GF3 artifacts when OC... bad?

[KyleGagnet]

The artifacts that I see when I push the ram on my GF3 and run 3DMark2k1, are they bad? I know I might not get as high of a score, but is it actually damaging the card or what? It sure doesn't look pretty, but I just want to make sure that I'm not destroying my video card.

 

[MichaelD]

Artifacts appear when you have pushed your memory and/or core past it's limits. When you see artifacts, you are too far overclocked. Back off a bit. Momentary artifacts wont' hurt anything, but continually running a videocard past it's limits may damage it. If you just over-overclocked it just to see high a 3DMark score you'd get, that's ok, but don't continually run it oced that high.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Sometimes when you o/c your card too far (and get artifacts) then when you underclock back to normal speeds, the artifacts are still there and remain there permanently, due to the fact that you have damaged the card. Artifacts are a sign you've gone too far, back up your o/c some!