Weird small pixel artifacts

[RicocoTech125]

So, I was just playing Dead Island the other day and I started to get these weird artifacts in and out of the game. The artifacts come and go as they please and it appears at random spots. It shows up no matter what I am doing. Gaming, YouTube, shopping at Amazon, or even at idle. I tried to re-install my GPU drivers and that did not help at all. I thought it was the game that caused it so I uninstalled everything related to the game and that did not work. I tried to do system restore to a time where I did not have the game installed and that failed as well. Finally I re-installed Windows 7 because I thought it was a bug in the OS. That failed as well. I do not know what to do anymore. Please help me.

Here is a link to some screenshots of the issue

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B0LV9pijJ59VUUdUNDNMV0pPaXM&usp=sharing

 

-System Specs

CPU: Intel Core i7 3770k
RAM: Kingston HyperX Blu 16GB OC'd to 1866
Motherboard: MSI Big Bang Z77 MPower
GPU: MSI GTX 680 Twin Frozer III OC edition
PSU: Antec Earthwatts 650w 80+ Bronze
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro 128GB (for OS) and WD Caviar Green (for games and extra files)

 

[Godlygamer23]

I get somewhat the same thing in Borderlands 2. Occasionally, I'll get a "river" of artifacts at the bottom.

[RicocoTech125]

Do you know if it's an issue with the GPU?

[Godlygamer23]

Does it happen in other games? If not, it's unlikely it's the fault of the GPU.

[RicocoTech125]

It happens no matter what I do. I could be at Amazon or Youtube and the pixels will show up.

[Godlygamer23]

You have any other computers or monitors? Making the GPU display to another monitor/TV. Or perhaps another computer displaying to the display your rig is currently using.

[RicocoTech125]

I have my GPU connected to 3 different monitors. The pixels will show up on either one. I do have a Radeon 6850 lying around. 

[Godlygamer23]

Right. It looks like the issue is the GPU. Any overclocks done on the GPU or VRAM?

[RicocoTech125]

I got the GPU factory overclocked. I did not make any changes to it.

[Godlygamer23]

Do you use any software to monitor the clocks?

[RicocoTech125]

I could grab MSI Afterburner real quick to check.

[Godlygamer23]

Okay. See if the 680 is underclocking itself on both the GPU and VRAM. Do you know if the VRAM has been factory overclocked?

[RicocoTech125]

The box of the 680 says that the clock speeds are 

• Core Clock: 1058MHz - Boost Clock: 1124MHz - Effective Memory Clock: 6008MHz
  
  Right now the core clock is at 849 and the memory clock is at 3005
  
   

[Godlygamer23]

I don't think the clocks are the issue. I think the GPU is just malfunctioning. If you want to test your Radeon card real quick, you can do that just to make sure.

[RicocoTech125]

Yeah I'll do that. I'll be back.

[Godlygamer23]

Okay.

[RicocoTech125]

Okay I got the 6850 in as well as the latest drivers and I am currently testing for the artifacts. 

[Godlygamer23]

Alright.

[RicocoTech125]

Okay, so the 6850 does not have the artifacts like the 680 did.

[Godlygamer23]

680 is faulty then.

[RicocoTech125]

Should I contact NVIDIA or MSI to get the card fixed?

[Godlygamer23]

MSI.

[RicocoTech125]

Thank you soo much for helping me out with this. ^_^ 
I'm going to talk to MSI now, so I'll catch you later.

[Godlygamer23]

You're welcome.