One UPS for 3 PCs

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Aeacus

Aeacus

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Hi everyone!

Since i don't know enough about UPSes, i need help in deciding how powerful UPS should i get for my 3 desktop PCs.

First off, system specs,
Skylake: https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/b/bd9J7P
Haswell: https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/b/RRvnTW
AMD: https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/b/2Y9J7P (currently no monitor)

The total combined power draw of my 3 PCs, without monitors, should be about 1000W. Since i'm also planning to connect my monitors to the UPS, i have hard time in figuring out their maximum power draw.

On the back label of my Samsung S23C650D 23" monitor, it's written: "AC100-240V ~ 50/60hz 0.60A". Since where i live, we have 230V electrical system in use and that would translate into 138W (230V x 0.60A = 138W). But when i search online for my monitor specs, most what i've seen is 35W as max power draw. Also, there's no power draw written in the official specs page,
link: http://www.samsung.com/uk/business/business-products/business-monitor/performance/LS23C65UDS/EN

I have the same issue with my 2nd monitor too. Topview T2491Wd 24" and back label reads: "Power Rating: 100-240VAC 50/60hz 1.5A". This would translate into 345W but searching online i've seen only 60W as max power draw for my Topview monitor. Though, there's no official specs page for my Topview monitor since the company who made it is long gone.

If i were to trust online info then both of my monitors combined would consume 95W but if i read the labels then it would be 483W combined. Since the difference is huge, i need to know which set of numbers is the correct one.



As far as UPS types go (stand-by, line-interactive and online), i'm planning to go for line-interactive UPS. And for best performance, i'll be getting only (true/pure) sine wave UPS and not simulated sine wave or square wave UPS, despite their cheaper price.

Currently, i have my eyes on a PowerWalker VI 2000 PSW IEC which is 2000VA/ 1400W line-interactive UPS outputting sine wave,
specs: http://powerwalker.com/?lang=en&page=product&item=10120066

At this point i'm unsure if that 2000VA / 1400W UPS would be enough to sustain all my 3 PCs and their monitors or not. Of course, i need to have some headroom for system upgrades (e.g 3rd monitor) and OC too.

Any help would be appreciated.

--
Aeacus
 
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gdmaclew

gdmaclew

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It all depends on what you mean by "sustain".
If you mean just long enough to safely shut them down, then I would agree.
If you mean to keep them going for a long(?) period of time then I would recommend a backup generator with a THD of less than 5%.
 
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Aeacus

Aeacus

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By "sustain" i mean that we would have enough time to save our progress and shut down the PCs.
The PowerWalker UPS i linked above has full load backup time only for 12 seconds and that is too little time. I'd be more comfortable if the full load backup time would be at least 1 minute.

Since i live in a flat, i can't use gasoline/diesel powered generator to power my PCs during power blackouts. Also, there's no need for a generator because we get power blackouts once in every 2 years or so with a duration of 1-3 hours.
 
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gdmaclew

gdmaclew

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I find that backup time a little suspect.
I have an APC BackUPS 1500 and it would power my main PC for an hour so 3 PC's would be well within the 5 or so minutes needed.
12 seconds is not what I would consider a UPS. I would take 12 seconds to decide to shutdown, and what if I was in another room for 2 minutes? And it's not enough time for the automatic shutdown software to execute a shutdown.
Plus you said your AMD system usually sits around unused for most of the time.
So even if you were going full bore on both main PC's, you or the automatic shutdown software should have enough time to do a Safe Shutdown on both with that UPS.
 
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Aeacus

Aeacus

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That PowerWalker UPS is just one of hundreds of UPSes that are available at my local store. It has reasonable price with high power capacity, though, it's very short backup time is something that i don't like. I'm getting a feeling that PowerWalker UPSes are like Corsair VS-series when it comes to the PSUs. If i'd know about UPSes as much as i know about PSUs then it would be easy to pick a proper UPS for my needs. But since i don't know much about UPSes, i need to ask someone who does.

After browsing the store page of my local store, i found APC Smart-UPS 1500VA LCD 230V (line-interactive, sine wave),
specs: http://www.apc.com/shop/mk/en/products/APC-Smart-UPS-1500VA-LCD-230V/P-SMT1500I

That APC UPS costs considerably more than PowerWalker UPS while having less power capacity. Though, it's backup time at full load is also far greater than PowerWalker offers (6.5 mins vs 12 seconds).

Since the UPS selection at my local store is so great, i don't know where to start. Here's also a link to my local store,
link: https://www.galador.ee/1224-ups-id?page=6&size=120&sort=asc&vat=1&list=0
While the store page is in Estonian (since i live in Estonia), product names are in English and browsing should be easy. You can also filter the UPSes by manufacturer. I was hoping to get away with €300 but i can stretch my budget up to €500.

There's another thing that troubles my mind. Since i never had an UPS, i'm unsure if i should get high capacity UPS where all my PCs connect to or should i go for lower capacity UPSes, so that each PC would have it's own UPS.
 
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Aeacus

Aeacus

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Yeah, i was thinking about that too. Also, when each PC has it's own UPS, i can set up them in different rooms without an issue of them being in the same room as the one big UPS would be.

Since my monitors power draw is still unsolved, i ordered a wattmeter to measure them. It takes about a week before it arrives. After i know the monitors power consumption, i can calculate each PC's total power consumption and the selection of UPS begins.

With 53 different UPS manufacturers to choose from at my store, i'm clueless which ones are great quality and which ones should be avoided.
 
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Aeacus

Aeacus

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So, my watt-meter eventually arrived after some delays and today, i measured the power consumption of both monitors and PCs.

Topview
Turned off - 0.3W
Turned on - 35.2W

Samsung
Turned off - 0.1W
Turned on - 23.6W

Skylake
Start-up - max 120.2W
Idle + 6x case fans at 0RPM (0V) - 83.7W
Idle + 6x case fans around 1100RPM (6V) - 88.4W
Idle + 6x case fans max RPM (12V) - 102.8W
Unigine Superposition + 6x case fans max RPM (12V) - 203.1W

Haswell
Start-up - max 144.7W
Idle + 5x case fans at 0RPM, (0V) - 58.9W
Idle + 5x case fans at 40%, (4.8V) - 62.6W
Idle + 5x case fans max RPM (12V) - 77.6W
Unigine Superposition + 5x case fans max RPM (12V) - 258.7W

While the power draw of both of my PCs is low, i'll consider 650W per PC and 50W per monitor, to give the headroom in wattage wise.

In short, i'm looking for 700W, line-interactive, (pure/true) sine wave UPS, times 2.

Currently got my eye on CyberPower CP1300EPFCLCD (780W, €233.10),
specs: https://www.cyberpower.com/hk/en/product/sku/CP1300EPFCLCD#

What i like the most about that UPS (besides meeting what i'm looking for) is that it has changeable battery. Since batteries don't last more than 5 years, i can buy a new battery once the old one dies, without the need of buying entire new UPS.

If you guys have any other UPS suggestions, i'm all ears.
 
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Aeacus

Aeacus

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Managed to forgot this topic due to lots of work but here's the conclusion:

I went with CyberPower CP1300EPFCLCD UPSes, times two for my 2 PCs. Both UPSes work like a charm and they have saved our work for several times due to the blackouts.

What i was most surprised with my UPSes is their runtime. While i was expecting to get at least 5 mins of runtime out of them, in reality, their runtime is far greater. When my PC is on idle/web browsing, my UPS runtime is about 35 mins. On full load, my UPS can keep the PC running at about 15 mins or so.

Here are few pics of them too,
link: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-3272328/show-newest-system-upgrade-components/page-10.html#20713917
 
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