I have a quick question, and I didn't want to de-rail anyone else's thread for it...
The fan in my computer sometimes kicks into REALLY high gear. I'm pretty sure this is normal when there is a heavy load on the processor--but is it healthy for that to happen often? I mean, wouldn't it shorten the life of my hardware if it happens too much?
Open up your computer and clean the dust from in between the ribs. I usually use a vacuum cleaner for that, but you have to be careful with it. If you're not confident with it, you can buy a can of compressed air and blow the dust out, but make sure you're outside when you do that, otherwise you'll be cleaning your place for a month...
Also clean out the fans on the graphics card and as much as you can reach on the PSU. Lowering temperatures will make your computer last longer and will reduce the noise and wear on the fans, which can also fail over time...

