Following up from my HD 3870 video — this time I picked up an untested HD 3850 from 2007 for $9.90. Cleaned it, repasted it and threw it at 6 games on a Core 2 Duo rig.
• GTA San Andreas
• CoD4 Modern Warfare
• Tomb Raider Underworld
• Just Cause 2
• NFS Most Wanted
• Crysis
Temps hit 106°C but it survived.
Nowadays it's all about FEX -- they've done some significant changes thanks to valve. Including reducing all the "chit-chat" between layers, making the game be as "native-like" as possible. Also, what you've said/implied seems to be the case regarding OP's rig -- no comment on that.