Bad overheating problem

[chipwich]

My computer had been shutting off after a short while, and the top part of the back of the tower is very warm to the touch afterwords. I guess that can't be good for the tower or anything in it.

Any advice or commentary?

[DontSayBanana]

Specifically the top back part?  Is the vent fan up there working?  It sounds like the cooling fan in the power supply is shot.

[chipwich]

I suppose it's possibly the power supply, I didn't even know there was supposed to be a fan.

[Alatriste]

You should, like, open the box and take a look inside 

Odds are the cooling fan has stopped working.

[Caliga]

It sounds like the cooling fan in the power supply is shot.

You need to try to figure this out... if you keep trying to use your PC without fixing this you're going to cause permanent damage to, at the very least, the PSU.

[DontSayBanana]

I suppose it's possibly the power supply, I didn't even know there was supposed to be a fan.

Yeah; it's, like, the big vent grille in the back of the tower.

[Grey Fox]

I suppose it's possibly the power supply, I didn't even know there was supposed to be a fan.

Electronics produce heat, heat that is usually disperse thru heatsinks & fans.

[chipwich]

The big fan is working. I don't know if theres another one in the power supply.

[Grey Fox]

Yes

[DontSayBanana]

The big fan is working. I don't know if theres another one in the power supply.

The big fan is in the power supply.  However, some PSUs (like the one in my desktop) need multiple fans to keep from overheating or slagging the components they're on top of.

[grumbler]

Chip, have you checked to see that the intakes to the case, components, and PSU are clean?  If they get clogged, you will have overheating even with working fans.

GPU intakes are especially prone to clogging.

[chipwich]

what's the gpu intake and a psu?

[chipwich]

and what's the safest way to dust the inside of a computer

[Barrister]

and what's the safest way to dust the inside of a computer

Compressed air.

[DontSayBanana]

what's the gpu intake and a psu?

Some video cards have their own fans inside.  The PSU is the power supply unit.  That big vent fan on the back where you plug in the power cable is actually part of the PSU- it's all a big box slotted into the top-back of a tower.

And definitely use compressed air.  Don't touch anything inside the case unless you absolutely have to; even if you don't fry your stuff with static discharge, human hands have amazing corrosive qualities to exposed circuit boards.