Artifacts...are they caused by hardware or driver issue

I just got a new sapphire hd 7950 vapor x. I've so far played witcher 2, bulletstorm and run Heaven benchmark. I'm getting occassional artifacts appearing randomly, they don't happen very often and it doesn't ruin playing the game but i'd rather not have them. Are these caused by driver issues or could it be a hardware thing?

Can be caused by both.

Can be caused by both.

Lox_Cropek

Yup.

Software artifacts tend to look different. Usually like random vertices from an object are flying across your screen. This can also of course be caused by hardware, but it's not always. (Memory clocked too high)

Hardware defects tend to have your whole screen glitch out at once.

Check temp, reapply paste/heatsink. Also might be bad soldering, can try baking it. I'd recommend getting it replaced, it's under warranty.

Software artifacts tend to look different. Usually like random vertices from an object are flying across your screen. This can also of course be caused by hardware, but it's not always. (Memory clocked too high)

Hardware defects tend to have your whole screen glitch out at once.

JigglyWiggly_