Thinkpads Forum

Well my adventures with my T400 continue.
There is absolutely no place in the power manager or the ATI control program to switch between graphic adapters although the help files and everything I read so far says that there should be.

The ATI help clearly says to click on "Switchable Graphics" and I should find the settings there.
However, there is absolutely nothing that says "Switchable Graphics". No matter where I look.

I am using Vista 64 Bit. Could it be that it isn't available for 64 Bit?

Device Manager clearly shows that I have 2 graphic adapters installed and running properly.

Any help appreciated.

It needs to be enabled in the BIOS - check.

Yeah, I checked that too.
I just double checked now, and it is set to use the integraged as the default one. Which is strange because according to the ATI software, the only graphic card is the Discrete one.
The BIOS also shows that it is set to switchable, and allow the OS to detect the switchable mode.


Another weird thing is that when I go to the windows display settings and the ATI control, it shows me that I have 4 available monitors. 2 connected to the ATI and 2 connected to the Intel one. Although only monitor #3 is currently active which is the built in screen on the laptop.

Another strange thing is that the windows "display properties" always open up automatically when I start up the computer. It's as if something is wrong, and it is trying to tell me.

Ok, I think I solved the problem.
I read on Lenovo's forum that you have to LEFT CLICK the power manager's battery icon in the taskbar, and then you can see the option to switch.

Now, I am trying to figure out how, if possible, to have 2 external monitors using the integrated graphics.

Anyone?

I should also say that even though I figured out how to do it, the ATI software doesn't allow me to do it although the help files say that it should.
There is absolutely nothing about switchable graphics in the ATI software.

kingweb wrote:Ok, I think I solved the problem.
I read on Lenovo's forum that you have to LEFT CLICK the power manager's battery icon in the taskbar, and then you can see the option to switch.

Now, I am trying to figure out how, if possible, to have 2 external monitors using the integrated graphics.

Anyone?

It's not. When you have both, you get no DVI/DisplayPort on the integrated - so VGA is the only external connection.

2 external monitors probably means you can plug in - why use integrated graphics?

Because it gets very hot, and most of the time I am using office type software and not heavy graphic intense stuff.

In non-gaming, I only see an extra 1-2W from the discrete graphics.

The review I read on notebook reviews said that with the 9 cell battery there was about a 3 hour difference between ATI and Intel graphics.
I don't recall if he said what was running on the computer.

My T61 with NVIDIA was just about as bad as my HP ZD8000 17inch Pentium 4 battery life. It also always got very hot.
When I went to buy the T400, I was ready to buy the integrated, but then I saw that it had the hybrid, so I went with it.

But you are saying that they are almost the same? I am not saying you are wrong, I am just trying to understand.

kingweb wrote:Because it gets very hot, and most of the time I am using office type software and not heavy graphic intense stuff.

Most of the heat is probably from the CPU. Default settings for power manager run the CPU at "maximum" when plugged in, which means it runs at full clockspeed & voltage all the time.

Drop this to "adaptive" to have it scale up & down with usage and it should get a LOT cooler. I still notice some heat difference between integrated and discrete, but the only time I use discrete is on my desk, with a dock and a stand and my L22x next to the Thinkpad. I don't mind if it gets warm as I'm in A/C and it's not THAT hot.

I only switch to integrated when I'm at home on the couch (and plugged in to save the battery).

Hi, thanks for the tip. However, I can't find the "adaptive" setting.