NVIDIA 8600 GTS - PSU / Drivers

Hi,

I've browsed through this forum several times already but this is my first time joining. Found that most users here are quite helpful.

Anyways, I recently bought an NVIDIA 8600 GTS by BFGTech and I have a 500W PSU. Here's what it says:

+3.3V=30.0A(ORG),+5V=28.0A(RED),+12V1=18.0A(YEL)
+12V2=18.0A(YEL/BLK),+5Vsb=2.0A(PURP),-12.0V=0.5A(BLU)

I'm not quite sure what they mean by 12V1 and 12V2, but my main question is whether or not this power supply would fully satisfy the needs of my 8600 GTS.

Another question:

I've been testing out the 8600GTS on older games such as Halo and Halo 2. However, when I update to newer drivers, the FPS seems to go down drastically.

On Halo 1, if I remove the decals, then gameplay seems to be fine. On Halo 2, newer drivers simply stutter on the main screen and lag throughout gameplay.

Since these games are pretty old, I'm sure the 8600GTS can handle it. I'm just not sure why there's so much stuttering.

*If I revert to older NVIDIA drivers such as 162.22, I don't experience these problems.*
*Monitor RES: 1600 x 1050, 60 Hz*

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Computer Specs:

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System Information
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Time of this report: 3/19/2009, 14:51:25
Machine name: JEFFREY-PC
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.080917-1612)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Acer
System Model: Aspire M1610
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual CPU E2180 @ 2.00GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.0GHz
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 2171MB used, 2173MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 6.00.6001.18000 32bit Unicode


Display Devices
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Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 8600 GTS
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0400&SUBSYS_064219F1&REV_A1
Display Memory: 1013 MB
Dedicated Memory: 245 MB
Shared Memory: 767 MB
Current Mode: 1680 x 1050 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor
Driver Name: nvd3dum.dll,nvwgf2um.dll
Driver Version: 7.15.0011.8208 (English)
DDI Version: 10
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 2/18/2009 14:44:00, 6082560 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes

Thanks for your time and help!

The +12v rails is where your graphics card gets its power from, the motherboard and CPU also use the +12v rail/s. Some PSU's have 2 some have 4 some have one. Its meant to be a way of providing the power in a more stable way. With 2 generally one will power the mainboard and CPU while the other powers the graphics card. This way you know whats being fed to the card and you wont get dips like you can if every thing is running from a single rail.
Your PSU is plenty powerfull enough to run your card.
As far as the drivers go,
This kind of thing does happen,what you have is a card that was trying to run two differant systems of rendering as it was about when DX10 was quite new. This meant it had to run both DX9 and DX10 at a decent FPS. Todays cards have the muscle to run DX9 well although they are more optimised to run DX10.
Its games like you are trying to play that are causing the issue as well as the games are also designed to run on the hardware of the time. Something like a 1950 pro would run your games as well if not better than the 8600 but wouldnt play newer games anywhere near as well as the 8600.
Thats why the older drivers are giving you better results as they are more suited to how the games are coded.

Mactronix