Artifacts seen on a new GPU

[Githyanki]

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I recently just bought a new MSI N250GTS 2D512. I initially plugged it into the CPU and just installed the new drivers. It caused some artifacts while watching movies and playing Plant Vs. Zombies. So, I reformatted the hard drive and installed a fresh copy of Windows XP SP3. Again, after installing the drivers, it would locked up on the Left 4 Dead 2's Main menu and would show several artifacts on Plant vs. Zombies.

I tried testing my RAM for errors. 13 passes and 0 errors on the mem86 test. Disabled the PhysX and Anti-aliasing options. I also cleaned out the dust, organized the cables, removed the 2nd optical drive, removed unnecessary USB devices, had an industrial fan (on an air-conditioned room) blow through the CPU, even tried under-clocking it... But I still couldn't get it to run video and graphics applications at 100% (sometimes it'll run though...)

Had it checked by the retailer and they called me earlier saying everything went fine. They were able to play COD6 and run 3d Mark for hours on it.

Any ideas what the culprit is? Initially the tech told me its the PSU. But I checked the requirements, the minimum for my setup is a 450W PSU..

Here are my specs:
Core 2 Duo E6600
P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy (very old sound card)
2 x 1Gb Corsair Domanitor DDR2
1 x 1TB Seagate Barracuda
2 x 320GB Seagate Barracuda
Coolermaster Real Power 550W (about 5-6 months old)
1KW Buffalo AVR

[tessF]

return ang unit kung asa nimo gi purchase sir.. guba jud na card jud blema ana

[werty]

might be driver problems.

[thermaltake]

its b.new u still have 7 days to replace it better replace the card..sir

[zoters]

mao replace daun na kung napay waranty....

[simoko]

have you seen the vcard worked didto sa retailer running COD & 3DMark06? if yes then naa nai conflict either software or hardware sa imong pc...or one possibility is dili kaya or naa problema sa imong psu...

if wala ka kakita, then i-uli na kai defective na & kong mo insist sila then ipa test nila nga naa ka...bring a copy of Furmark to test the vcard...free download ra...

[Githyanki]

@tessF, thermaltake, zoters,
Yea, had someone brought it to the retailer. Although, it passed the 7 day replacement warranty nearly a week ago. Looks like I'll have to pay a restocking fee for this...

@werty,
Tried reinstalling and uninstalling the drivers the whole week. Still couldn't get it to work at 100%. Even had an expert on configuring settings come in to help out. He got it to work (for a while) on DirectX10.

@simoko,
I'll try to drop by tomorrow while they're testing out the vcard. Had them try to rule out software conflicts too.

[Githyanki]

I think I found the culprit... It's the RAM itself. 1 stick was causing all the artifacts. Tried booting up the pc with each stick. The other stick went fine, played a hour's worth of Modern Warfare 2 at optimal settings without any glitch. The bad one would cause artifacts while still at the Windows screen.

But whats weird is that both the memory sticks passed the Memtest86 without even any errors.. I searched the thread and found out that someone also had the same experience...

[chriztophers]

I think I found the culprit... It's the RAM itself. 1 stick was causing all the artifacts. Tried booting up the pc with each stick. The other stick went fine, played a hour's worth of Modern Warfare 2 at optimal settings without any glitch. The bad one would cause artifacts while still at the Windows screen.

But whats weird is that both the memory sticks passed the Memtest86 without even any errors.. I searched the thread and found out that someone also had the same experience...

kasuway pud ko ani imo problem bro, nabuang ko pangita sa problema.. first i thought it was the PSU, then wala gihapon then change nako ang mboard ug dvd kay sometime dili na maka copy ug files then dugay kaayo.. but mao gihapon then nahurot nalang pud nako ilis ako hdd wala jud.. RAM ra jud diay cause... Kay pag test nako sa isa normal ra jud kaayo then paspas.... Both pud nga memory ni pass sa burn-in test sa windows 7...

[Githyanki]

Ako pud... I really thought the PSU was the problem, bought a new one and still had the problem. Nya bought the video card and still has the problem. Was already selecting a new proc, mobo, and RAM till I found the problem. hehe Now, I have two working video cards with me.

Oh, btw, I sent Corsair an email regarding this issue. Looks like even they couldn't figure out what went wrong. So, they'll be sending a replacement for the RAMs. hehe =)