INTRODUCTION

   About a week ago i stopped by one of the largest electronics store near where i live to purchase several small things i needed (some permanent markers, DVD+R/CD-R packs) and since i was there i decided to also stop by their PC hardware area to see which product lines have the most "traffic". So during the 20 minutes i spend on that floor looking at all the available products (i was surprised by the limited range of products especially for one of the largest electronics/PC Hardware stores around here) i saw several people picking graphics cards from the shelves (mainly GeForce GTX650/660 and Radeon 7850 models) but unfortunately i also saw the same people choosing OEM power supplies over the more well-known ones from Seasonic, Corsair, Thermaltake and Enermax (those were the only four available PSU brands in the store at that time). I did manage to sit down with one of the people who chose an OEM power supply and while i was trying to explain the differences between a good PSU and an OEM one i was somewhat surprised to hear that he thought that every power supply out there uses the same components, or at least that's what several sales persons had told him in the past. In any case after listening to what i had to say he ended walking away with a Corsair GS600 PSU which was pretty much the only one (between the available ones) near the price range he had in mind for a PSU. So because of that we've decided to also focus on rather low-cost power supply units aimed at casual users and gamers such as the Centauro XTK-CB-0600M 600W by Xigmatek.

   XIGMATEK Co., Ltd. was established in 2005 with the aim of becoming one of the world leaders in the computer Peripheral field. In XIGMATEK, the major members of management have many years experience in Computer Peripherals, Thermal industry, manufacturing and other applications. Pursued an aggressive growth strategy, XIGMATEK invests heavily in R&D, has strategic alliances with suppliers and academia, builds up an integrated presence in major economic regions, and hones one of the world’s most efficient manufacturing operations. A team of over twenty R&D engineers, product designers and technical people (one main team in German), XIGMATEK is full with confidence to offer excellent quality products and service to meet your needs. Regards as the consumer market, as well as distributing electrical appliances through the usual channels, XIGMATEK will continue to develop new sales channels to cater to ever-changing consumer trends and demand. With our fruitful experience, we have full confidence that we can provide not only the best, reliable, environmental and performing Computer Peripheral products but excellent service also to fulfill global user’s demand.

   Centauro obviously derives from Centaur a half man half horse being taken directly from Greek Mythology (several drawings on the box and on the unit show that as well). As some of you are aware Xigmatek does not have their own PSU production line so they pretty much do what many other companies/manufacturers do (not something bad) and that's to give the specifications of a unit (or units) on one of the leading manufacturers and have them manufacture it for them (same end result actually just a lot cheaper and faster). So with that in mind i can say with certainty that the Centauro XTK-CB-0600M 600W PSU (and perhaps their entire Centauro line) is actually manufactured by SIRFA Electronics one of the less-known PSU manufacturers established in early 1996 (they do however have a good track record in terms of quality). However since i haven't received any SIRFA manufactured units for a long time let's move forward to see just what Xigmatek offers with their latest Centauro XTK-CB-0600M 600W 80 Plus Bronze Certified power supply unit.