Techniques for operating a diversity receiver are described. A user equipment (UE) may include (i) a first receive chain having an equalizer and a first rake receiver and (ii) a second receive chain having a second rake receiver. The UE may support (i) a first mode in which only the equalizer is used to process a received transmission and (ii) a second mode in which both rake receivers are used to process the received transmission. The UE may determine a first performance metric for the first mode (e.g., based on the performance of the equalizer) and a second performance metric for the second mode (e.g., based on the performance of both rake receivers or only the first rake receiver). The UE may select the first or second mode based on the performance metrics and may power down the second receive chain if the first mode is selected.