Well, I contacted ASUS support yesterday with a nearly identical message as my first post, and they told me to update my BIOS to 211 and my ATI drivers to 10.10. I had already upgraded my BIOS from stock to 209 to fix the Fn+Esc problem, and I already updated them from 209 to 211 to see if it would help my overheating problem before I ever posted here or contacted ASUS. So since I already had BIOS 211 I just updated my ATI drivers to 10.10.
Now, instead of overheating and shutting down in Furmark, the computer will crash in a variety of ways...sometimes the screen will flicker and go black (with the computer still running, unlike the overheating).Other times my screen will magically become covered in striped lines of any variation of two colors (red and orange, light gray and dark gray). I'm guessing these are variants of the "GSOD" problem, which is why I always avoided upgrading from 9.12 ATI drivers to any others in the first place. It seems like the ASUS tech only made my problems worse.
My last option seems to be flashing the vBIOS or getting an RMA. Obviously I'd rather not get an RMA, especially since I need the laptop for schoolwork. Will flashing my vBIOS void my warranty? Also, any other suggestions for my dillema?
Thanks for your help, fellow gamers. I really appreciate it!