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Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:43 pm
by GORDON
How do you calculate how much UPS you need?
I mean, if the only thing plugged into it is a PC and you want to protect against power flickers, and the PC has a 500 watt power supply, does that mean you need a 500W UPS?
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:50 pm
by Paul
Link
For just blips, and just the PC, I don't think you need anything fancy. A buff computer will drain it quicker, but it's not a BFD. Most have software that'll shut down the PC when it senses the battery is a few minutes from draining.
Edited By Paul on 1143150836
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:56 pm
by GORDON
Looks like a good link, but confusing. The UPS's I see for sale have both a VA rating and a Wattage rating.
And I don't know what my PC draws, power-wise.
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 5:08 pm
by Paul
500 watt power supply:
$79.99 new
$161.60 refurbished
$355.99 new
The price sure varies on those things!
Edited By Paul on 1143151698
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 5:11 pm
by GORDON
So, you're answering my question about a 500W PC requiring a 500W power supply to survive power flickers?
I don't need it to run longer than 90 seconds on batteries. I need it to not reboot my computer when the power flickers for .3 seconds.
Edited By GORDON on 1143151975
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 5:14 pm
by Paul
I *think* any standard UPS would work for power flickers.
If it were me, I'd get something like this. Seems pretty buff, and it's only $60 (postage paid!).
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 5:17 pm
by TheCatt
Well, your system prolly doesn't even draw 500W. It's prolly in the 200-300 range.
A typical PF (power factor: Watts/VA) for some computers may be as low as 0.6, which means that if you record a drain of 100 Watts, you need a power source with a VA rating of 167. Some literature suggests that 0.7 may be a good conversion factor, but this will depend heavily on the specific equipment. Moreover, there's really no way to determine these numbers besides measuring them.
That looks helpful.
These seem to list both.
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 5:19 pm
by TheCatt
Belkin gives you an idea of Watts, VA and minutes of uptime.
Uptime will be longer if your load is less.
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 6:50 pm
by GORDON
Oh yeah, Catt... I forgot about that... can you still get the discounts on UPSs?
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 6:51 pm
by GORDON
I *think* any standard UPS would work for power flickers.
I have an off-brand one that I paid about $30 for that can't handle power flickers, and the only thing plugged into the "battery" plugs is the CPU.
I don't want to hook my new system up to that.
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 6:58 pm
by TheCatt
Deals at CompUSA they say
*EDIT*Go to the 10th post in the above thread*EDIT*
The deal I had a while ago appears to have died.
Edited By TheCatt on 1143160499
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 7:00 pm
by TheCatt
Oh, one nice thing I have on my UPSs is the USB auto-shutdown feature.
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 7:16 pm
by GORDON
The 2nd link is the hero sherriff one.
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 7:23 pm
by thibodeaux
Screw UPS. Fedex, baby.
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 7:35 pm
by TheCatt
The 2nd link is the hero sherriff one.
Yeah, read the part about the trailers they raided to support their Athlon 64s with 1GB RAM game machines. Man that pissed me off.
OK, re-edited.
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 7:51 pm
by Leisher
I have bought a few UPSs at Best Buy recently for cheap. I think for $30 you can get one that's way more than what your average PCs needs to stay active for 20 minutes, let alone a few seconds.
Plus, they're all guaranteed so you get cash if they cause damage by failing.
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:25 pm
by GORDON
TheCatt wrote:Deals at CompUSA they say
*EDIT*Go to the 10th post in the above thread*EDIT*
The deal I had a while ago appears to have died.
The UPS you bought for me then I paid you for and then we made the trade in Moorhead City just died, 10 minutes ago.
I want my money back.
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:29 pm
by TheCatt
I'll get right on that if we win the lottery.