Well i have the VF900 for a week now and it isnt working out as it should. I'm getting some very uncomfortable temps, which i'll spam below. I do suspect the airflow in my system, because it lacks a front or side case fan. This is something i am changing this weekend, so if anyone has a good suggestion for a case then i'm all ears. I'm leaning towards a coolermaster case of some sort. Currently the inside of my case is tidy when it comes to cabling so no airflow obstruction of any kind.
Last but not least, i took some risk with the temperatures during my testing, it seems that atleast my card is able to work under some very high degrees. However, i'm not attempting these kinds of degrees again!
Here we see the temps when the card is idling in 2D mode.
2006-03-30 23:41:12 Temperature: GPU: 46.8°C GPU environment: 43.0°C
2006-03-30 23:41:22 Temperature: GPU: 46.6°C GPU environment: 43.0°C
2006-03-30 23:41:32 Temperature: GPU: 46.8°C GPU environment: 43.0°C
2006-03-30 23:41:42 Temperature: GPU: 46.8°C GPU environment: 43.0°C
2006-03-30 23:41:53 Temperature: GPU: 46.6°C GPU environment: 43.0°C
Here a 3D application starts, note that although the profile is called Overclocked, these are still stock speeds.
2006-03-30 23:42:02 Application 'godfather.exe' starting - 3D mode activated
2006-03-30 23:42:02 Loading profile 'Overclocked':
2006-03-30 23:42:02 VCore: 1.17 V -> 1.40 V
2006-03-30 23:42:02 Core clock: 499.50 MHz -> 621.00 MHz
2006-03-30 23:42:02 Mem clock: 594.00 MHz -> 720.00 MHz
2006-03-30 23:42:03 Temperature: GPU: 47.1°C GPU environment: 43.0°C
2006-03-30 23:42:03 Done
2006-03-30 23:42:13 Temperature: GPU: 47.1°C GPU environment: 43.0°C
2006-03-30 23:42:23 Temperature: GPU: 48.8°C GPU environment: 43.0°C
2006-03-30 23:42:33 Temperature: GPU: 50.6°C GPU environment: 44.0°C
2006-03-30 23:42:43 Temperature: GPU: 50.6°C GPU environment: 44.0°C
2006-03-30 23:42:53 Temperature: GPU: 51.0°C GPU environment: 44.0°C
2006-03-30 23:43:03 Temperature: GPU: 51.4°C GPU environment: 44.0°C
2006-03-30 23:43:13 Temperature: GPU: 52.5°C GPU environment: 45.0°C
2006-03-30 23:43:23 Temperature: GPU: 53.9°C GPU environment: 45.0°C
2006-03-30 23:43:33 Temperature: GPU: 55.5°C GPU environment: 45.0°C
2006-03-30 23:43:43 Temperature: GPU: 57.9°C GPU environment: 46.0°C
2006-03-30 23:43:53 Temperature: GPU: 59.0°C GPU environment: 46.0°C
2006-03-30 23:44:03 Temperature: GPU: 60.1°C GPU environment: 47.0°C
2006-03-30 23:44:13 Temperature: GPU: 61.0°C GPU environment: 48.0°C
2006-03-30 23:44:23 Temperature: GPU: 61.8°C GPU environment: 48.0°C
2006-03-30 23:44:34 Temperature: GPU: 63.0°C GPU environment: 48.0°C
2006-03-30 23:44:44 Temperature: GPU: 63.3°C GPU environment: 49.0°C
2006-03-30 23:44:54 Temperature: GPU: 62.8°C GPU environment: 49.0°C
2006-03-30 23:45:04 Temperature: GPU: 62.3°C GPU environment: 50.0°C
2006-03-30 23:45:14 Temperature: GPU: 62.4°C GPU environment: 50.0°C
2006-03-30 23:45:24 Temperature: GPU: 62.3°C GPU environment: 50.0°C
2006-03-30 23:45:34 Temperature: GPU: 62.5°C GPU environment: 50.0°C
2006-03-30 23:45:44 Temperature: GPU: 62.4°C GPU environment: 50.0°C
2006-03-30 23:45:54 Temperature: GPU: 62.3°C GPU environment: 50.0°C
2006-03-30 23:46:04 Temperature: GPU: 62.8°C GPU environment: 50.0°C
