Screensavers do use some computer power for their graphics. Blank is the exception. It simply blanks the screen when the time is reached to load a screensaver. Power down is even better, since it also saves electricity. But in case you ever change the power down settings, it is a good idea to have blank in reserve. Some new plasma screens never have to worry about burn-in, but why take chances?

Joshua --

Since Lawrence is offline for a couple days getting his system upgraded, I will respond for him. He is saying that running WCG in screen saver mode is not as efficient for the grid. The grid software, because it runs at the priority of the idle process (absolutely the lowest priority on the system), will only get processor cycles when there are nothing else needs them. So, since a normal screensaver uses processor cycles to generate its animated graphics, the grid software has to wait. I hope this answers your question.

Regards,

If a monitor is turned off, does the computer know (or care) the monitor's off? If it doesn't, it would continue computing the screensaver (or any other graphical component of an application), wasting CPU cycles that could be spent on the Grid (or electricity on your bill)

Would the answer vary by computer or monitor model?