Screen filled with artifacts

[BEGONE]

This is what my desktop currently looks like:

I am running on a 9800 Pro. The fan died about a year ago, but I put a videocard cooler (which is just another fan) underneath it and it ran ok, although I still see artifacts in games from time to time such as white dots, but I didnt think too much about it. Recently however, the situation got worse as you can see. I tried removing the old fan that stopped working thinking it might be blocking airflow from the new fan, but it made no difference. I updated the driver and tried using Ati Tools to underclock the vid card but it does not seem to go away. The only way to fix it temporarily is to leave it off for a few days, then it would run fine for about a couple days, then it would start up again. Do you think its something permanent that I can't fix and that its time for a new video card? I really want to fix it if at all possible. Thanks in advance.

 

[Domini]

your card most likely died from heat. you need direct contact with the video card to make cooling effective.

 

[BEGONE]

Do you mean direct cooling with the heatsink? That was the case, it was touching the heatsink just as before, though now the fan is prob no more than a centimeter away. Looks like I may have to switch it out then...

 

[Jalidi]

Ouch, yeah... that can't really be fixed. If anything you're fortunate it's still functional but that video card is definitely on its last legs. Upgrade time! Maybe a X1950 Pro, if you want to stick to AGP... I used a 9800 Pro for three years and let me tell you, you'll be amazed at the difference an upgrade will make.

 

[digital_exhaust]

I too went from a 9800pro (great card btw) to an x1950pro and the difference is stunning. If your going to stick with agp it's a card that you should definitely look into....