not so new boxer with a hardware (video card) issue.

[Spatch]

Hello again.

Im at work so I cant actually change anything but when I get home I will try completely removing and reinstalling the driver from scratch as opposed to upgrading them. Thanks for the advice.

Cold reboots do not clear up the artifacts and clipping that I am seeing. They used to only happen under load but now have started being visible from startup. My previous attempts to fix the issue have resulted in the artifacting not being as noticible but it is still there. Hopefully they wont get progressivly worse.

I have not tried to underclock my card but that will be another option for me to try. It had not occured to me to underclock as that kind of goes against general convention. If this ends up fixing the problem ill live with it until I can get my hands on a quality card that runs well at stock or factory OC speeds. Personally I dont really think you should have to downgrade a product to make it stable but hey, thats what return policies are for.

The 500W PSU I am running is the one that came stock with the Antec sonata III case that I purchased. Its an EarthWatts 500 and could possibly be an issue. I read some reviews of the supply prior to purchasing the case as I wanted a good combo and the ones that I read said it was stable.

http://techaddicts.net/reviews/ant_e...nt_ea500w.html
http://www.sysopt.com/features/cases...2024_3660031_4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371007

Im left wondering though is the 500W enough to power the computer im running. I had assumed that it would be enough, maybe I should try buying a higher capacity psu and see if that clears things up.

Thanks

PS - as another question to the community is there a large disparity between multiboxing in Vista vs XP? I was wondering about the Direct X 10 vs Direct X 9 plus it may have a slightly diffent setup and interaction with the hardware. I dont know now im just grasping at straws but if all else fails I may try that.

[Freddie]

Cold reboots do not clear up the artifacts and clipping that I am seeing.

That rules out memory fragmentation and leaks. Sure, try underclocking the card but if it's the card, sounds like it's so damaged at this point that underclocking may help but won't fix it. I think you're going to have to start replacing hardware until you find the culprit. I agree that the video card and PSU are the first things on the list. I take it you can't borrow them from another PC for testing. Antech's PSU's have a good reputation but any product can break or have manufacturing defects. If you need to buy a new PSU, Seasonic makes excellent ones.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Ya know, if your heatsink is no longer attached properly or has an air bubble underneath it (I'm talking about the heatsink on your GPU chip(s)) then the GPU can overheat in a matter of seconds, which might explain artifacting. Same goes for the heatsink(s), if applicable, that go over your graphics card's RAM. Some cards are cheapie designs that have plastic captured-spring pins that are miserably under-strength in terms of keeping the heatsink secured. Combine that with the thermal "glue" they use for GPU/RAM heatsinks and you have a very problem-prone situation unless you're extremely careful in handling the card.

May be barking up the wrong tree here but in lieu of another explanation, this is possible.

[Freddie]

That's a good idea.

[Spatch]

After going back and forth with the xfx support team who asked me 4 times if I had reinstalled the video drivers in thier "recommended way" they finally agreed to give me an RMA code.

Ill be sending this thing off asap as I tested my system with a friends 8800 and there was no artifacting.

That kind of sealed it for me. Now its just a matter of having them test the card and getting it back in one peice.

Thanks to everyone who helped out, with all the advice I got my system has never been more up to date/clean.

Thanks again

[Freddie]

I tested my system with a friends 8800 and there was no artifacting.

There ya go. Grats on the RMA and good luck with the new one.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

This is why I'm a big fan of EVGA brand cards. They've repeatedly shown to be very helpful when it comes to RMAs (though I'll admit I haven't had to make use of that process yet).

[Freddie]

I just bought an EVGA myself. They have a good reputation.