PC power connectors

[Skybird]

I just put in a new graphics board, an X850XT. It came with an Y-adapter. I had three free power cables inside my PC. I made one connection, and the fan is working, however, I wonder if other combinations have adnvantages or disadvantages, and what they are for.

The adapter has a head-plug to be connected with the card. It is black, and has two rows with three pins. One pin in the middle is not active, so it is only five pins. Call this plug A.

Two identical sets of cables/connectors separate from the head. Each is three cables, yellow, brown, black, leading to a white connector, four pins wide. Only three pins are active. both sets are identical. Call these plugs B1 and B2.

The PC has these three connectors left, the plugs are all the same, four pins in a row, white:

Plug C has each pin connected with two cables, in this sequence: 2xred, 2xblack, 2xblack,2xyellow.

Plug D has three pins connected with only one cable, red, black, black, and the fourth one with two cables, 2xyellow.

Plug E has all fpour pins with only one cable: red, black, black, yellow.

So far I have connected B1 with E only. I tried additonally to also connect B2 with D, but saw no change. I also did not want to damage the card, and did no more experiment with double-connectors.

Does anyone knows what it's about?

I am also happy that my old 350W power supply happily supports the new card even at maximum work load (Oblivion, max details, 1280 res surely is maximum workload ) However, I would like to know if the system always consumes 350W no matter if at idle, office working, 3D simulation, or if the ammount of power I am charged for by the electricty company depends on the workload of the system?

The ard is nice, btw, but the cooler, although not noisier than the old one, is running at such a critical and high frequency that it seems to be a bit louder. I will replace it sooner or later. Since Palit, the card manufacturer, does not follow the reference design for ATI's x850 card, most coolers do not fit, unfortunately. Only cooler I have confirmation for that it fits this card is the Zalman VX7000.