My graphics card seems to be running hot (85c idle). It is a GeForce 8500GT with an LCD connected to it at 1440x900 resolution. Since I checked this out last night I haven't played any games to be on the safe side. Will I need a new graphics card? Will I need any new hardware? Or can this be remedied by doing a software tweak? Thank you very much

The 8500GT isn't much of a gaming card...you may wanna replace it just based on that alone. As for the temp, does your card have a cooling fan or just a heatsink? Have you checked that the heatsink/fan isn't all dust clogged? Which software program are you using for the GPU temp? What's the system temp? How many case fans do you have & how are they arranged? If the system temp is high, it's makes it harder for everything else to run cool.

Yep I know it isn't. But I don't really play the latest games. I've looked at it with the nVidia driver software, ATITool, and RivaTuner. Everything else is running as it should normally do. The card itself has a fan/heatsink. The system has a rear case fan, and thats about it. And I should say I'm using the drivers included on the CD it came with. Should I install the latest drivers for it?

You didn't answer these questions! Have you checked that the heatsink/fan isn't all dust clogged? Which software program are you using for the GPU temp? What's the system temp? "Should I install the latest drivers for it? That will not help.

Yes I did. The system temp is 45c. I'm using ATITool and RivaTuner to view the GPU temp.

"Yes I did." No you didn't. I don't see 45C anywhere in your posts. That is pretty high for a system temp. Check to make sure the power supply vents aren't clogged up, the fan is working properly and that there is good airflow through the power supply. I suspect that your CPU temperature is also pretty high.

Have you checked that the heatsink/fan isn't all dust clogged? Yes I did just that! I've checked the psu and cpu and found no dust (as I clean the fans regullary).