9500 Softmod Help

[Iggy]

Hey guys, I just purchased a softmoddable 9500 np from someone claiming that it didn't produce artifacts, but it does rather slightly. They are very noticeable in 3DMark '03 in the Trolls Lair and Battle of Proxycon tests, but in 3DMark2001SE I can hardly see the artifacts produced in the bump mapping test. It also gives me artifacts in ATITool. I couldn't see artifacts in JKA, EF2, or Aquamark. I'm using the Omega Cat 4.4 drivers. The cooling system on the card is rather makeshift, being an adapted Intel chipset heatsink with a 40mm fan and alluminum standard ramsinks (not bga, 2 per memory). My 4 questions are:

 

-should I try and return the card?

 

-would better cooling help in the artifacting problem?

 

-is it safe to overclock the card?

 

-is there anything I can do to reduce artifacting?

 

Thanks.