I could use some clarity on this GPU issue

Might sound stupid, but I learned in second grade there are no stupid questions, so here goes. I softmodded my 9500pro to 9700, then OC'd it to 350/315. It worked fine for a while, then last night it got some artifacts while I ran 3dMark. This was with the stock cooling. Today I installed a Vantec Iceberq cooler on it, and in the process scratched a small area on the board that surrounds the actual GPU.

my problem is that now my video is very very poor, with checkered artifacts on most graphic intensive programs. I'm posting because I can't figure out if it's caused by the scratch or from burning out my card by OC'ing it. I turned down the clock since I added the cooler, without improvement. There are no artifacts for non graphic intensive programs like internet, windows, etc.

Anyone think going back to the old 9500pro drivers would help? if I wait it out and let it cool itself with the new fan, would that help? I want to brainstorm ideas before I start tweaking anything again, because apparantly I'm a mr. ten-thumbs now who screws up a GPU installing a cooler *shakes head*



P.S. this card is less than 6 months old now