UPS for workstation - PCM vs APC

[Dr_M0rph3us]

Guys,

I'm facing the decision to buy a rackmount UPS to protect my future workstation from line fluctuations, brown-outs and outages (witch are quite often where I live). I look forward to double this unit when necessary to power a small server and a NAS.
I want a rackmount unit since I already have the infrastructure for the workstation and other equipment - a 32U Triton rack chassis. Also, I don't want any square wave or stepped sine output UPS, but a pure sine wave to avoid stressing the workstation PSU / audio equipment.

This is what the UPS will power:
- Dual XEON workstation (initially using 5400 CPUs and mobo, but I think I'll wait for the Gainestown CPUs to arrive) with a pro video interface and a WD Raptor + RAID5 HDD config - estimated at around 700W
- Two 22" displays (I know most people say that I should put these directly on the grid to save UPS battery, but how can safely save my work and shut down if I don't see anything? And also, I don't want to keep only 1 monitor on UPS, cause it would result in different stress of the monitors during power fluctuations) - estimated power consumption = 110W
- M-AUDIO ProFire 2626 rackmount firewire audio DAC/ADC w/ preamps and phantom power (I don't want any spikes to get on to this diamond)

So I would estimate the power requirement at around 850W. In this segment, I found a couple of UPSes listed below. Any other recommendations are welcome.

■ APC SUA1500RMI2U (1500 VA / 980 Watts / 230V) http://www.apcc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=SUA1500RMI2U
■ Powercom SMK-1500A-RM (1500 VA / ? W / 220V / LCD status & voltage display) http://www.powercom-usa.com/ProductDetail.asp?ID=50 (product image is not the correct one)

I would go for the APC UPS, but the price is higher – do you think it’s worth the difference?
Again, any advices and/or recmmendations are welcome

Thanks for your patience,
Mihail.

 

[maximiza]

Sola/heavy duty, Tripp Lite and Superor Electric are manufactures you could look at for price differentials. APC you can't loose though.

 

[Mondoman]

I'd go with APC given your use/conditions.

 

[Dr_M0rph3us]

Thank you, Mondoman.

I was thinking the same. Also APC comes with good software too. One issue though - on their site, they specify the type of output as being 'sine', witch could mean 'pure sine' or 'stepped sine'. Does anyone knows the true specification about that?

And about the PCM UPS, I would have choosen that one, but I haven't heard of them so much, and there aren't reviews on the web related to their rackmount UPSes.

Price difference (from my location (I wouldn't order such a thing from US cause I would spend more on the shipping then on the product itself)):
Powercom SMK-1500A RM - $862.57
APC SUA1500RMI2U - $1,035.50

$172.93 it's quite a difference - does it worth it for APC or am I paying the Brand?

 

[SomeJoe7777]

APC Smart-UPS (SUA series) is pure sine wave output, but the topology is line-interactive with AVR.

APC Smart-UPS RT (SURT series) is pure sine wave output, and topology is online (double conversion).

For rack mount and server-room solutions, I recommend the RT.

Unfortunately, there is no 1500VA size in the RTI (230V) (There is a 1500VA RT in US 115V, go figure). You would have to go up to the 2000VA (SURT2000RMXLI) with the corresponding increase in cost.