Verdict: Everything a high-end PSU should be - powerful, stable, efficient and quiet

Externally, the S12-600 is almost identical to the S12-500.

As the name suggests, the S12-600 is rated at 600W, spread over four primary rails. The 3.3V and 5V rails are each rated at 30A each, and the pair of all-important 12V rails at 18A each. This is arguably a better design than the FSP FX600-80GLN, which has four weaker 12V rails. Six Molex, two FDD, two S-ATA and two PCI-E connectors are supplied, and, unlike many dual PCI-E power supplies, the S12-600 is Nvidia SLI certified. It's also compatible with 20- and 24-pin motherboards; dual-CPU and dual-core CPU motherboards are also supported, thanks to the additional 8-pin EPS12V connector. The interior is cooled by a temperature-controlled 120mm fan.

Even when the full 36A was drawn from the two 12V rails, the S12-600 proved remarkably stable, outputting 12.03V and 11.6V respectively. What's more, the 120mm fan didn't spin up too much, so it's very quiet. The S12-600 is also incredibly efficient, averaging 82 per cent at full load, which means it only requires 726W from the mains to produce 593W.

With dual PCI-E outputs and dual-core CPU support, the S12-600 is remarkably well connected. But that's not all; it also has rock-solid outputs, a well-behaved 120mm fan and is amazingly efficient. So what are you waiting for? Go and buy one now.

• Cases - 21st November 2008
• Motherboards - 24th October 2008
• Gaming Headsets - 26th September 2008
• Dream PCs - 24th September 2008
• Headphones - 12th September 2008
• Media PC components - 22nd August 2008
• PSUs - 14th July 2008

• Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB - Hard disks / storage
• Asus EAH4870 TOP - Graphics cards
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Sound cards
• Multiwinia - Games
• Zotac GeForce GTX 260² - Graphics cards
• Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 - Graphics cards
• Scan 3XS X58 Core i7 - Desktop PCs