a seemingly big problem...
 

My original problem was my XFX 7600GS wouldn't allow me to overclock at the slightest (on XP btw). A quick flash through nvflash seemed to temporarily fix the problem. Now it seems the problem may have gone to another level. I've noticed some pixelation on my desktop that won't go away:

[img=http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/2592/pixelationtp1.th.jpg]

Every time I drag a window over the pixelation, the pixels leave a trace of how I dragged the window over it. I really don't know what to do at this point. Can anyone help me out?

Is the heatsink making proper contact with the GPU? If yes, then it might be a defective card and you can RMA it.

unfortunately, the card was Open Box, and newegg doesn't allow RMAs on open box. :(

Those pixelations seems to be like artefacts, which are generally caused by overclocking the card too much or overheating. Since you can't RMA it, I would recommend checking the card as Render said; as long as you're careful it can't hurt. Make sure the fan is working as well, I've had a card burn itself out because the fan (sleeve bearing :() eventually clogged itself up with dust and stopped working.

You should also get an utility to monitor the card's temperature and fan speeds; most modern cards are equipped with temperature diodes. I use ATITool for this purpose, which should still work on your nVidia card. Perhaps someone else who has a nVidia card knows of a better utility.

What BIOS did you flash your card with? Can you please explain further on why you couldn't overclock?

Ok, I pulled the card out, checked the connection of the GPU to the heatsink, which is good (my card is passive cooling, btw), dusted the board's PCI-E slot and card with a can of compressed air, checked the cleaned the DVI to VGA converter, and reseated the card securely. I'm running on just ONE monitor now, and the pixelation seems to be gone for the moment, but still won't overclock (which, at this point, I don't care for now).

Concerning the BIOS: I used nvflash to backup the original OEM BIOS, and then reflash it with the same BIOS. OCing: If I even go +/- 1MHz, the test will fail. I've gone around various forums and people are saying it could be a PSU problem, which mine is an Antec 350W with 20 to 24 P1 converter. Unfortunately I'm thinking this power is insufficient even though the graphics card doesn't require its own 4-pin molex.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150170

My card, btw. Card's temps are 47-48 idle, ~60 load, so we can rule the overheating out of the equation.