UPS Question

[CrackaLackaZe]

I have essentially:

Antec 420 Watt PSU
Athlon 1000mhz
ATI 9600 AIW
17" LCD
Logitech Z640 Speakers
TSBC Sound Card

I was looking at the APC ES 350, but it says the Output Power Capacity is 200 Watts. What does that mean? Should I get an APC with a output power capacity that matches my psu? :clueless;

 

[farmercal]

I'm not an expert on UPS but I think the 200 W output determines how long you can run on the UPS once main power us off. We use those UPS at work on all configurations.

 

[Jeff7]

Personally, I'd put as much money into a UPS as you're willing to afford.
That said, I think that UPS might be able to run your current configuration, but not for very long at all, and it might actually overload the UPS. Luckily you do have an LCD monitor, so that lowers your power requirements considerably. You can check the back of the monitor for a sticker that should list its current draw.
You don't appear to have a heavily loaded system, so you're probably not drawing all that much power there either. Maybe (a guess here) 200-250W is being used there.

I like the Cyberpower UPSes at Newegg; they're cheap, but they seem to work pretty well.

 

[mjuarez]

I'd recommend a 300W UPS for a general system like yours. That way, in case the lights go out, you'll have at least 20 minutes of power left to play with. In most cases, unless you're in tornado or hurricane country (aka Kansas and Florida), the service is restored in five minutes at the most, so you won't have to worry about losing your work.

Marcos

 

[CrackaLackaZe]

Cool, thanks for the replies...does the fact that my PSU is rated at 420 Watts affect the output power of the UPS I should get?

 

[TwoBills]

I'm running an APC 500 w/a machice that has a 300w psu and a 19"crt. This gives me about 5 minutes of bu power, enough to shut down clean. But that's ok, because I use it primarly as a surge protector. BTW, don't run your phone line thru the ups (see the recent thread on this).

The difference between a 350 and a 500 is basically the size of the battery. 350 = 4 ah battery 500 =7 ah battery. I'd get the 500 at least, you can find them on sale for $30. When I buy my next one I'm going to step it up to, at least, an 800.

The 420w psu means that's the power, basically, that's available. Not what you're drawing.

 

[EULA]

another solution is to simply build your own UPS. Buy an inverter and find some car batteries...

 

[MtnMan]

Here is one of the cases where bigger is better. Don't buy the first one you find on a shelf or web site. I have found that you can often buy a UPS that has double or tripple the capacity for very little more $$$. Don't forget you will also have to consider they monitor, and anything else you may connect. (I have 2 PC's 1 monitor, cable modem, router, cordless telephone base and probably a few other things connect to my UPS) NEVER power a laser printer via a UPS.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: MtnMan
Here is one of the cases where bigger is better. Don't buy the first one you find on a shelf or web site. I have found that you can often buy a UPS that has double or tripple the capacity for very little more $$$. Don't forget you will also have to consider they monitor, and anything else you may connect. (I have 2 PC's 1 monitor, cable modem, router, cordless telephone base and probably a few other things connect to my UPS) NEVER power a laser printer via a UPS.

i went the other route . . .

my old ups had only 300va and was great for my old computer . . . however, upgrading to a 19" CRT and a P4@3.31Ghz/9800xt simply overwhelmed the UPS . . . so i got a cheap SECOND one - one for my rig and one for my CRT . . .

. . . and of course, as they get older, the battery gets weaker . . . so i kept upgrading one at a time (i'm currently using a 425VA and a 500VA for my monitor and rig) while the old ones go to "back up" my telephone answering machine, VCR, even CFL lights . . .

now . . . when the lights go out, the neighbors come over

:roll:

 

[TwoBills]

Yeah, I agree about the bigger is better. Buy these suckers by the pound. What's with the laser printer? Too much power draw?

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: TwoBills
Yeah, I agree about the bigger is better. Buy these suckers by the pound. What's with the laser printer? Too much power draw?

Waay too much power draw . . . i accidently plugged my 400w Klipsch Surround system into my UPS (instead of its built-in surge protector) . . . took a few moments to realize "why" my rig shut down when the power went out . . .

:roll:

edit i see a google-sponsored ad up top that'll take care of a laser printer - or twenty. . . and your house and . . .

Now find out what makes Cat® UPS with Kinetic Power Cell Technology so reliable.
Caterpillar UPS-150kVA+ :Q



and SO expensive.

:roll:

 

[Zepper]

My system draws less than 200 Watts from the wall (CPU box, 15" CRT monitor and external modem). I have a 350W PSU (but almost no PSU is run at anywhere near its max capacity). I would say that a UPS rated at 300W (typically 450VA) or more should cover you with an adequate margin. Get a more powerful one if you think you need longer hold up time than 10-15 min. or so.
. The very neat "Kill A Watt" power meter can tell you exactly what your system (and each component separately) is drawing. See my review Here .
.bh.

:moon:

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I'm using a 550W powersupply; powering 5 led fans a 3400+ 5 other various fans 2 hdds 2 opticals drives a 6800 gt and a floppy drive. I also have a 70W speaker setup and a 17" crt monitor. I'm using a 900W/1600V UPS, which is at... 25% load. Waaaay overkill : ) I only have it to keep the power to my computer clean since the schools power suxors. I wanted to be sure though.

 

[Arcanedeath]

I have a 1500VA APC UPS, + external batter, it powers, 1 21" CRT, 1 19" CRT, 1 PC w/ 2 HDDS, 2 Optical drives, a 400 watt PSU, 4 case fans, ect.. due to the 2 crts even w/ the external battery I only get around 15min of battery life if I kill one of the monitors I can get closer to 30min (the 19" is an older model and not trinitron so eats tons of juice)