By Jonny Gerow posted Sep 01st 2012
When people talk about computer power supplies, there are a lot of terms that get thrown around that we here at Corsair realize that not everyone understands. Unlike a CPU or GPU, a power supply doesn't have clock speeds. A PSU doesn't have 4MB vs. 8MB of L3 cache. A power supply doesn't have 2GB vs. 4GB of GDDR memory. So what number does everyone know when they look at a power supply box? The wattage. But, truth be told, the actual capability of one power supply can't be explained by wattage alone. One 600W power supply may not be the same as another 600W.
First, let's talk about what this "wattage" number on the box and power supply label is. The wattage of a power supply is an indication of how much DC power the power supply can put out. But a power supply only puts out as much DC power as demanded of it by the computer. And depending on what you're doing with that computer, that number can vary a great deal. Even though you have a 600W power supply, the power supply may only be putting out 300W, or even as little as 1 watt if it's just sitting in standby.
Here's the rub: that maximum wattage number comes with a number of conditions. A number of conditions that aren't always laid out on the retail box somewhere. And, as a consumer, you don't know what these conditions are unless a power supply is properly reviewed and exposed as the fraud, for the lack of a better word, that it may be.

Corsair fully discloses that the GS600 is rated at 600W, continuous, at 40°C.