backup power supplies

Hello!
So an area I don't really know much about. I am looking for an entry level backup power supply that will stop my computer from restarting when the power surges or give me time to power down my computer if it goes completely out. Not looking for anything fancy or to be able to use my computer for another 8 hours, ect... From what I have read, what you should get depends on how much power your computer is pulling. I will have my computer and one monitor plugged into the supply. Anyone have a recommendation?

They are known as UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) here is a recent article and thread about them.

http://www.howtogeek.com/161479/how-to-select-a-battery-backup-for-your-computer/

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2220570/ups-gaming-computer.html

I often use mine when the power goes out to run a laptop, so I can keep myself entertained. The beeping can get annoying though.

All depends on how much your willing to spend There are lots of options, but something in the 800w bare minimum is where I'd start. You most likely won't ever pull maximum from your PC which is about 550w tops, so 610w-ish from the wall and 60w for the LCD. If you never plan on upgrading that particular system you would probably be fine with a 800w UPS and not run into any issues. If you wanted to throw another GPU in there you'd be peaking that UPS pretty easy with some heavy gaming. I figured max wattage for your system using this website calculator, you know all the components in your system and it's set-up so you might be able to lower it some.

t1nm4n said:

All depends on how much your willing to spend There are lots of options, but something in the 800w bare minimum is where I'd start. You most likely won't ever pull maximum from your PC which is about 550w tops, so 610w-ish from the wall and 60w for the LCD. If you never plan on upgrading that particular system you would probably be fine with a 800w UPS and not run into any issues. If you wanted to throw another GPU in there you'd be peaking that UPS pretty easy with some heavy gaming. I figured max wattage for your system using this website calculator, you know all the components in your system and it's set-up so you might be able to lower it some.

Click to expand...

That is not a good way to judge how much of a UPS you will need. My sig rig only pulls about 350 watts, and that is when it is running a folding client on the cpu and gpu.

The OP could use a UPS unit that is rated for 750 watts, and that would be overkill. I recommend APC units.

mimart7 said:

That is not a good way to judge how much of a UPS you will need. My sig rig only pulls about 350 watts, and that is when it is running a folding client on the cpu and gpu.

The OP could use a UPS unit that is rated for 750 watts, and that would be overkill. I recommend APC units.

Click to expand...

When it comes to a UPS, more watts is not overkill. It's just more expensive, but with longer run times.

Of course, there is a minimum wattage that should be calculated according to what you need to run off battery till you can safely power down. So the question comes down to, do you want to have 2 minutes of run time before power loss, or 10+?

If you have frequent brown outs and black outs that don't last long (<1-2 minutes max), I would suggest going for the longest possible run time. 1500 rated UPS' (approx. 800w actual) have come down quite a bit from years ago. A longer run time will allow you to ride out the brown outs and black outs till the voltages are back to normal without the need to shut down at all.

If you have brown outs/black outs that last for long periods of time (5+ minutes), then you might save some money and just go for a smaller UPS that will give you 5 minutes or so of run time, so that you can safely and leisurely shut down your computer without fear of losing anything important.

I have a 650w UPS that kept my system running for about 45 minutes. Should keep yours running plenty long enough to get a clean shut down.

I recommend Cyber Power. I stand my calculation of his power needs. APC is another brand worthy of using, have two still, one the battery is dead (it's at least 6 years old) and is a good candidate of a project to make my own insanely long lasting UPS, lol.

This is the model I currently own, it's more than you would ever need, even if you did add a 2nd GPU to your setup. It has a short runtime at peak power but surfing the web right now it shows I have 44min remaining at this usage. I went with this one cause I felt the power at my house was a bit on the noisy side, it being 41 years old and at the time where it was built they didn't have the most strict of electric codes, so grounding while adequate isn't the best. I also wanted something more than I needed cause I have my network gear plugged in so when the power does go out (and I lose use of my phones since they are all wireless, the base is elsewhere in the house) I can still make a report to the power company if it's out for an extended period of time, I can also use my phone to connect to the internet to see what the weather is like or much longer the storm will last.

It's all dependent on your needs/wants and uses.

Just get a used rackmount UPS and replace the batteries.

NiHaoMike said:

Just get a used rackmount UPS and replace the batteries.

Click to expand...

I've looked into that myself, to use in my rack, but all I ever find is UPS' sans batteries, yet still more expensive then a new 1500 consumer UPS from APC/Cyberpower. I never seem to find those so called cheap rack mounted UPS' that are recommended.

A Good Rule of Thumb for UPS choice should be your PC PSU Wattage.
Your 650 80+ Gold should easily be able to generate 650W of power from 650W + 10% or a 715W draw.
715W on a UPS converts to 1100VA. (715W / .65 = 1100VA) Most UPS support a Wattage equal to 65% of the VA rating.
It is explained a little better here... APC White Paper on Watts and Volt-Amps

My son runs his system on a 1200W PSU which should require, at the minimum, a 2000 VA UPS.
To give him a 25% overhead would require a 2500 VA UPS.
We've measured his usage and he has never burned more than 700W peak.
To give him 875W of backup, I would still need to purchase a 1500VA or better UPS.

Oh, just an FYI, for any UPS battery replacements, I purchase replacement batteries
from Ebay, Store ECOM Electronics... ECOM Electronics
I am not getting anything for the plug, but they have been exceptionally responsive to my purchases
and their batteries are always spanking brand new with a warranty and all to give.
They have every conceivable size battery you would want as a direct replacement or an upgrade
for re-celling the battery package in your UPS, and it will cost you about 1/2 the price and a little
of your electrical talents to do the re-cell. In the long run, they are fantastic.

Pete...