Underclocking 4850?

[watercooled]

According to CCC, my 4850 GPU underclocks to 500MHz when idle. I checked this with GPU-Z and it confirmed that my GPU was running at 500MHZ (it's an IceQ TurboX which should be running at 685MHz). I ran the Windows experience benchmark to load the GPU the clock rose to 685MHz - what it should be. Is this normal / is it like Intel Speedstep or something?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

This is normal for almost all modern graphics cards. My HD3870 clocks down from 775mhz to 300mhz when idle. This saves energy and also keeps the graphics card cooler. There is no point for the graphics card to be running at full speed when it is doing nothing!!

For ATI cards this technology is called PowerPlay:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATI_PowerPlay

[watercooled]

OK cool. I've been playing round with the settings and I thought I'd messed something up. Thanks