I was lucky to catch a good deal in my country, a
Gigabyte 8800GT with ~$35 more than a HD3850 so I grab it. Here it is
My rig is a X2 3800+ stock, ABIT KN9, 2 GB Corsair 5400C4, P182, M-12 500, XP SP2 Beta 3205, all updates. Some pictures are
here.
First, a 3DMark06 stock and GPU temp (ambient ~ 23
°C). I know, crappy 3dMark score, but I'm a silence freak not a benchmark freak. And Crysis GPU benchmark, all high, 1280x1024 no AA/AF.
Second, it's time to put some heat on this GPU. What to choose, what to choose? Bingo! Fur window from
Gpu Caps Viewer. If you really want to put some heat on your GPU try it.
Oops! 108
°C after 4 minutes. Not good. Why is so hot? Because fan Duty min cycle is 29% and that fan is spinning with ~ 1600 RPM's until 108°C. 
Hmm, some measures should be taken here, Accelero S1 +AS5 and some ramsinks. 
Aha! Much better now. 40
°C less fanless after 11 minutes of heating seems quite right. 
Bottom line, stock cooling is a piece of crap, noisy and inefficient, but AC Accelero S1 is one of the best solutions price/performance wise. Just cover VRM's with ramsinks and blow some air on it and Accelero S1 won't dissapoint you.