There's something else floating around out there that we don't have access to (GPUTool, perhaps). Frankly, the MSI Afterburner doesn't work reliably for the 5850 (regardless of BIOS) with regard to voltage increase. It gets reset by AMD GPU Tool, and even at random during the clock switch to 3D.

I guess we'll have to keep waiting - the only way some reviewers were able to hit 1000+ on the core with 1.3v was with tools that are not publicly available. That's my gut feeling, for now.