Xfx hd 7770

60c is still actually quite cool. Once you hit 75c+ you're pretty close to the max. It also depends on the cooler of the particular card.

31c sounds like idle temp to me. One thing you can do is download MSI Kombustor or Sapphire Trixx and manually set a fan speed graph.

Download the newest drivers from AMD (Catalyst 12.11) and see if that fixes the hiccups.

hey thanks for then reply. i ran heaven to raise the temp and set the fan speed to 75% to keep it at about 45c. i dont mind the temperature hitting 60c at all to be honest, its the fact that if i try and read any text its really difficult as the screen wont stop flickering. also im running 12.11  

What's the rest of your PC specs? Also what is your monitor and how are you connecting to the 7770?