APC UPS: How much power do I really need?

[Gerbil333]

In this past week we've had a thunderstorm every single day, and the power went out once. Over the past year similar weather has knocked out the power 2 or 3 times, and "maintenance" by the power company caused outages for several hours an a couple more occasions. I need a UPS.

I can get an APC 500VA "BE500U" UPS for $40 at Officemax. It's rated at 300W for 1.4 minutes. It seems like a great deal, but I don't know if it's enough.

I'd only want to power my computer -- I know my keyboard shortcuts well enough that I could save my work and shut down without my monitor being on. Here's what I've got:

Asus A7N8X Deluxe 2.0
Athlon XP 2500+ w/Retail hsf
Corsair 2x256mb TWINX3200LLPT
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
3Com 905CTX PCI NIC
Western Digital 40gb, 7200rpm, 8mb cache hd
Black Lite On 40x12x48 Black CD-RW
Black Aluminum Chieftec Dragon Server Tower w/window
Blue 6" Cold Cathode
Black Rounded IDE Cables
Logitech Elite keyboard
Logitech MX500 w/modded blue LED
Enermax 460W Blue dual fan PSU

I don't think my computer really needs a 460W PSU, but I bought it just to be safe. Do you think the APC 500VA UPS would be enough for at least 1 minute of backup time?

 

[EeyoreX]

If you are just powering your computer you should be fine. No monitor or power-hungry peripherals should get you at least 1 minute, perhaps a little more.

\Dan

 

[Dabappa]

APC has a size selector on their website that might help:
http://www.apcc.com/template/size/apc/index.cfm

 

[Gerbil333]

Yea, I tried that, but I figured it's not that accurate since it doesn't factor in power-hungry video cards or cold cathodes. It did recommend the 500VA UPS though, but as the minimum UPS to get.

 

[SilentZero]

It should give ya enough time to power down, but im really not sure. Why not just get a more powerful one? Isn't the peace of mind worth the extra few bucks?

 

[Gerbil333]

Because it's only $40, and the model above this one is $93. I don't have to have it either. For the past year or two I've been shutting the computer down in anticipation of power problems. I could keep doing that. I'm trying to save my money to build a socket 939 based system or better, 1gb of RAM, a DVD-burner...buying the $40 UPS wouldn't be that bad, but the $93 model would be a much greater dent in my savings.