How to stop switchable graphics from switching to high-power GPU when charging the laptop?

I've an Acer laptop with Windows 7 64 bit and an ATI Radeon HD 6550M Graphics card. Whenever I connect the power to charge the battery it automatically switches to the high-power GPU (ATI) instead of the low-power (Intel) GPU.

There's an option in the bios to stop such thing but it makes the GPU runs always on high-power and I can't switch to the low-power GPU.

How can I prevent the switchable graphics from automatically using the high-power GPU when charging?

Solution 1:

Right-click on the Desktop and choose the option for "Configure switchable graphics". In the dialog that appears, you will see an option for "Automatically select power-saving GPU when on battery". This option controls whether the graphics switch automatically. If you uncheck the box, then the GPU should only switch when you manually change it using the specific buttons.

(Note, this is the procedure on my HP laptop with ATI switchable graphics. I assume it is the same or similar for your Acer, as the drivers should be the same, but I can't guarantee that it'll work.)

Solution 2:

I solved it by uninstalling Acer Powersmart Manager