Yes, that does sounds like artifacts. Try doing #4 listed here to see if it helps eliminate the artifacts.

So I downclocked my card 100mhz using afterburner and it was registering 1312Mhz. I didn't want to go lower, because I wanted to test the same settings and honestly this card should run well above that. I subjected it to the same conditions as before and it still happened. Its not predictable and doesnt always happen in the same spots, but I am still getting it in high particle/high load conditions every few minutes. Sometimes its a very tiny speck, but the last run yielded faint quarter inch red ellipses almost across the entire screen. With the downclocked speed the card didnt go over 60C. The GPU load was 90-98% and power still never exceeded 80%.
 

I downclocked all the way to a 916Mhz core clock. I left the settings the same and it would only run 30-45FPS at ~50C, 95-98%load, and 60% power. I did not notice the red dots at all in ~20min. Is it because the frame rates dropped so much? Surely artifact would show up at 30FPS, correct?

Sounds like it may be time for an RMA since the card is still under warranty. It just seems odd since it has never throttled core clocks or had temp issues. I don't overclock or push the card hard.