The AMD ATI Radeon HD 3850 uses the same chip as the HD 3870 with the core and memory clock speeds reduced from 775MHz and 2250MHz to 668MHz and 1650MHz. But the really big difference is the 600MHz gap in the memory speed because AMD has chosen to run the 3850 on 256MB of GDDR 3 while the 3870 gets 512MB of the Full Monty GDDR 4 …
Register
The AMD ATI Radeon HD 3850 uses the same chip as the HD 3870 with the core and memory clock speeds reduced from 775MHz and 2250MHz to 668MHz and 1650MHz. But the really big difference is the 600MHz gap in the memory speed because AMD has chosen to run the 3850 on 256MB of GDDR 3 while the 3870 gets 512MB of the Full Monty GDDR 4 …
Update
The final page of the review has been updated with full power draw and GPU temperature test results.
How about a real competition
You could compare two of these (£200) to a single 8800GTS 320 (£200) or a single 8800GT 512 (£160).
In terms of BFB I'd put the money on the GT (of course we won't know until crossfire becomes a working reality.