The test system with the NX8800GT installed is pictured below. Note that the graphics card uses a single-slot cooling solution. Since the GeForce 8800 GT GPU can reach temperatures up to 100 °C at full load (at the default fan speed at 29%), an adequately ventilated case is an important consideration.
MSI NX8800GT Installed
GPUs are designed with a number of fail safe mechanisms to prevent damage due to overheating. One line of defense is at the driver level, which can throttle clock speeds if the GPU exceeds a specific temperature. Additional safeguards are present at the hardware level through voltage regulation or the GPU can automatically shut down.