yeah that's what i was thinking. obviously with the pic of the 5870 you see one hot zone which is the core, while the top temp could be lower I can live with that.
with the gtx480 and the 5970 it's obvious that cooling needs to be majorly addressed. but I guess if you can afford 500-700$ for a card you should be able to get a 80-120$ waterblock.
Point and case right there.
All this whining about heat is just more mainstream users trying to afford and run enthusiast products within mainstream boundaries.
If you can spend $500 bones on a card, you can surely drop a little more cash for a better cooler - IF you are THAT worried.
I don't know why people expect different. So many products roll off factory lines with less than the best components, obviously to cut costs. Whether it's a GPU, or your vacuum cleaner or your car. Hence why 'aftermarket' is a profitable business. Yes, people modify their vacuum cleaners. Tool Time anyone? ;grunt;
@MDSX
Yes, the X2 can get extremely hot, I can tell you first hand. Before I had liquid blocks on it, it would soar. The funny thing is, I never bothered to volt mod it. It's just that I had cooling equipment left over from the G80 series, and decided to make use of it, rather than let it sit there collecting dust. I'm glad I did, because I hate fans. Not necessarily the noise, there's just something very primitive about them. I have a serious laugh when I see some cases decked out with twenty fans or some equally ridiculous amount.
Oh and ya, neat pictures!
Goddaamnn 
Damn the 480 is too hot.... God bless those who bought it. 