2006-03-30 23:46:14 Temperature: GPU: 62.6°C GPU environment: 50.0°C
2006-03-30 23:46:24 Temperature: GPU: 62.5°C GPU environment: 50.0°C
2006-03-30 23:46:34 Temperature: GPU: 62.6°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:46:44 Temperature: GPU: 62.5°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:46:54 Temperature: GPU: 62.5°C GPU environment: 50.0°C
2006-03-30 23:47:04 Temperature: GPU: 62.8°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:47:14 Temperature: GPU: 62.6°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:47:24 Temperature: GPU: 62.9°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:47:34 Temperature: GPU: 63.4°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:47:44 Temperature: GPU: 62.9°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:47:54 Temperature: GPU: 62.9°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:48:04 Temperature: GPU: 63.9°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:48:14 Temperature: GPU: 64.3°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:48:24 Temperature: GPU: 64.4°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:48:34 Temperature: GPU: 64.0°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:48:44 Temperature: GPU: 63.8°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:48:54 Temperature: GPU: 63.5°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:49:04 Temperature: GPU: 63.1°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:49:14 Temperature: GPU: 62.9°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:49:24 Temperature: GPU: 62.9°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:49:34 Temperature: GPU: 62.4°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:49:44 Temperature: GPU: 62.0°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:49:54 Temperature: GPU: 62.6°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:50:05 Temperature: GPU: 63.1°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:50:15 Temperature: GPU: 63.8°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:50:25 Temperature: GPU: 63.6°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:50:35 Temperature: GPU: 64.6°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:50:45 Temperature: GPU: 66.5°C GPU environment: 52.0°C
2006-03-30 23:50:55 Temperature: GPU: 67.8°C GPU environment: 52.0°C
2006-03-30 23:51:05 Temperature: GPU: 68.5°C GPU environment: 52.0°C
2006-03-30 23:51:15 Temperature: GPU: 67.5°C GPU environment: 52.0°C
2006-03-30 23:51:25 Temperature: GPU: 66.8°C GPU environment: 52.0°C
2006-03-30 23:51:35 Temperature: GPU: 65.8°C GPU environment: 53.0°C
2006-03-30 23:51:45 Temperature: GPU: 65.0°C GPU environment: 52.0°C
2006-03-30 23:51:55 Temperature: GPU: 64.8°C GPU environment: 52.0°C
2006-03-30 23:52:05 Temperature: GPU: 65.5°C GPU environment: 53.0°C
2006-03-30 23:52:15 Temperature: GPU: 66.3°C GPU environment: 52.0°C
2006-03-30 23:52:25 Temperature: GPU: 66.4°C GPU environment: 52.0°C
2006-03-30 23:52:33 Application 'D:\Games\The Godfather\godfather.exe' terminating - 3D mode deactivated
During this game, temperatures are within limits. Maybe this game does not stress my system that much, but it can classify as normal operation.
