ups for my computer

[1LtCAP 4,263]

ok. so........when i got a new computer last year, i hooked it up through an apc ups. it's a cs350. i think i was kinda stupid.

i thought it'd only last 5 minutes tops, giving me time to shut down if power popped. whelp....last night, we lost power, and

the thing lasted about 8 seconds. it was trying, but the computer couldn't start up.....kept trying though. i hadda do a hard

shutdown.

 so...was looking at ups's on amazon today. these two caught my eye. looking for opinions. i know we've got a bunch of guys/gals

on here that're a ton smarter than me in regards to this stuff.

 almost forgot....computer is a powerspec  g711

https://www.amazon.com/APC-Protector-BR1500MS2-Back-UPS-Uninterruptible/dp/B08GRY1W93/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2F9YALGUXJMOB&keywords=universal%2Bbattery%2Bbackup%2Bfor%2Bcomputer&qid=1682302976&sprefix=universal%2Bbattery%2Bbackup%2Bfor%2Bcomputer%2Caps%2C98&sr=8-4&th=1

 

https://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP1500PFCLCD-Sinewave-Outlets-Mini-Tower/dp/B00429N19W/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2F9YALGUXJMOB&keywords=universal%2Bbattery%2Bbackup%2Bfor%2Bcomputer&qid=1682302976&sprefix=universal%2Bbattery%2Bbackup%2Bfor%2Bcomputer%2Caps%2C98&sr=8-5&th=1

[Krdshrk 3,877]

If it's a CS350, your PC's power supply overloaded the UPS immediately.  It's rated for 210W max.  Your PC's power supply is 750W.  

Going by the model Cyberpower you linked - You'll get about 5 minutes if that's the only thing plugged in.

https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/tools/runtimes/

According to APC's page - the Back-UPS you have there will last 6min 10s with a 750W load.  I'm assuming you're connecting just the PC - if you add any monitors or any other devices, the runtime will definitely drop.

https://www.apc.com/us/en/product/BR1500MS2/apc-backups-pro-1500va-900w-tower-120v-10x-nema-515r-outlets-avr-usb-type-a-+-c-ports-lcd-user-replaceable-battery/?%3Frange=61888-backups-pro&parent-subcategory-id=88975&selected-node-id=27590292604

[voyager9 3,434]

7 hours ago, Krdshrk said:

 Your PC's power supply is 750W.  

I believe that 750w is worst case. Cranking the CPU, GPU, Disk, and Network plus margin.   Nominally I doubt it’s using anywhere near that.   
That reinforces that the UPS’ listed would work and he’d get more uptime from them than listed. 

[Scorpio64 5,155]

11 hours ago, 1LtCAP said:

the thing lasted about 8 seconds.

Are you sure the PC and monitor were plugged into the battery powered side of the UPS?  That model has six outlets; Three on the right that are surge suppression only (basically just a power strip), and three on the left that are surge protection and battery supplied UPS. 

The large capacitors (assault capacitors???) in a UPS (or a surge protector) are capable of providing a few seconds of power on their own.

 

1 hour ago, voyager9 said:

I believe that 750w is worst case.

I agree that most PCs do not use anything close to the PSU rated output, 750W is a momentary peak output rating and mostly a marketing gimmick for gamers.  Assuming that the PC and monitor were plugged into the battery powered side of the UPS, and the PC was drawing 350W, that could trigger an overload shutdown on a UPS rated for 210W.  However, with LCD monitor, proc, SSD and video card, the demand should have been well below 750W.  Probably closer to 350-400 Watts, still over the UPSs 210W rating.

[GrumpyOldRetiree 38]

To further confuse the issue:

All UPS's are actually rated in VA (Volt-Amps) as opposed to watts.

This addresses the fact that the manufacturer does not know the power factor of the devices that will be plugged into the UPS. Most modern, decent quality computer power supplies are Power Factor Correcting (PFC) and are also rated by how efficient they are (Bronze, Gold, Platinum...IIRC).

The best way to figure out the minimum size UPS needed is to plug your computer loads into a Kill-A-Watt (or similar) meter and see what they actually draw and then extrapolate out for how long of a run time you want. 

[CMJeepster 2,778]

Trump's fault.

