Please recommend an uninterruptible power supply

[Bill_Bright]

That was your thread I assume?

Well, I probably did not start it, but may have added my 3 cents.

I have the exact one Aquinus linked too and it has served me very well. As noted, you pay a bit extra for the APC name, but they do tend to last. I have an old, very old APC Smart-UPS 900 that still works great after 25 years! It has had a couple battery replacements, and I upped the capacity by using 12V 9Ah batteries instead of the original 12V 7Ah. The only down side is I have nothing any more in that old beige color. Oh well.

BTW, there is a lot of hype about "pure" sinewave output UPS. Don't buy into the hype that they are superior for computers and home network equipment. Any 1/2 way decent computer power supply can handle the "stepped sinewave" or "stepped approximation" waveform just fine. As can the power supplies for modems, routers, switches, monitors and more. The only time you really need a "pure" sinewave output UPS is when used to support highly sensitive monitoring equipment, like heart monitors in hospital intensive care units.

That said, pure sine wave UPS have come way down in price in recent years so if you find one and the price is right, go for it. Just don't believe you must have it.

Quick question. Has any one used Newegg's price match? Amazon is cheaper but it does collect quite a lot of sales tax. If only newegg can price match it would be awesome.

I have not and I am not sure sales tax or shipping factors in the price matching. And to that, Taxes are not collect taxes unless you live in place were the on-line retailer has a "presence" (offices or brink and mortar store front). They don't here in Nebraska so they do not collect sales tax.

That said, because Nebraska has one of the worse tax codes of all the 50 states, they want residents to claim all on-line purchases made when you file your income taxes, then they tax you on those purchases. Other states probably do that too so they get you by the short and curlies anyway.

 

[xkm1948]

Now after some in depth researching, it seems the brand APC is the relatively better one in the market. After researching about price, I boiled down my choice to this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842101421

Any thoughts? Good enough for my PC plus a router and a modem?

 

[xkm1948]

That said, because Nebraska has one of the worse tax codes of all the 50 states, they want residents to claim all on-line purchases made when you file your income taxes, then they tax you on those purchases. Other states probably do that too so they get you by the short and curlies anyway.

Amazon started collecting sales tax from Illinois resident January last year. And the local tax rate applies, a whooping 8.75% for me. I am happy newegg still won't do this but I fear all of this will change in the near future.

 

[Aquinus]

Just make sure that you have enough juice to drive the tower, monitor, and any other devices you attach to it, otherwise I would say the one you linked on NewEgg should be fine.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842101421

 

[Jetster]

Now after some in depth researching, it seems the brand APC is the relatively better one in the market. After researching about price, I boiled down my choice to this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842101421

Any thoughts? Good enough for my PC plus a router and a modem?

Yes, I ran a small TV off mine + modem, monitor and router. At least 20 min

 

[xkm1948]

Just make sure that you have enough juice to drive the tower, monitor, and any other devices you attach to it, otherwise I would say the one you linked on NewEgg should be fine.

Wait so that UPS along wont be able to sustain ~5mins for my tower? What else do I need? Battery packs?

 

[rtwjunkie]

Wait so that UPS along wont be able to sustain ~5mins for my tower? What else do I need? Battery packs?

That's all the battery time you need. You want to do a proper shutdown, which is about 2 minutes, or to sustain in a momentary lapse in power. It's not meant to keep carrying on with what you were doing.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Wait so that UPS along wont be able to sustain ~5mins for my tower?

No, that UPS is plenty big to support your tower, one or two LCD monitors and all your network equipment too. With 1300VA or 780W output, it will provide much more than 5 minutes too. More like at least 20 minutes - longer if you stop playing demanding games when the power goes off.

In fact, with that LCD display, you will be amazed at how little your equipment draws most of the time!

 

[Aquinus]

Wait so that UPS along wont be able to sustain ~5mins for my tower? What else do I need? Battery packs?

UPS isn't a solution for long term power outages. If you want want more than 30 minutes, you need to get creative and spend a good chunk of change.

 

[xkm1948]

Just placed order on the APC one. Thank you all for helping!

 

[xkm1948]

UPS isn't a solution for long term power outages. If you want want more than 30 minutes, you need to get creative and spend a good chunk of change.

The power outage is due to lots of road construction around. I still have 3~4 yrs in grad school so hopefully the power will get better during my stay in this little town.

Well if I have the money, buying some nice solar panels and a two of those tesla powerwall. Maybe erect a small wind turbine in my backyard. Hmm, that will be good. And of course, buy a Tesla model S!

