fair enough Quad.

anyway, thanks to SpeedFan, i'm pretty sure heat's the problem:

GPU: 62C (flame icon)
System: 43C (tick icon)
CPU: 78C (flame)
AUX: 34C (blue down-arrow icon)
HD0: 42C (tick)
HD1: 43C (tick)
Core: 62C (flame)
Ambient: 0C (blue)

i'm guessing the blue arrow means 'very cool' while the others are self-explanatory.

and that's how hot it is right now, haven't played no games today, and done nothing except check my mail and these forums.

so... what do i do about it?

julz