[raz-0 1,259]

I've been living on cyberpowers at home and they do well compared to most of the smaller units outside of some serious APC units (i.e four figures to buy). 

If you have a costco membership, they will save you a lot on the cyberpower. For example instead of $219 for the 1500va true sine wave, they have it for $179. 

 

 

[1LtCAP 4,263]

2 hours ago, GrumpyOldRetiree said:

To further confuse the issue:

All UPS's are actually rated in VA (Volt-Amps) as opposed to watts.

This addresses the fact that the manufacturer does not know the power factor of the devices that will be plugged into the UPS. Most modern, decent quality computer power supplies are Power Factor Correcting (PFC) and are also rated by how efficient they are (Bronze, Gold, Platinum...IIRC).

The best way to figure out the minimum size UPS needed is to plug your computer loads into a Kill-A-Watt (or similar) meter and see what they actually draw and then extrapolate out for how long of a run time you want. 

thanks for reminding me! i have one of those at the shop. gonna take it home tonight and if i has the time, i'll check the pull of the computer.

 

3 hours ago, Scorpio64 said:

Are you sure the PC and monitor were plugged into the battery powered side of the UPS?  That model has six outlets; Three on the right that are surge suppression only (basically just a power strip), and three on the left that are surge protection and battery supplied UPS. 

The large capacitors (assault capacitors???) in a UPS (or a surge protector) are capable of providing a few seconds of power on their own.

 

I agree that most PCs do not use anything close to the PSU rated output, 750W is a momentary peak output rating and mostly a marketing gimmick for gamers.  Assuming that the PC and monitor were plugged into the battery powered side of the UPS, and the PC was drawing 350W, that could trigger an overload shutdown on a UPS rated for 210W.  However, with LCD monitor, proc, SSD and video card, the demand should have been well below 750W.  Probably closer to 350-400 Watts, still over the UPSs 210W rating.

i have the computer and monitor both plugged in on the backup side.

 

54 minutes ago, raz-0 said:

I've been living on cyberpowers at home and they do well compared to most of the smaller units outside of some serious APC units (i.e four figures to buy). 

If you have a costco membership, they will save you a lot on the cyberpower. For example instead of $219 for the 1500va true sine wave, they have it for $179. 

 

 

dam, really? that savings alone would be worth the cost of membership......thanks!

[Krdshrk 3,877]

True - it's not using 750W constant, but definitely uses more than the 210W the existing UPS is rated for, especially if the monitors are plugged in to it too.

I would go with the Cyberpower - it should last a few minutes with the load.

[Malice4you 627]

4 hours ago, Krdshrk said:

True - it's not using 750W constant, but definitely uses more than the 210W the existing UPS is rated for, especially if the monitors are plugged in to it too.

I would go with the Cyberpower - it should last a few minutes with the load.

Perhaps not the most modern system, but an overclocked i7-4790K, 32GB RAM, overclocked RTX 2070 Super, 2x PCIe cards, 3x SSD, 3x HDDs, 2x DVD drives, and a ton of fans, on an 850W 80+ Titanium, with two LCDs, connected to an APC 1500VA UPS is showing 164-190 watts at idle via APC's software.  Turning the older, less efficient 2nd monitor off drops load to as low as 103W.  Granted, it'll jump significantly if doing anything serious, but even then, during blackouts, I've had time to exit from a graphics-heavy game and safely shut down with plenty of battery life left.

[Krdshrk 3,877]

7 hours ago, Malice4you said:

Perhaps not the most modern system, but an overclocked i7-4790K, 32GB RAM, overclocked RTX 2070 Super, 2x PCIe cards, 3x SSD, 3x HDDs, 2x DVD drives, and a ton of fans, on an 850W 80+ Titanium, with two LCDs, connected to an APC 1500VA UPS is showing 164-190 watts at idle via APC's software.  Turning the older, less efficient 2nd monitor off drops load to as low as 103W.  Granted, it'll jump significantly if doing anything serious, but even then, during blackouts, I've had time to exit from a graphics-heavy game and safely shut down with plenty of battery life left.

Hmm that's not that bad... you gotta get a newer processor though!  That thing's your bottleneck right now.

I've plugged my setup into an undersized UPS before just to test - it started alarming instantly.