How do I pick out a UPS?

[nightelph]

It'll be used for the rig in my sig. Using a kill-a-watt shows that the box never pulls more ~350w at full load.

I've been told that Circuit City has awesome deals on APC models.

[dribblesnort]

It'll be used for the rig in my sig. Using a kill-a-watt shows that the box never pulls more ~350w at full load.

I've been told that Circuit City has awesome deals on APC models.

Usually the "VA to Watts" rating is listed on the box. Just as a reference, my 1300VA unit is rated at 750W.

If you NEVER pull more than 350w, a 700VA unit will suffice.

I got my 1300VA unit from Sam's Club for like $129 and it's been a great little unit so far.

[CGR]

It really depends on how long you want to run in the event of a power failure.

Each model should have information on the box as to how long it will keep a system running.

[DaPoets]

I bought this and it came in the mail Yesterday:
http://ak.buy.com/db_assets/prod_lrg_images/449/204297449.jpg

CP1350AVRLCD 1350VA CP AVR LCD UPS TWR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16842102070 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102070)

Got it for only $140 w/ free shipping and no tax though.

I figure all this hardware I'm putting into this War Machine (for WarHammer Online), I need to make sure I'm feeding it good nectar... Gotta love something that gets shipped to you for free that's 30 lbs!

[nightelph]

Thats quite heavy duty.

Am I correct in thinking you want to overlap the power draw of your machine with the rated wattage of the UPS? Sounds obvious but I want to make sure.
I actually just set up three of these at work and decided to do something at home to keep frequent brown-outs at bay.

[DaPoets]

Yeah my system on full load on all 4 cores and 3870x2 will draw about 490 watts right now. I'm adding a second 3870x2 today and just got a corsair 750TX PSU to handle two of these cards. now I have that plugged into my CyberPower UPS which handels up to 810 watts as well as my 2 LCD's (20.1 inch and 22 inch), printer, desk light, speakers (I'm on Ventrillo and TeamSpeak2 all the time) and Fiber Optic FIOS modem. I'm guessing that all said and done I'll max out at around 650 watts if everything is on and on full load, but there are always going to be spikes based on CD Rom/DVD and HD usage.

Now based on that, I'll only have about 14 mintues or so of juice if power does go out which is enough time for me to save my work, end my games, print out what ever I need and say good bye on my voice channels with out being in a rush. That's what you want, to get your system shut down after you have done everything you needed to do, or giving you enough time to trouble shoot your power outage.

2ndly (haha new word! woot!) this baby cleans the power exceptionally well. I have a ceiling heater in my bathroom and sometimes when it is turned on, my power will go out if the computer is doing a lot (they are on the same line some how... but what ever) so not only does the power fluctuate when that heater is on (and it's awsome to have it in the winter when getting out the shower, heat blowing down on your head) but if the power does actually go out now, my system will stay up and running with plenty of time for me to dry off and go in the basement to flip the switch in the power box.

$140 for piece of mind is more than worth it!

[Razzy]

Awesome. I just ordered that exact same UPS for $143 shipped. Can't wait to get it!

[DaPoets]

GRATZ! You will be very happy with it! I downloaded the software from the website as it's more up to date than the disk that comes with it. We had a big storm here (buffalo ny) yesterday and I was doing laundry, and running the dishwashwer... This thing kept my power nice and clean. When my ceiling light dimmed a bit when the washer changed cycles, my computer didn't flintch a bit like it used to.

[Razzy]

You're right.. I absolutely LOVE this thing. I am itching to buy 3 more to replace my other UPSes!!