Does macbook on power & battery process differently ?

Not sure how to put the title for this;

My macbook seems to freeze when its connected on power. However, it functions perfectly when off power and on battery. Similar is the case when bootcamped to Windows 8. Again, when running on battery, it runs smoothly but when trying to work on power, it freezes.

Can't seem to find answer to this; Is it possible that the OS/book uses the processor differently when on power and when on battery ??

Thanks,