Your post didn't list a power supply. At that parts list, a 450 or higher wattage supply would be my pick, but your post writes "get artifacts all over every icon and also on random messages from windows that pop up (even the user icons when you log onto windows xp). I fixed that problem because supposedly my card can't handle windows xp on the highest hardware acceleration".
When I see this, the case cover comes off and I point a fan at the machine to see if it's heat. Many don't design heat management into their design.
Bob
Hi guys, I just picked up a new custom made computer: An Amd Athlon 3400, (128 MB) Radeon 9800 pro, 1024 MB of Ram and a Seagate 120 Gigabyte Hardrive.
Now those are my specs here's where the trouble is; I just got this computer back yesterday from my fathers friend whos a pro at building custom computers and never makes mistakes. When I rebooted the computer for the first time and windows xp loaded for the second time I started to get artifacts all over every icon and also on random messages from windows that pop up (even the user icons when you log onto windows xp). I fixed that problem because supposedly my card can't handle windows xp on the highest hardware acceleration (which is the default setting). But now I'm getting this problem in every game I play; it's not just a few artifact glitches popping up here and there there all over the screen almost like a checkerboard pattern...
The games I've played so far are Mafia and Doom 3 and they both look the same. Should I return my card? Are there any settings I can change?
P.S. My brother has the EXACT same computer up to the case and he is having no problems at all...

Chowhound
Comic Vine
GameFAQs
GameSpot
Giant Bomb
TechRepublic