Reviewing power supplies properly is a very difficult task. The emphasis is on properly. You need to have specialized equipment that can help load power supply rails with variable voltage. And one should be able to do that at variable temperatures.

Rather than doing an in depth review I’ll be doing a quick “real world” test with Xigmatek’s NRP-602, a 600 watts, 80plus bronze rated PSU.

ABOUT XIGMATEK

Xigmatek (a Taiwan based company with R&D facilities in Germany) made its name with its Heat Pipe Direct Touch series of coolers (HDT). The company has also branched into power supplies and computer cases.

PACKAGING

The cooler comes in an earthly brown-green (olive) toned box. The box screams eco-friendly mantras everywhere. “Go Green” and “Build a Forest in your PC” are dominantly displayed on top of the box. The rest of the space is taken up by the various features of the power supply and its rated wattage of 600.

The front and the back flaps describe the salient features in a little detail and the noise generated by the unit’s fan.

The bottom of the box continues with the use and save the earth theme. It tells the user how much of the environment he or she will save by using this cooler. How the box was made out of recycled stuff etc. The most important bit is the diagram detailing the cable lengths on the right side of the box.

Inside the box everything is very neatly arranged. The PSU comes in a nice black cloth purse enshrined in protective foam.

The accessories are placed inside a box of their own (power cord, screws and zip ties). The instructions lie at the bottom of the box.

The box is very unique and very stylized. It brings the eco friendly message home to the user. It will probably find a use elsewhere once the power supply is in use.

THE POWER SUPPLY UNIT

Umm… it looks just like any other non-modular power supply. That is the best way I can describe the unit.

The unit, unlike most psu’s, is grey in color. It has a large 140mm (made by Young Lin Tech).

The rear of the unit bears the power input and on-off button. The rest of the back of the unit is perforated.

The power rating label is affixed on one of the sides.

All the cables are sleeved and come out of a single opening at the front of the unit.

The connectors offered by the unit are listed below

The lack of modularity might put a few people off. Then again some swear against using modular psus. Those in the latter category are purists who shun any connectors in the path of power up to the motherboard or peripherals.

The unit ships with 2x pci-e 8 pin connectors.

As this is just a quick look, there wasn’t enough time to delve inside the power unit to see its innards.

CABLES

All the cables are sleeved black. As this is non-modular unit, all the cables are fixed to the power supply. The cable length is shown below

FEATURES

These are taken from Xigmatek’s website

High efficiency over 85% - Higher efficiency, lower energy loss, cooler our Earth.

Compliant with ATX12V Ver.2.3 - Compliant with latest Intel ATX12V Ver.2.3 PSU design guide.

0.99 Active PFC rate - The highest AC utility rate and active switch for universal AC voltage.

Real and stable 600W output - Continuous 600W total DC output for real 100% loading.

DC quality with low ripple noise - Low ripple noise DC output for better devices performance.

Japanese 105°C Main Capacitor - High-end and more stable Japanese capacitor for better output performance.

140mm silent cooling fan - The bigger fan is equal to lower RPM and less noise.

Smart thermal fan control - Fan RPM was controlled by temperature and keep silence in typical loading.

All DC cables with mesh sleeve - Reduce airflow resistance for better thermal release in PC case.

PCIe graphic card connector support - Support high-end graphic card with PCIe 6/8pin connector.

POWER SPECS

These are taken from Xigmatek’s website

The unit uses a split rail system for its +12V line. Though this is not the most elegant system, the unit does not demand end user load balancing between the two rails. The unit provides a massive 42 amps on the +12V rails which is quiet sufficient for most video cards.

QUICK TEST

The unit was hooked up to a Core i7 system (specs below). OCCT’s (V3.1.0) PSU test was run. This puts the most stress on all system components. System power usage was monitored at mains. Individual rails were monitored by using multi-meter and power connectors (molex and sata for 3.3V). Temperatures at inlet and outlet were measured using the functionality provided by the motherboard.

RESULTS

The unit performs admirably and well with ATX specs. As has already been stated the testing methodology is far from perfect, but given the constraints this is the best that could be achieved

CONCLUSIONS

Xigmatek offers a decent value-for-money product. The unit features all the standard protection (Over & under Volt, Over Current, Over Power, Over Temperature and Short Circuit) features.

The unit, though not a modular power supply, is decent enough to warrant its price tag. In fact Xigmatek could have priced it higher and still gotten away with it. Locally it is available on PCXtremists for about 6000 Rupees. This is not a bad buy at all considering this unit offers Active PFC at a price that is slightly higher than a unit that still uses Passive PFC.

As things stand, it is hard not to recommend this power supply to those who don’t to break the bank while shopping for a power supply.