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Which PSU for my 550VA UPS

Last response: in Components
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September 19, 2014 5:29:06 AM

Hi!

I'm going to buy a new computer, and need to choose the PSU.
I have an UPS:
APC BackUPS ES BE550G-GR 550VA

So for this which psu should I choose? (it is relevant how much W?)
- XFX 550W TS
- Antec 520W HCG-520M PSU
- Be Quiet! 500W Straight Power
- SEASONIC M12 II 620W
- Corsair CS550M
They are almost at the same price.

Thank you very much in advance.

More about : psu 550va ups

September 19, 2014 5:39:04 AM

The PSU wattage should be chosen in relation to your computer specification and power requirements.

What are your specs?
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September 19, 2014 5:48:46 AM

CPU INTEL Core i7 4790K
Motherboard ASUS MAXIMUS VII GENE
RAM Corsair Vengeance DDR-3 16GB/1866 KIT (CMZ16GX3M2A1866C9)
SSD Samsung SSD 850 Pro Series 256GB
GPU NVidia GeForce GTX760 2GB GDDR5
PSU ?

Yeah, I'm just afraid that it won't compatible with my ups :) 
I don't plan to overclock the system, maybe in the late future.
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September 19, 2014 5:48:50 AM

Hello.

The power capacity of both the UPS and the PSU matter if you expect the UPS to be able run on battery while the PSU is at maximum capacity.

Let me remind you that VA and Watt are entirely different things. Volt-Ampère is a measure of apparent power while Watt is a measure of active power (in reality, Watt can be used for all, but we reserve it to active power in order to prevent confusion). Active power is the one that actually provides work. Since your UPS is 550 VA, it will have 550*PF (power factor) watts of real power. That should yield about 400 watt in usual computing scenarios.

If you have a 550-Watt PSU running at full capacity, that UPS is most likely not going to be able to operate continuously. If the power goes out while you are watching a video or browsing the web, you will probably have no issues. If you are gaming or running a power-intensive task, the UPS will most likely go out.

That said, a good power supply is never a bad thing. I'd go for the best PSU, which in my opinion would definitely be the 620W Seasonic, and then replace the UPS in the future if I had problems.
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September 19, 2014 5:53:55 AM

As Murissokah said, the SEASONIC M12 II 620W would probably be the best buy.

Although the XFX 550 TS has enough power output to power your system and is a close second choice.

As for the UPS, you won't have much battery time with your system on a 550VA UPS. So keep that in mind.

At least the surge protection will still be present.
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September 19, 2014 5:54:46 AM

Skaidy said:
CPU INTEL Core i7 4790K
Motherboard ASUS MAXIMUS VII GENE
RAM Corsair Vengeance DDR-3 16GB/1866 KIT (CMZ16GX3M2A1866C9)
SSD Samsung SSD 850 Pro Series 256GB
GPU NVidia GeForce GTX760 2GB GDDR5
PSU ?

Yeah, I'm just afraid that it won't compatible with my ups :) 


Please keep in mind that there is no such thing as power compatibility. Components can either provide enough power or they can't. Electronics nowadays are able to prevent themselves from operating at damaging power overloads (they will shut down if you try to draw too much power from them or through them).

There is no threat to the integrity of your components. What might happen is that the system may demand too much power from the UPS, which will cause it to shut down. Worst case scenario you will have an UPS that doesn't work.

Ideally, you would want an UPS that can sustain more power than the PC demands, and a Power Supply that can sustain more power then the PC components demand. A huge margin is not beneficial either, as efficiency would dive.

Also keep in mind that, since your UPS will already be operating close or above capacity, connecting extra peripherals to it is a bad idea. It would just make it more likely for the UPS to shut down on a power fault.
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