Yup. Nvidia really had a problem, and then they did something about it with the 580 I seem to recall with the vapour chamber stuff?
The scary thing is the amd cards of the last few years have had vapour chambers on them, 6950, 6970 and 6990 all have them and all run pretty hot. Pretty sure the 5970 also had one, though im not sure about the 7 series.

wasn't actually how they work more of how they can work efficiently on their side or upside down. Like heatpipes they all work better with the condenser area higher than the evaporator and the coolant not fighting mavity.
