In the theory of plate tectonics, the earth's crust is broken into plates that move around relative to each other. As a result of this movement, three types of plate boundaries are formed: divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries.
Graphics card temperatures typically range from 30c to 40c at idle and from 60c to 85c under load. Most high end video cards typically have a maximum temperature between 95c 105C, at which point the system will shut off to prevent damage. A video card is not considered to be overheating until it exceeds 90c under load. At this point, artifacting may start to occur up to the point of thermal shutdown.
Video card improvements move along at breakneck speeds-a new generation of video cards often replaces the old within 3-6 months. The GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) basically determines the features (e.g. DirectX 9 or DirectX10/OpenGL, HDR, and SLI or CrossFire) and performance level of a video card.