The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    T400 switchable graphics w/out power mgr

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by superduty, Nov 18, 2008.

  1. superduty

    superduty Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    175
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I am currently doing a vista clean install. Am I correct that if I do NOT install the Thinkvantage power manager then I must go into BIOS to switch from integrated to discrete?

    What other bonuses are there with the Thinkvantage power manager. What will I be missing if I dont install it?

    Thanks
     
    superduty, Nov 18, 2008
    #1
  2. StealthTH

    StealthTH Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    281
    Messages:
    680
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    The driver matrices and power manager are much better at power management than vista default. It is highly recommended that you install them.
     
    StealthTH, Nov 18, 2008
    #2
  3. superduty

    superduty Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    175
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I did a clean install of V64 Business. After installing most drivers, I installed the Thinkvantage power manager.....and though I didnt do any scientific testing, and only had the computer running without the TV power manager for about an hour, it seems that the TV power manager slows things down. Am I crazy? The computer still runs well, but it seemed snappier without the TV Power Mgr.

    I changed the setting to maximize performance. Maybe there are other settings that need to be changed to get it back to what the Vista Pwr Mgr defaults were?
     
    superduty, Nov 18, 2008
    #3
  4. andrew78

    andrew78 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    13
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I also think that vista is somehow faster without the power manager. I didn't do any thorough testing, but I had the same experience on two different t400s.

    I couldn't figure out how to switch the graphics without the power manager (without a reboot) - though it just occurred to me that disabling the device in the hardware manager might work. Has anyone discovered a better way?

    I've been running with the ATI adapter selected in the bios (so no option to switch at all), and I'm still getting over 3 hours of real usage on the 6 cell battery. Seems pretty good to me.

    Andrew
     
    andrew78, Nov 18, 2008
    #4
  5. w500?

    w500? Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    118
    Messages:
    210
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    So did we decide that Lenovo's power manager is required for switching within the os?
     
    w500?, Nov 27, 2008
    #5