ATI will soon launch a new program that will drop the prices of Radeon HD 3870 512MB cards all the way down to $159, while the HD 3850 will drop to $145. As far as we know this should start as of today or by tomorrow, at the latest.

ATI wants to be more affordable than 9600GT and the current bargain Radeon HD 3870 card sells for $179.99.

Even at $179.99 it is a good price, but when the card slips down to $159 it will instantly become even more attractive. Once HD 3850 drops to $145 it will end up as $10 to $15 cheaper than 9600GT and it looks that this is the public enemy number one.