Artifacts caused only by heat?

[imported_KuJaX]

Are artifacts on a screen only caused by heat or could they be caused by drivers, other software, etc?

I run two screens and had horizontal lines come on both screens. It got worse and worse until I could barely see anything on the screens at all. I rebooted the computer and they were gone. Is this caused by heat? I havent run into this before and i've had this graphics card for well over 6 months.

 

[error8]

They can be caused by heat and/or hardware malfunction.

 

[swanysto]

Do/did you have it overclocked? I get artifacts when I OC it too much regardless of how cool the temp is. And yes, it also could be a hardware problem. There is nothing that says a video card can't go bad after 6 months. I am not sure if software outside of the driver would cause it. Did you update the drivers before it happened? Try different ones.

 

[Zensal]

They can also be caused by low voltage and general hardware failure.

I had an x800gto modded and overclocked. After a few years, it just started getting artifacts no matter what I had the clocks at. It ran at about 40c load.

Totally worth in though. That was the best card I ever had.