GPU overheating, power issue?

[Westify]

Hey all, i upgraded my video card about 6 moths ago to a GTS 250 from something 2-3 generations ago, its worked great but just lately i've been having some serious overheating problems due to the fan barely spinning for long periods of time then kicking back in.

I'm concerned it may be my power supply. I'm only using a 420W power supply which is the bare minimum for my card, is it possible this is the cause for the fan to slow down? or is it more likely the fan itself is faulty?

Also while checking temperatures i noticed my motherboard chipset was 55'C at idle, is that too hot?

 

[IGemini]

This depends on your hardware. Full system specs?

 

[Westify]

AMD X2 3800+ OC'd to 2500Ghz
DFI NF4 Ultra-D 939
OCZ powerstream 420W
2x 1024 OCZ DDR400
ECS Geforce GTS 250 1gb
Audigy 2 ZS Internal card
2x Seagate 7200RPM SATA drives

extra's i suppose would include a DVD-RW, floppy, wireless card, 3 case fans, and a non-stock CPU/mobo fans

 

[RebateMonger]

Probably a failing fan. Install SpeedFan or other voltage monitoring software and see if you 12V+ supply is varying with the fan speed.

 

[Westify]

i have speedfan but i'm not very familiar with whats right/wrong as far as power supply readings, what should i be looking out for?

 

[oynaz]

A PSU does not work that way. If you work a PSU too hard, it will continue supplying to the components right up to the point where it either fails, possibly taking some of your components with it, or shut down.