AWKWARD ZOMBIE

Laptop CPUs are rated for higher temps than their desktop equivalents but anything above 80c is already something to worry about. If you're up to it, you could remove the bottom of the laptop and dust it, especially the fans. You could also invest in one of those cooler mats.

Looks like I can't get to the fan without disassembling the whole bottom case of the laptop. I don't really think I'm savvy enough to do that myself, though my dad might be up to it whenever I visit home this summer, and he has more computer-maintenance supplies than I do here.

Meanwhile looks like I'll be shopping.

I'm taking apart a laptop at the moment and it's a pain in the booty because there's absolutely no standard for how a laptop should be built so every model is different. Sometimes the usual parts (HDD, RAM) are behind a single screw, sometimes you have to take out one part or the whole bottom plate to get to the next. Don't even get me started on stuck screws and BIOS batteries under the motherboard. System clock keeps resetting? Have fun disassembling absolutely everything.

Luckily taking out the bottom plate usually just means loosening every screw you see.

Yeah, the back plate just leads to the HDD and memory stuff on mine.

Meanwhile, I found some good fans/cooling trays on the interwebs, but I'll check out the electronics store to see what they got first.

I actually read some stuff about how simply lifting your laptop so that it's at an angle should help, assuming it has fans at the bottom. A cooling pad might only reduce the heat by 1-2c. Thoroughly dusting it should provide the best results.

Would a 2gB 650 ti Boost be bottleneck'd by an i3 2100 processor and 4 gB of ram? I'm thinking about upgrading and I wanted to know if that gpu would be overkill

Well, that's why I'm aiming for a fan, something that'll lift it off the table a bit. I've seen some reviewers say they got a difference of 10-15 C with the ones I was looking at. I might stick a book or something underneath in the meantime, though, see if there's any difference.

It amuses me that pretty much all the cooling fans I see have blue LEDs lighting them up. I'll be such a 1337 pro gamer if I get one, right

4gb of RAM is enough unless you push for the highest settings, most new games list 2gb as the minimum and 4gb as recommended. Your CPU might become a problem with a card in that price range considering it's a dual-core (with hyperthreading, which most games don't support). If you're willing to get a weaker card, the 7770 or the regular 650 Ti would be a good partner for your CPU. You should be able to play most games on medium/high settings at 1080p with it.

.my battery gives my laptop a pretty good angle for cooling.

Also my casing is starting to fall apart, a rubber bit here and there gone, places not closing together, and a tiby crack coming off of my fan vent.

My dad bought a new computer and hooked it up to his tv through HDMI cable but the audio doesn't work, how do I fix it?

You mean the audio doesn't work through the TV? Have you checked the audio output options on the computer? It might be trying to play sound through the regular 3.5mm jack or something.

How would I check that?

Control panel > sounds, look for an option to change the sound device. I'm not on my PC right now so I can't give exact instructions.

What I'm guessing is that you need to run SPDIF to the graphics card/HDMI port. My old GeForce 9500 needed it, but I never bothered hooking it up before I got a newer card that didn't need it.

It's a weird looking connector, I think you need a special cable for it.

Of course, Mete's solution is much more likely if it's a newer computer, or if the HDMI is through an integrated (built into the motherboard) chip.

EDIT:
Can anyone help me look for a computer? I'd like to keep it as far below $600 as possible, absolutely not going over. The only part that matters much is the processor, I'd prefer not to go below an i5 3470. My only other requirement is that I be able to put in a graphics card - I found one computer that would have been perfect, but for having half-length PCIe slots, which my card won't fit in. (Nor, apparently, will anything worth using.)
I've looked at Newegg and TigerDirect, and every computer in my range that I've looked at has either had too slender a case for my card or the wrong ports entirely.

I'm going for pre-built because I've had bad luck with putting stuff together before. I know the advantages of buying components, this is my choice. I might be persuaded if there aren't any computers that fit my needs, but I'd prefer to keep my own mistakes from being a risk factor until I put in my graphics card.

So, recap: any prebuilt machine under $600 with an i5 3470 (3.2 ghz) and a regular PCIe x16 slot.

EDIT 2: woah wait hold up, anyone see any glaring issues with this?

apparently "the fan" (which one? processor?) is really loud. if that doesn't bother you, it doesn't look bad, especially if you're planning on replacing the video card. you could also get a new processor fan too i guess if it bugs you.