Question Need help with PC. Unresponsive when trying to play games.

[Krysonox]

Whenever I try to play a game (they were fairly demanding) my screen would enter its "idle" state and my PC would become completely unresponsive and would need a manual shutdown. Sometimes after doing this my PC would go completely black and white on startup, run at 640x480, have black borders, and basically act as if there's no GPU plugged in. I usually resolve this issue but the main problem remains. I suspect it's GPU overheating (it sits at 57 degrees idle if that's bad) since I haven't cleaned out my PC in a long time. The GPU in question is a gtx970, about 3 years old now. Please help.

 

[rgd1101]

full system spec? include make and model of the psu

cpu/gpu temp and usage during the game?
ram/ssd/hdd usage?

 

[Krysonox]

The issue was solved by cleaning out my PC, and a mediocre job at that.
Sorry for the inconvenience, I'll have to look into proper cooling and dust control.
Edit: Only solved the issue very temporarily, I'll answer the question.

The GPU was sitting about 54 degrees Celcius idle, and was at about 98 degrees when I was in-game last I checked before it crashed again. CPU temperature bouncing between 65 and 75 degrees idle.

Specs are:

GPU: GTX 970
CPU: I7 4790k
MoBo: Z87-G45
PSU: EVGA NEX750B
RAM: 2x8gb HyperX Fury DDR3
OS: Windows 10

Help would be very much appreciated.

 

[rgd1101]

both cpu/gpu overheating. case fan not working?
what the cooler on the cpu?

 

[Krysonox]

Stock coolant, whatever came with the CPU. feel like an idiot now. The case fans should be working but it's very possible they've been clogged up with dust I didn't get in my half-assed cleanup. The fans have been fairly audible for a while now.