Help! Graphic artifacts whos origin I can't understand

Question

First of all, let me describe my system:
   I have a 865PE FIS2R motherboard,  
   2 X 512 HyperX PC-4000 sticks @ 2.65V,
   Intel 2.8C,
   Zalman 7000 Al-Cu cooler,
   Antec Sonata case with an Antec Tru Power 380W power supply,
   2 X 120GB 7200.7/8MB Seagate drives in a RAID 1
   1 36GB WD Raptor (system drive)
   1 MSI DVD+RW Drive
   1 CDRW/DVD Drive
   Sapphire Radeon 9800 PRO
   HAD:  
   XFX nVidia FX5600 ULTRA card with the Zalman cooler on it (sold)
EVERYTHING IS RUNNING AT STOCK SPEEDS.. BOTH DOT AND PAT ARE TURNED OFF
Now here is the problem.   When I built the system, I ran 3DMark03 to benchmark the graphics performance.  During the CPU tests, I noticed a large number of graphic artifacts that appear as triangles and other geometric anomalies that flash quickly all over the screen.  It happens more during the "Wings of Fury" test than others, but it does occur across both tests.   It's also happening a LOT when I play "Call Of Duty".  What I assumed was going on is that the original FX5600 just couldn't keep up, so I decided to sell it and buy a bigger badder card.  So yesterday I get the 9800 PRO, install it, and run the same tests expecting to see clear images.  Nope... actually, the artifacts are WORSE with this new card..  Call of Duty is almost unplayable in certain instances.   In addition, 3DMark03 is now failing in the sound tests, stating that I'm out of memory.   Considering I have a GIG of memory, I highly doubt that.  
I've run Memtest for several consecutive 24 hour periods, with zero errors being shown.  I've run the Prime95 stress test for days with no errors, as well as having my screen saver be Seti@Home..    The CPU and system temps all hover in the mid to upper 30's C when idle, and my CPU temps only reach the low 50's when stressed for hours.  I've also unplugged all extraneous devices (Optical, RAID drives, etc) to see if it's a voltage issue, with no change in result.  I've also played with the voltages of system memory, going as high as 2.75V.. again, no change.  As far as I can tell, everything in my system is good.  
I've run out of ideas of things to test to determine the culprit of this problem.   The only other item that might be causing this (that I can think of) is the actual AGP bus having issues, but I know of no way to test this particular data path.
So this brings me to you.   Right now I'm at the point where I'm considering just RMA'ing the motherboard, but I don't want to do that if there are other more likely culprits.   Any ideas?
Thanks in advance

Answer 1

Some things you might try to do before you return the whole stuff:
- Update your BIOS (run LiveUpdate 3 for that)
- Update your drivers (LiveUpdate again )
- Increase the AGP voltage (to approx. 1.7 or 1.8 volts)
- Toggle the 'AGP Fast Writeback' with 'Enabled' and 'Disabled' and see what gives changes to the situation
Are the 'artifacts' short flashes of white blocks on your screen? Then it's probably got to do with your directX version. Please update your WindowsXP OS with the latest updates from:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com