Hi Spen and welcome to the forums. Why have you not overclocked the GPU? You need to remember that GPU's are identical across continents, and a small increase in temperature should not result in artifacts at stock speeds. Provided you have sufficient airflow in your case you should be fine. By sufficient I mean 1x120mm Intake or 2x80mm Intakes. 1x120mm Exhaust or 2x 80mm Exhausts would be optimal. It all depends on your case though: which case do you have? Some cases provide the option of a GPU fan, which mounts inside the door. A blow hole also ensures that the hot air has the best means of escape. If your case has none of these then the modding forum is just the place to find out how to make your own. What is the intake/exhaust setup currently? The next option would be an aftermarket cooler. Arctic Cooling have been King of the Hill for aftermarket GPU cooling for about two years. They allow significant Overclocks whilst still being very silent. Zalman also offer a number of GPU heatsinks which offer great performance and low noise. Have you tried to ensure that the current heatsink is seated properly? If not it would be worth while removing the GPU, then take the heatsink off.Clean the old paste off and apply some new Arctic Silver thermal compound. Re attach the heatsink and give it a spin. Good Luck
If you're getting artifacts, then it's definately the graphics. Either dodgy memory or overheating. Can you post a picture of your case? It'll help us see how the air flow is.
Spen you need to get some air circulation as its obviously your problem. Get two fans in there and I'm sure it will help. Akasa amber series fans are quiet, cheap and move a lot of air. I would suggest buying those and you should see an improvement. Without proper cooling your actually reducing the life expectancy of your hardware. Even though the GPU should still operate at those temps its effectively being choked. The additon of an Artic Cooling heatsink would also help significantly.
A pair of reasonable flow fans should certainly help with your temperature no end. If your willing to mod your case it may als be worth putting an additional 80 or 92mm fan in the cover just below your graphics card to supply it with cool air to breath, and/or a 120mm fan in the roof to allow the hot air from your system to escape.
I personally would go for the Akasa Amber Series. They cost less and move more air. Their only drawback is the fact that they make a little more noise, but not so much that they will be irritating. Regarding your case well thats something only you can decide. If you consider that these two Akasa fans will cost £12 and the North Q will be £18, then a little more will allow you to buy a case. You could buy a new case which actually comes with fans pre-installed. The options are almost limitless but there are a few which stand out from the crowd. Lian-Li have been one of the best manufacturers for years and have developed quite a following. A number of members here swear by them. The Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS sticks out most because of its price. Your getting two case fans and a high quality case for £56.34 if you buy it from Overclockers. The case will also naturally cool better due to it's aluminium construction. Antec/Akasa & Coolermaster are also tier one contenders. It all depends on how much you want to spend. Also consider that a Case is almost an investment since it will normally outlast all other components. Hope this helps
Yate loons off ebay are cheap. What case do you have? A new case is a worthy invesment to your computer, a PC7+ as stated above is a great case. Either that or a VF900/VF700 will work great.
