do graphics cards in notebooks use a lot more power than integrated intel?
if so, is it possible to underclock them when not playing games to lower power use or do they use the same power regardless

im asking because when i am running on batteries i will generally not be gaming, so it would be a waste to power a big graphics card to do word processing

GPUs now day have 3 settings 2d, 3d, 3d high power. if u stay in windows ur GPU will stay in 2d mode which is very low power. dont worry about it. they have thought of this allready.

if u want to fiddle more have a wee look at rivatuner and then u can lower the core clock even further when in 2d work. lower fan speeds. that sorta malarky...