UPS questions.

[Grevard]

Hello, I had a few novice questions on UPS.

-When buying a UPS do I need the Watt output to be at least as much as my power supply? For example: 650w power supply so at least a 650 w UPS.

-What do people feel about the Cyberpower PFC lineup such as the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102133&Tpk=CP1350PFCLCD I have been reading some good things about it but I want to make sure it will be sufficient to use with my Kingwin LZP-650 power supply. BTW my system uses about 500w at max load, but I also will be hooking up a high end 2.1 audio system to the UPS. The Swan m50w 2.1 speaker system. I'm not sure how much power the speakers will draw from the UPS if there is an outage, but it is a pretty costly system that I do not want to compromise if there is a power-outage.
Do the UPS' software allow me to test the speaker system to see how much power it draws?

-fyi: I do not need to have my computer on for an extended period of time during an outage, just enough to save files and shut everything down. So like 5 minutes tops.

 

[MustISO]

The size of the power supply doesn't matter, it's the power consumption of the PC. You can use an online calculator to try and estimate the usage or use something like a kilowatt meter to find out actual usage:

http://www.amazon.com/P3-Internation.../dp/B00009MDBU

 

[philipma1957]

buy the kill-a-watt meter you may have other gear hook up your monitor and your modem along with your speakers.

the ups you picked is pretty good. there is a seller on ebay I use he is located in buffalo and sells a lot of apc refurbished units.


this is his store

http://stores.ebay.com/ExcessUPS?_trksid=p4340.l2563

I own this since JAN

and it would be more then enough for your gear.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/APC-SMART-U...ltDomain_0&hash=item519f2707f2#ht_4878wt_1150





I also own this for 2 years no problems so far

http://www.ebay.com/itm/APC-SMART-U...ltDomain_0&hash=item19c9b8044d#ht_5290wt_1150



I also own this 2 years no problems

http://www.ebay.com/itm/APC-SMART-U...ltDomain_0&hash=item19ce499686#ht_4915wt_1150


the ones I have had for 2 years really helped me after the hurricane that hit the north east last August. We had power on and off for 2 weeks they were great.


To mods may I link to the seller on ebay. It is not my store. I am just a happy buyer. Please let me know if it is a problem to do this.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I always try to go at least 1000va. Keep in mind that va is not watts, despite it's suggestion (volt amps). A 1000va UPS is about 600 watts.

I've been looking at ebay for UPSes but it's actually cheaper to just buy a new one from a store. The issue with ebay is that sellers just pick whatever they want to charge for shipping, so often to cover their bases (like if someone from an island in the middle of nowhere bids) they jack up the price very high. I've seen $60 used rackmount units with $900 shipping charge. Always watch out for that.