inspiron 6400- graphics problem

so i finally got my much anticipated 6400.

but here are my concerns:

I've got the ATI x1300 graphics card and I'm using 3d Home Architect software to design a home.

its blazingly fast, once it is plugged in.
On battery however, things seem to slow down.

The graphic processing slows down and freezes up once i'm on battery only. Called Dell tech support who advised me on changing settings in power management but this didn't work. He then surmised(as i don't think he was absolutely sure) that a dual core processor takes a lot of power and in battery mode would be contradictory slower than say a pentium M. He also advised me to check with other owners of 6400/1505's.

Well boy was I astonished, seeing that I did buy a PORTABLE to do light 3D processing on the move without having to me attached to a wall.

By the way this 3D software works great on a friends pentium M with much less specs than my 6400.

Any advice would be great as its back to dell if this can't be fixed.

thanks

 

I believe it can be changed though, im not as familiar with ATI cards as i am with nVidia.

But just to make a note, i would leave it as it is if possible. A laptop with Core Duo, x1300, and other things running, can drain the battery fast. Thats why it downclocks automatically, to save power

 

I believe you need to look for the powerplay settings in your advanced display properties. Setting it to max performance will prevent the gpu from downclocking on battery power.

Windows power management settings is seperate from powerplay (I think that's what it's called).

 

great

I went into ATI's catalyst center and chose max performance for gpu while in battery mode. By default this is set at its lowest. It works fine now.

I will monitor my battery life on this setting and post the results later.

thanks again