 

[Ithanul]

I have a 2400w one (a lil more than I need, but lets just say I leave my rig, router, modem and a lamp connected to it)


Also the CyberPower ones aren't bad, also look into Tripp-Lite

What the heck, how much did that bugger cost yah? Need to get me a bigger one. My Tripp Lite 900W one can't handle both rigs currently. Once I get the other two GPUs going full throttle it sure not be able to handle the folder.

So far my Tripp Lite though does it job well, if I not putting a ridiculous load on it. Have to keep only one rig on it so far. Main rig with the two Titans over load the darn thing.

 

[DarthBaggins]

I'm not at liberty to share the price I paid, lol.
Cause I'm reselling it I'm making more back than what I paid is all I can say

 

[xvi]

For higher capacities, it may be better to build something yourself. Pick up your own DC-AC inverter, grab a couple deep cycle batteries, pick up a rectifier to charge it all. Bonus to this is that if one thing breaks, you don't have to buy a new everything else too.

 

[Ithanul]

Does that not take up a buttload of space? I don't got a whole lot of room atm for big ones. Reason I been looking at server rackmount ones.

 

[Bill_Bright]

If you need higher than 1500W (which is on the huge side already) for a single computer system, you might consider whole house back up systems.

The purpose of a good UPS is to (1) "protect" your computer and network equipment from power anomalies (extreme high and low abnormal power "events") by ensuring it is being fed good, clean stable power, and (2) to provide enough backup power during a full outage so that you can finish your sentence or paragraph, save your open documents, close your open applications, "gracefully" shutdown Windows so that no critical system files remain open, and then properly power off your computer.

It is not so you can keep playing games on a computer that is running 2 or 3 monster graphics cards across 6 monitors!

If you have servers or other "mission critical" computers that MUST have 24/7/365 access, then you need to be looking at professional (read: very expensive) systems. But note those typically are NOT very "user friendly". They cost more and in many cases, must be returned to the factory just to replace the batteries. An APC, Cyberpower, Tripp Lite, etc. designed for home use are more affordable up front, and allow normal users to replace the batteries.

 

[xkm1948]

Received the APC UPS today. Awesome quality. I don't know much about the UPS technology but at least the color scheme blend in really well with my work station.

I love the fact it can display power load. During idle the monitor and tower draws around 170Watt. The tower itself draws around 140Watt. During heavy load the entire system draws 570~610Watt. Now I can finally be in peace knowing my system is protected. Thanks for helping every one!

 

[rtwjunkie]

Glad you're happy with it!

I'm surprised to see your load so high. I have yet to hit 500 under load

 

[xkm1948]

Glad you're happy with it!

I'm surprised to see your load so high. I have yet to hit 500 under load

You know, overclocked Haswell-E is power hungry. Add some health overclocked FuryX to it and you get a pretty damn high system load.

 

[rtwjunkie]

You know, overclocked Haswell-E is power hungry. Add some health overclocked FuryX to it and you get a pretty damn high system load.

Yeah, I didn't account for that! All that RAM too proba ly contributes too.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

You should install APC PowerChute so your computer can automatically shut down when battery gets low.

 

[xkm1948]

You should install APC PowerChute so your computer can automatically shut down when battery gets low.

Nah, I think I am fine. I don't like to install extra software. Windows 10 recognized the UPS just fine. After configuring the power options it should be able to take care of that easily.

 

[xkm1948]

Yeah, I didn't account for that! All that RAM too proba ly contributes too.

Still, idling around 170watt is kinda crazy. I guess I will use my macbook air more at home now when I am not playing games.

 

[xvi]

You should install APC PowerChute so your computer can automatically shut down when battery gets low.

+1, was going to suggest this too. PowerChute will allow you to do some diagnostics as well, which is kind of neat, but not terribly necessary.
Edit: If Windows sees it as a battery, that's really all you need.

You know, xkm, you're only a couple rolls of duct tape away from an incredibly cumbersome (but powerful) laptop.

 

[xkm1948]

+1, was going to suggest this too. PowerChute will allow you to do some diagnostics as well, which is kind of neat, but not terribly necessary.

You know, xkm, you're only a couple rolls of duct tape away from an incredibly cumbersome (but powerful) laptop.

+1, was going to suggest this too. PowerChute will allow you to do some diagnostics as well, which is kind of neat, but not terribly necessary.

You know, xkm, you're only a couple rolls of duct tape away from an incredibly cumbersome (but powerful) laptop.

I figured so. Strap on some solar panels onto my back and it is a done deal.

Something like this?