Dots on my screen, is my GPU dying?

So, I've got this weird issue where my screen is getting hit with artifacts—alternating green dots and big white ones—whenever I'm gaming, watching videos, or even just looking at photos.
In the photo I uploaded, you can see the white dots on the left. Not sure if the green ones show up, but they're definitely there on my end. One thing I don't get: if this is just a photo of my monitor, why are the green dots flickering? It should be a static image since it’s not a GIF.
Sometimes the dots go crazy and take over the whole screen. Other times it seems fine, but then it feels like my GPU drivers are choking out—everything freezes for about five seconds, and then the green dots just vanish. And yeah, I'm getting the occasional Blue Screen of Death, too.
Most of my gear is relatively recent: an Intel Core i7, 8 gigs of RAM, an older Samsung monitor (about 4 years old) without a digital output, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX.
Any ideas?

What if the screen goes black for just a second, then pops back on with a notification in the bottom right saying the "graphics driver has recovered from an unexpected error"?
I'm worried my own hardware might be nearing its end😢

GPU fan at 40% and temps are hitting nearly 80C. Crank it to 100% and it drops to 60C—those artifacts disappear immediately.
My bad, just realized there’s already a thread about this

Well, Andrew Murphy5, you nailed it. ;D Now you just need to make sure you blow the dust out of that GPU and keep an eye on the temps to be safe. If your budget 😁 allows for it, honestly, maybe start looking at a new card. This one’s getting old and probably can't handle the heavy lifting anymore...

Carl Cox3, it's 90% likely a driver issue, though overheating could be playing a part too. You should try a clean reinstall of your graphics drivers. If you know how to do that, great—if not, just let us know which card you're running and someone will walk you through it...

Thanks. I figured it was the GPU, though I did wonder if the monitor was acting up too. Anyway, the card is the only old thing in this rig—everything else has been in there for less than six months (well, the CPU was used, but still)—so I’m definitely swapping it out this summer. I'm eyeing something with at least 2-3 gigs of VRAM, which means looking at $1000-$500. I'm not really trying to blow my budget during the winter months, though.🙂
It’s definitely time for a cleaning, too. I haven't dusted it since I upgraded, and since this case doesn't have any filters, it gets dusty pretty fast.

Thanks for the reply. I don't think it's a temperature issue since I recently replaced the fan and it doesn't feel hot to the touch.
It's good to know if it's just the drivers. I ran into some driver issues when I reinstalled macOS, so that might be it. I'll try installing them next week. 🙂

A smart colleague of mine was saying we should probably clean out the graphics card, otherwise it might just kick the bucket for good. A quick fix would be using some compressed air to blow out all the gunk that’s built up inside, but honestly, it wouldn't hurt to go the extra mile—take the whole thing apart, pull the heatsink off, and swap out the thermal paste too. Over the years, that stuff basically turns into ceramic 😁
.
@ArianaGrande

I'd definitely try starting with some fresh drivers first; I guess that helps more often than you'd think.