2006-03-30 23:52:33 Loading profile '2D Normal':
2006-03-30 23:52:33 Core clock: 621.00 MHz -> 499.50 MHz
2006-03-30 23:52:33 Mem clock: 720.00 MHz -> 594.00 MHz
2006-03-30 23:52:34 VCore: 1.40 V -> 1.18 V
2006-03-30 23:52:34 Done
2006-03-30 23:52:35 Temperature: GPU: 64.4°C GPU environment: 52.0°C
2006-03-30 23:52:45 Temperature: GPU: 60.9°C GPU environment: 52.0°C
2006-03-30 23:52:55 Temperature: GPU: 57.5°C GPU environment: 52.0°C
2006-03-30 23:53:05 Temperature: GPU: 55.4°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:53:15 Temperature: GPU: 53.8°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-30 23:53:25 Temperature: GPU: 53.0°C GPU environment: 50.0°C
2006-03-30 23:53:35 Temperature: GPU: 52.0°C GPU environment: 49.0°C
2006-03-30 23:53:45 Temperature: GPU: 51.5°C GPU environment: 49.0°C
2006-03-30 23:53:55 Temperature: GPU: 51.3°C GPU environment: 48.0°C
2006-03-30 23:54:05 Temperature: GPU: 50.9°C GPU environment: 48.0°C
2006-03-30 23:54:15 Temperature: GPU: 50.8°C GPU environment: 48.0°C
2006-03-30 23:54:25 Temperature: GPU: 50.4°C GPU environment: 47.0°C
2006-03-30 23:54:35 Temperature: GPU: 50.3°C GPU environment: 47.0°C
2006-03-30 23:54:45 Temperature: GPU: 50.0°C GPU environment: 47.0°C
2006-03-30 23:54:55 Temperature: GPU: 49.9°C GPU environment: 46.0°C
2006-03-30 23:55:05 Temperature: GPU: 49.9°C GPU environment: 47.0°C
2006-03-30 23:55:15 Temperature: GPU: 49.8°C GPU environment: 46.0°C
2006-03-30 23:55:25 Temperature: GPU: 49.8°C GPU environment: 46.0°C
2006-03-30 23:55:35 Temperature: GPU: 49.6°C GPU environment: 46.0°C
2006-03-30 23:55:45 Temperature: GPU: 49.4°C GPU environment: 46.0°C
2006-03-30 23:55:55 Temperature: GPU: 49.4°C GPU environment: 46.0°C
Manually switching to the 3D mode profile here, to see the difference in temp for an idling system coming from 2D mode. Note: I did overclock the memory here to XTX speeds and core is still on XT speeds, so its not a 100% representation of an XT card switching to 3D mode.
2006-03-31 00:41:40 Loading profile 'Overclocked':
2006-03-31 00:41:40 VCore: 1.17 V -> 1.40 V
2006-03-31 00:41:40 Core clock: 499.50 MHz -> 625.50 MHz
2006-03-31 00:41:40 Mem clock: 594.00 MHz -> 774.00 MHz
2006-03-31 00:41:41 Done
2006-03-31 00:41:41 Temperature: GPU: 43.8°C GPU environment: 40.0°C
2006-03-31 00:41:51 Temperature: GPU: 45.0°C GPU environment: 39.0°C
2006-03-31 00:42:02 Temperature: GPU: 45.9°C GPU environment: 40.0°C
2006-03-31 00:42:12 Temperature: GPU: 46.5°C GPU environment: 40.0°C
2006-03-31 00:42:22 Temperature: GPU: 46.9°C GPU environment: 40.0°C
2006-03-31 00:42:32 Temperature: GPU: 47.1°C GPU environment: 41.0°C
2006-03-31 00:42:42 Temperature: GPU: 47.3°C GPU environment: 41.0°C
2006-03-31 00:42:53 Temperature: GPU: 47.5°C GPU environment: 41.0°C
2006-03-31 00:43:03 Temperature: GPU: 47.8°C GPU environment: 41.0°C
2006-03-31 00:43:13 Temperature: GPU: 47.8°C GPU environment: 41.0°C
2006-03-31 00:43:23 Temperature: GPU: 47.8°C GPU environment: 41.0°C
2006-03-31 00:43:33 Temperature: GPU: 48.1°C GPU environment: 41.0°C
