[Radeon 9800XT] Are these artifacts or what

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

My setup:
OS = WinXP pro
Vid = asus Radeon 9800XT pro
Mobo = asus KV8 Deluxe (for athlon4)
Machine Hardware = Athlon64 3400+

Group,

Some times on bootup, and it seems to be happening more often, I get
my initial login screen but with some kind of strange overlay.

The overlay consists of columns of bars about 1 1/4 inches long and
columns that strech full length of monitor. About 8-10 columns wide.
Columns have about an inch of space between them. Something like:

====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ======
====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ======
====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ======
[...]

Its transparent but opaque enough that it makes doing any thing
impossible. Usually a full stop/restart sequence is required to make
it disappear. A reboot usually doesn't do it.

And sometimes even a full stop/restart and it still shows up for
several cycles.

This is the Asus KV8 mobo for athlon64.

Any one have a clue what might be the cause of this?