2D Desktop Mode

[t33lo]

What is the purpose of 2D mode? I have my card set up to underclock itself when I am not playing games, but what is it really saving? Is it heat and power? Alot? How can I get it to recognize things such as the winamp visualizations which do not trigger it to use the standard clock speeds?

 

[jaguarskx]

2D mode lowers power consumption and heat. 3D mode kicks in when those functions are used. Look around for a 3rd party program to control clock speeds. I know ATI Tray Tools can be used for Radeons to ignore specified programs.

Video card power consumption

Video card heat

Video card noise

source
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/bfg-gf-gtx275oc_5.html#sect0