Z to get a better/more accurate reading. Run it in the background whilst playing Skyrim. 90+ is high.  http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2155/TechPowerUp_GPU-Z_v0.6.3.html

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Intel I7 960 @ 3.87ghz *Intel DX58SO *HIS HD6970 2gb *Corsair TX650M *2x4gb Corsair XMS3 *WD Black 1TB *Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit *Gateway HD2401 24" 2ms 1920x1200  ***Asus N71Jq laptop *Intel I7 720QM Processor *Mobility Radeon HD5730 1gb *8gb Ram *Windows 7 64bit  ***Acer 5750 laptop

* A clear conscience is usually a sign of bad memory *

Thanks for the tip.

I just installed it and it says my idle temp (just using Firefox, no flash videos or anything) is 55 degrees, with 57% fan speed.

Something seems wrong with your graphics card if you are hitting 55 degrees
celcius with the graphics card fan spinning at more than half capacity.
Does not sound right. Very unsual for such a low-powered card.
Maybe the graphics card has been overclocked by mistake.

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[Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3] [AMD FX-4100 @ 4 x 3.6 GHz]
[Corsair 16 GB CL9 DDR3 @ 1333 MHz] [WD 600 GB VelociRaptor HDD] [Seasonic Platinum Series 1000 PSU]
[Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD] [Asus HD7970 DC2 @ 925 / 1375 MHz]
[Samsung S24A650D on DisplayPort @ 1920 x 1080p / 60 Hz]

Where in Catalyst can I check that?  Under AMD OverDrive, I do not have Graphics Overdrive checked, if that's the same thing.

I asked a friend, and he's telling me that's 'not too hot' and I shouldn't worry about it.  Hate computers >.>

First use the GPU-Z utility to check your graphics card's
default stock clock speeds.
Then in the Catalyst control panel:
Click on "Performance" on the left and then click on "Graphics OverDrive".
The current clock speed of your graphics card should be listed there.
Compare and report back.
Also check on AMD's website to see what the default clock speed
is that for the HD 5570.

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[Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3] [AMD FX-4100 @ 4 x 3.6 GHz]
[Corsair 16 GB CL9 DDR3 @ 1333 MHz] [WD 600 GB VelociRaptor HDD] [Seasonic Platinum Series 1000 PSU]
[Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD] [Asus HD7970 DC2 @ 925 / 1375 MHz]
[Samsung S24A650D on DisplayPort @ 1920 x 1080p / 60 Hz]

"Engine clock speed" according to the website is 650 mhz.

Default clock according to GPU-Z is 650 mhz.

High performance GPU clock in Catalyst is set at 650.

I was playing Skyrim for the last hour and a half and the temp maxed out at around 95 C again.  It's dropped back down quite quickly though.

Is the card clean, as well as your PSU adequate?

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Crosshair IV Formula, Phenom II x4 965 w/ Corsair H60, 8 GiB OCZ Platinum DDR3 1600, XFX HD 7970 Ghz, 512GB Vertex 4, 256GB Vector, 240GB Agility 3, Creative X-Fi Titanium w/ Creative Gigaworks S750, SeaSonic X750, HP ZR2440w, Win 7 Ultimate x64

Given the information available, I'd say your case has very poor ventilation.  That card does not eject hot air out the back, so it relies on case fans to suck cool air in the front and push hot air out the back.  If you do not have at least one fan in the front and one in the back (going in and out of the case, respectively), then you should add them.

 

By going back to spam school and improving your spamming skills.

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[Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3] [AMD FX-4100 @ 4 x 3.6 GHz]
[Corsair 16 GB CL9 DDR3 @ 1333 MHz] [WD 600 GB VelociRaptor HDD] [Seasonic Platinum Series 1000 PSU]
[Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD] [Asus HD7970 DC2 @ 925 / 1375 MHz]
[Samsung S24A650D on DisplayPort @ 1920 x 1080p / 60 Hz]

So anyways, I installed and ran SpeedFan, which says I have three fans (didn't realize that thing was a fan, who knew?).  Fan1, Fan2 and GPU Fan.  For some reason, GPU fan is listed at 0 RPM while the other two are at 1331 and 1225 respectively.

Now, I don't know from looking at them which is the GPU fan, but all the fans are spinning, so 0 RPM does't sound right.  Catalyst says the GPU fan is at 55%.

The GPU fan is the fan attached to the GPU...Take a centuries old invention called a screwdriver, open up your case, and make sure that fan IS actually spinning

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Crosshair IV Formula, Phenom II x4 965 w/ Corsair H60, 8 GiB OCZ Platinum DDR3 1600, XFX HD 7970 Ghz, 512GB Vertex 4, 256GB Vector, 240GB Agility 3, Creative X-Fi Titanium w/ Creative Gigaworks S750, SeaSonic X750, HP ZR2440w, Win 7 Ultimate x64

As I said above, I'd be hard pressed to actually identify the video card myself, but yes, I've opened her up and all three fans are spinning.

My case fans have a selector switch that can switch them low-med-high. Look inside your case, follow the cables coming from a fan....see if there is a little black box with a slider on it. If found, switch to high.

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Intel I7 960 @ 3.87ghz *Intel DX58SO *HIS HD6970 2gb *Corsair TX650M *2x4gb Corsair XMS3 *WD Black 1TB *Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit *Gateway HD2401 24" 2ms 1920x1200  ***Asus N71Jq laptop *Intel I7 720QM Processor *Mobility Radeon HD5730 1gb *8gb Ram *Windows 7 64bit  ***Acer 5750 laptop

* A clear conscience is usually a sign of bad memory *

Or if they're the fans that came with the case, depending on the brand of the case they could be cheapo low CFM models

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Crosshair IV Formula, Phenom II x4 965 w/ Corsair H60, 8 GiB OCZ Platinum DDR3 1600, XFX HD 7970 Ghz, 512GB Vertex 4, 256GB Vector, 240GB Agility 3, Creative X-Fi Titanium w/ Creative Gigaworks S750, SeaSonic X750, HP ZR2440w, Win 7 Ultimate x64

Take the card apart and clean the heatsink out. It is probably clogged with dust. I had the same issue. Don't forget to apply Arctic Silver 5 heat-sink compound.

Get a can of air at a computer store. Take your computer outside if possible. Take the side off the case. Blow everything you can clean of dust. Especially the fan/or cooling fins on the graphics card. Use 2 cans if you want. http://www.howtogeek.com/72716/how-to-thoroughly-clean-your-dirty-desktop-computer/

...and see if you can find those fan switches (if there).

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Intel I7 960 @ 3.87ghz *Intel DX58SO *HIS HD6970 2gb *Corsair TX650M *2x4gb Corsair XMS3 *WD Black 1TB *Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit *Gateway HD2401 24" 2ms 1920x1200  ***Asus N71Jq laptop *Intel I7 720QM Processor *Mobility Radeon HD5730 1gb *8gb Ram *Windows 7 64bit  ***Acer 5750 laptop

* A clear conscience is usually a sign of bad memory *

I used an air can on it when I opened it this morning, so if it's dust, then it'll probably require removing the card/fan to get at it.

Unfortunately that's something I have no experience with and would not be comfortable doing myself, so it looks like it's time to either wrangle a friend into helping or eating a $100 dollar repair fee...

Thanks to everyone who's responded so far, it's been a big help.