I'm still using XP so it's not really a matter of mine atm.
I was wondering if one could reduce AERO interface power draw by locking (ie. EXCLUSION LIST in ati try tools) the Video card in 2d frequencies. Would a modern vga locked at 120/250 gpu/ram handle Aero without glitches, for instance?

It might be a big deal for notebooks where battery life is crucial, but on the desktop it doesn't really matter. When we test motherboards, we leave Aero on as it makes less than 1W of difference. Might be slightly more with discrete cards, but I can't imagine it is significant enough to worry about.

I also have read somewhere about 1 or 2 watts, but I am not sure if they are referring to idle state or normal working scenario (moving, opening and switching windows, when those windows are re-calculated in real time by gpu).
My vga if quite hotter if I switch between 2d and 3d, even while sitting on the desktop, so I suppose that the power draw is significantly different.

1 to 2 Watts when actually doing something. 0 Watts when just sitting there looking pretty. Aero shouldn't actually cause your GPU to go into "3D" mode (which usually refers to clock speeds and not the actual enabling disabling of DirectX features). Remember, Aero runs fine even on crappy IGP like Intel GMA950, which has 3DMark scores of like 200.

Glad to hear this, I was afraid of an increase in power consumption, whenever I'll upgrade to Win7.

Both of my Radeon's reduce clocks at the desktop with Aero running.

Shouldn't they be triggered by 3d interface?
Do they use a reduced frequency over 3d gaming mode?

Aero3d is not the same as 3d. It doesn't actually engage 3d mode in the drivers, it does use alpha blending and transparency support, however. Neither of which require the system to increase clock speed to 3d levels.

That explains a not-so-huge difference between Aero on and off.
thanks

I could try Seven in a few days, I'm curious to see idle power draw difference with xp sp3.

Wait til you see 7's power options...

Is it a good thing or not?

flapane
Frankly say, there is no such thing like 3D power mode or 2D power mode, at modern ATI cards e.g. Just a High GPU' Usage or Low GPU' Usage. No distinction whether it is 3D, or 2D, or anything else, an HDMI connected e.g. So don't bother that much with. At last you can tweak the BIOS with RBE, if it so important for you, so Aero will never exceed your 165/200MHz limit, so as other "light" tasks.

Hi,
sorry but I have to disagree. See my thread about my pc consumption and will see that there is a huge difference, in plain 2d desktop, at, let's say, low frequencies, and normal 3d freqs, on my hd3850.

Hi there. Does something confuses you? I see no contradiction between our messages.

Just puntualizing that gpu/gddr frequencies are not very useless while talking about power consumption, it would have been a pity to have ati tray tools automatically triggered in 3d mode (668/828) while sitting on an Aero desktop, as this would raise the total consumption
Probably those "2d" and "3d" modes I wrote above could be confusing, as there aren't real 2d and 3d modes, sorry.

my latest ati card finally back to normal, shuts down to 110mhz gpu and 252mhz, at .9 volt.
yes it is plenty for aero. I a have all settings on. Most cards claim to slow down, but I have had bad luck for more years than not. ati 3650 is doing good so far.

Glad to hear another confirmation.
Thanks!

I've just mesaured power draw in 7 x64 (att locked on so-called 2d frequencies) sitting on an Aero desktop.
The values are the same of XP sp3, and the gpu occupation is 5/10/15% while moving an Aero window.

I would point out that my HTPC card (4350) is connected via HDMI to our HDTV, and to get the best picture I run at 1280x720 which for some infernal reason puts this card into UVD mode, which has no difference in clocks or voltage at any usage level--it's full bore at all times. Could be a weird driver issue, could be a weird issue related to my card, but there it is.

edit: this is coupled with the atrocious HDMI handshaking issues, which mean it stays on at all times so we don't lose our precious link to the TV. Grrr...

Did you consider using ati tray tools?

The best way to cut power demand in Vista/Win7 for AeroGlass is to use a custom setting. For example, I've got a basic 7300GT card and to keep things usable while still running aero I had to change a few things.

The settings that provide 90 percent of Aero's benefits are these 2

Desktop Composition
Smooth Screen Fonts

The other settings you want include these and they don't hit the GPU much if at all.

Thumbnai Previews
Transparent Glass
AeroPeek

The other settings are Eye Candy and really don't give you anything more then a distraction instead of being useful, which is why I have them off.

Based on the load difference reported by my UPS, it's minimal savings by locking Vista/Win7 into the classic desktop. It's still using the 3D modes by default even if it's not giving you the extra features. Sorry but that's by design. MS decided that 3d was the "One True Path" and completely dropped 2d only support.