Advice on UPS (Personal Use)

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Aharon

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Hi,

Please can you advise me on a UPS for my PC - my current one decided to shut my computer off and then send short spurts of power to it - way too dangerous.

Main purpose - Surges, 5-10 mins to shut down

Specs:
i7 950, ASUS P6T MB, 6GB Ram, 1HDD (2tb), 27" monitor, GT220 GFX Card.

If possible I would like a UPS with a USB interface - a screen on the front that makes it look larney would be cool too!

Please on recommendation, please also advise where in JHB it is obtainable.

Regards
Aharon
 
For your current setup:
Ideal: http://www.pc-direct.co.za/pUPAPSUA1000I/UPAPSUA1000I--APC-Smart-UPS-1000VA-230V.aspx
Cheap: http://www.pc-direct.co.za/pBNT-100...d-power-supplies--BNT-1000AP-PowerCom-Li.aspx

To allow for future upgrading:
Ideal: http://www.pc-direct.co.za/pUPAPSUA1500I/UPAPSUA1500I--APC-Smart-UPS-1500VA-230V.aspx
Cheap:
- http://www.pc-direct.co.za/pBNT-150...d-power-supplies--BNT-1500AP-PowerCom-Li.aspx
or for slightly higher output - http://www.pc-direct.co.za/pBNT-200...d-power-supplies--BNT-2000AP-PowerCom-Li.aspx

Ideal VS Cheap:
Ideal: Sine wave output vs Cheap: Square wave output
Ideal: Highly configurable vs Cheap: much less configurable
Ideal: More information on front panel vs Cheap: Not much information
Ideal: USB or Serial vs Cheap: Serial only
 
Sorry - 1 more question - what would you say is the minimum VA for the above purpose?
 
My specs ( Amd x2 4400+ , Nvidia 450gts, 4gigs ram , 600watt psu) i also have one of my monitors plugged in , and its never failed(take about 5-10 minutes to put the power back on if it trips) , and i only have a 600VA
 
Thanks mate - yip sadly I think there is a fault with my current UPS and that it is not just underpoweed :(
 
I've got the APC 1000VA UPS that Gnome suggested, but its way overkill for your setup, seeing that you don't have a high end graphics card that would draw tonnes of power. 1500VA is completely overkill!

To give you an idea: my 1000VA UPS runs at below 70% with my i7 940 @ 3.9GHz + 2x GTX 460 @ 878MHz (~500W) + 22" LCD (~40W), and at stock speeds its below 50%.

That APC unit is actually meant for businesses, and its also very expensive. I'm very impressed with the price of the APC unit at PC-Direct, seeing that I paid ~R900 more at WootWare, which was already cheaper than the other places that I usually buy from :(
I'd suggest that you go for the 1000VA Black Knight Pro like Gnome suggested.

You can use http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp to calculate an estimate for your PC's power consumption. Please take note that the VA ratings of the UPS' are much higher than the Watt ratings.
It helps to have an efficient PSU with power factor correction if you're running your PC off an UPS.
 
I agree with Pada / Gnome - great recommendations.

APC is a brand you will never go wrong with and always buy SINEWAVE UPS'!!
 
Take a look at the APC Back-UPS RS800
Try Frontosa
 
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