Whiteout artifacts over 775 for me as well. 785 and over gave me thin lines (skinny triangles) around Ruby's face. I think it was so heavily optimized for the 29xx series that it isn't sync'ing properly or something over 775. I mean if something was overheating, the fan would surely start spinning faster right?

This reminds me of the Crysis artifacts that I nailed down to the shadows setting. I'm not such an eXTREEEEEEEM OC'er, but logically if artifacts appear and dissapear instantly when changing a setting, and the card has just gone from idle to load, it is not overheating. Also, if it is only happening in one app, it has to be software. Even if we agree that Crysis/Whiteout put more strain than something like Oblivion, being able to play Oblivion for hours without problems vs. instant artifacts in the other 2, must be software.

If someone on here knows of another hardware issue that can cause artifacts, I'd welcome the knowledge. I would think that something like overloading resistors would cause much more serious issues than these.

If anyone has done this successfully, I would love to know how to change the automatic fan settings in either/both XP/Vista x86.

KDC, I think you will find few ppl here that can claim stability at above 820 on the core, and fewer still with stock cooling.

I can't comment on your other issues, so maybe someone else here can help you out. You are probably the only one on here using the HDMI right now.