Here we go into egg boiling mode
2006-03-31 00:43:36 Scan for Artifacts started... Core: 625.50 MHz Memory: 774.00 MHz
2006-03-31 00:43:36 Scan for Artifacts running for: 0:00:00
2006-03-31 00:43:43 Temperature: GPU: 58.6°C GPU environment: 42.0°C
2006-03-31 00:43:54 Temperature: GPU: 65.0°C GPU environment: 43.0°C
2006-03-31 00:44:04 Temperature: GPU: 69.8°C GPU environment: 44.0°C
2006-03-31 00:44:14 Temperature: GPU: 73.5°C GPU environment: 46.0°C
2006-03-31 00:44:24 Temperature: GPU: 76.4°C GPU environment: 48.0°C
2006-03-31 00:44:34 Temperature: GPU: 78.9°C GPU environment: 49.0°C
2006-03-31 00:44:45 Temperature: GPU: 80.6°C GPU environment: 50.0°C
2006-03-31 00:44:55 Temperature: GPU: 82.4°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-31 00:45:05 Temperature: GPU: 83.9°C GPU environment: 52.0°C
2006-03-31 00:45:15 Temperature: GPU: 85.0°C GPU environment: 53.0°C
2006-03-31 00:45:25 Temperature: GPU: 85.9°C GPU environment: 54.0°C
2006-03-31 00:45:35 Temperature: GPU: 86.6°C GPU environment: 54.0°C
2006-03-31 00:45:46 Temperature: GPU: 87.0°C GPU environment: 55.0°C
2006-03-31 00:45:56 Temperature: GPU: 87.6°C GPU environment: 55.0°C
2006-03-31 00:46:06 Temperature: GPU: 88.1°C GPU environment: 55.0°C
2006-03-31 00:46:16 Temperature: GPU: 88.5°C GPU environment: 56.0°C
2006-03-31 00:46:26 Temperature: GPU: 88.8°C GPU environment: 56.0°C
2006-03-31 00:46:29 Scan for Artifacts stopped Total runtime: 170 seconds
As you can see, i'm not happy 
2006-03-31 00:46:36 Temperature: GPU: 89.6°C GPU environment: 57.0°C
2006-03-31 00:46:46 Temperature: GPU: 79.8°C GPU environment: 57.0°C
2006-03-31 00:46:49 Loading profile '2D Normal':
2006-03-31 00:46:50 Core clock: 625.50 MHz -> 499.50 MHz
2006-03-31 00:46:50 Mem clock: 774.00 MHz -> 594.00 MHz
2006-03-31 00:46:50 VCore: 1.40 V -> 1.18 V
2006-03-31 00:46:50 Done
2006-03-31 00:46:56 Temperature: GPU: 69.9°C GPU environment: 56.0°C
2006-03-31 00:47:06 Temperature: GPU: 63.3°C GPU environment: 55.0°C
2006-03-31 00:47:16 Temperature: GPU: 58.9°C GPU environment: 53.0°C
2006-03-31 00:47:26 Temperature: GPU: 55.8°C GPU environment: 51.0°C
2006-03-31 00:47:37 Temperature: GPU: 53.5°C GPU environment: 50.0°C
2006-03-31 00:47:47 Temperature: GPU: 51.8°C GPU environment: 49.0°C
2006-03-31 00:47:57 Temperature: GPU: 50.8°C GPU environment: 48.0°C
2006-03-31 00:48:07 Temperature: GPU: 49.9°C GPU environment: 47.0°C
2006-03-31 00:48:17 Temperature: GPU: 49.1°C GPU environment: 46.0°C
2006-03-31 00:48:27 Temperature: GPU: 48.5°C GPU environment: 46.0°C
2006-03-31 00:48:37 Temperature: GPU: 48.1°C GPU environment: 45.0°C
2006-03-31 00:48:47 Temperature: GPU: 47.8°C GPU environment: 45.0°C
2006-03-31 00:48:57 Temperature: GPU: 47.6°C GPU environment: 44.0°C
Any suggestions to get this improved are welcome.
The card is a Sapphire X1900XT, connected to a ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe. The Athlon X2 3800+ is cooled by a Zalman CNPS7700-Cu and air flow is only at the back of my machine, provided by 2x Zalman case fans.