should I RMA this

I bought a laptop not even 6 months ago, its an Aspire 5551G and the problem I have is its giving a very loud capacitor buzzing from around the cpu, the battery no longer charges over 40% and I'm losing 5% on everyday I use it with the battery in(on AC even), today I used it and noticed something fell out, it looked like a screw and it sounds like something is rattling(the fan was rattling before this though), and the right USB ports no longer work with anything except flash sticks not to mention its idling now at 65C and cuts off soon as I do anything while its upside down on the lcd with nothing blocking the vents. . . . . . I think the thermal paste dried up.

I bought it new at my school and even when it was new it had some of these problems but I dealt with it because they have a strict no return policy but at this rate the battery will be completely unusable by next week and I'm not even using it anymore .

 

Yes you should- with so many issues there's nothing to debate.
It's all covered by warranty so there should be no problems.

 

I have actually never RMA'd with notebook before do I have to backup all the data before I send it or will they just do that for me.

 

You have to backup all your data. Standard procedure is for service center to recover windows (meaning wipe out all your data) to rule out software problem- so they start with it and only then proceed do disassemble the notebook and so on.

 

Even if they did not, backing up is always a good plan.

 

Two points. 1: Use the Acer site to initiate your RMA (bronsky use that and highly recommends it) 2: If the problem doesn't involved your hard drive, you can remove it before you ship it back to Acer and then you don't have to worry about them wiping it etc.