Help me in selecting UPS :1

[harsh_13]

Things i know about my machine ._.
A DVD Rom/writer
A LCD 21" Screen
i5 2500k ( not ovrclocked)
intel dh67cl motherboard
...that's about it ?

SO which UPS ( thing tht keeps your computer running for a while during brown-outs) i should use

Did a 700VA UPS enough ? or should i buy something with high VA

EDit: alos going to add Nividia GTX 560Ti to my machine in a week or so , so consider that too ._.

 

[dalmvern]

How long do you expect your UPC to keep your computer running? If you are expecting longer than a few minutes then you are expecting too much.

UPCs are meant to give you power enough to save anything you are working on before the power runs out.

You need to find out how much power your computer's power supply draws from the wall. That number plays a key role in determining how much time your computer will stay running.

 

[harsh_13]

Looking for something that could last like 10 minutes , lol that's what she said ._.
and how i can find how much my computer is taking from the "wall"

ps: i also , am going to add GTX 560Ti to my machine in a week or so , so consider that too ._.

 

[Maxx_Power]

Looking for something that could last like 10 minutes , lol that's what she said ._.
and how i can find how much my computer is taking from the "wall"

ps: i also , am going to add GTX 560Ti to my machine in a week or so , so consider that too ._.

Double check the replacement battery prices (and ease of doing so), before you buy a UPS. Just so there aren't any gotchas when you are down the road later.

 

[dalmvern]

Open up your case and look at the power supply that is really the only way if you dont have the original parts list from when the computer was bought. Find who makes it and a serial number and look it up.

Adding a new graphics card wont really matter because its safest to assume full load when determining how long you have on a UPS.

Find the wattage of the PSU, get a UPS that is over that wattage by a few hundred Watts (to compensate for your monitor and a peripheral or two) and then we can figure out how many VA you need to get your 10 minutes.

 

[das_stig]

700w should be more than enough, the only thing that should be connected to a outlet port for power will the your pc. Screens and printers etc can be connected to a port that just filters current for spikes.

Most quality 700w ups should give you 30mins of battery time, so you set the times for power down that you think are ok.

 

[dalmvern]

700w should be more than enough, the only thing that should be connected to a outlet port for power will the your pc. Screens and printers etc can be connected to a port that just filters current for spikes.

Most quality 700w ups should give you 30mins of battery time, so you set the times for power down that you think are ok.

Well, you need to have at least one screen on the UPS battery, otherwise you wont be able to see what you are doing on the computer, but yes, everything else can be on the Aux

 

[popatim]

size of the pc's power supply has little to do with the size of the ups you need.
A pc's power supply will only draw what it needs from the wall to make what the pc needs. If the pc need 100w the a billion watt power supply will still only draw somethng over 100w from the wall, the difference being the psu's inefficiency in converting ac to dc. Most power supplies are 70-80 efficient.

Another factor you need to look into when calculating what UPS you need is power factor correction of your PSU. Older supplies are at about 70% while newer ones with auto PFC are closer to 100%. Older psu's mean you wouold add another 30% to your meaure wattage being used by the pc. A tool like Kill-a-watt can measure all this for you. On a side note; a true (or pure) sinewave UPS is often recommended for PSU's that are auto-PFC.

Once you have determined your power requirement you need to look at the UPS's output and runtime charts. Output tells you if the UPS can even run your system and runtime charts tell you for how long. Output is in watts, make sure the UPS can make more watts than your system needs during max power usage. Runtime is a chart typically and the longer you want to run the more expensive it will be.

question: Are you going to need another UPS for your router & modem?

 

[das_stig]

You don't need to see what the system is doing when power goes off, as most modern ups have monitoring and handle it all themselves.