[SOLVED] APC 600VA UPS not working when gaming

[dejavu619]

I have this UPS: https://www.apc.com/shop/in/en/prod...hout-Auto-Shutdown-Software-India/P-BX600C-IN

My system config is : i5 4460, GTX 960 2GB, 2x 8GB DDR3 RAM, 2x 7200 RPM HDD, 550W PSU

Scenario without the UPS:

I have a 850VA power inverter for my home and my PC doesn't turn off in case of a power cut if I'm browsing/idle or if my game is minimised but if the power cut occurs while I'm gaming, the PC turns off even though I can turn it back on without issues. Is there a solution for this? My inverter seems to be capable of handling my PC load then why does it turn off if the power cut occurs when gaming? I can even launch games when the PC is running on the inverter and play them fine without issues.

Scenario with the UPS:

The UPS also fails to prevent my PC from turning off in case of a power cut while gaming. It behaves just like the inverter. It was fully charged when the power cut took place too.

 

[makkem]

Hi
Do you have UPS software installed such as APC powerchute,if so it could be conflicting with your game and causing a crash.

 

[jonnyguru]

I have this UPS: https://www.apc.com/shop/in/en/prod...hout-Auto-Shutdown-Software-India/P-BX600C-IN

My system config is : i5 4460, GTX 960 2GB, 2x 8GB DDR3 RAM, 2x 7200 RPM HDD, 550W PSU

Scenario without the UPS:

I have a 850VA power inverter for my home and my PC doesn't turn off in case of a power cut if I'm browsing/idle or if my game is minimised but if the power cut occurs while I'm gaming, the PC turns off even though I can turn it back on without issues. Is there a solution for this? My inverter seems to be capable of handling my PC load then why does it turn off if the power cut occurs when gaming? I can even launch games when the PC is running on the inverter and play them fine without issues.

Scenario with the UPS:

The UPS also fails to prevent my PC from turning off in case of a power cut while gaming. It behaves just like the inverter. It was fully charged when the power cut took place too.

What is the 550W PSU being used?

It sounds like there is not enough hold up time in the PSU to keep the PC running long enough for the inverter or UPS to switch from mains to battery power.

 

[dejavu619]

Hi
Do you have UPS software installed such as APC powerchute,if so it could be conflicting with your game and causing a crash.

Nope

What is the 550W PSU being used?

It sounds like there is not enough hold up time in the PSU to keep the PC running long enough for the inverter or UPS to switch from mains to battery power.

Antec VP 550. My inverter is pure sinewave 850 VA too so it's not my PSU's PFC that's preventing it from working.

 

[jonnyguru]

Nope



Antec VP 550. My inverter is pure sinewave 850 VA too so it's not my PSU's PFC that's preventing it from working.

I wasn't assuming it was thye PFC.

I can't find a review that says what the hold up time is for that PSU. Do you know what the switch over time is for your inverter and UPS?

 

[jonnyguru]

Nope



Antec VP 550. My inverter is pure sinewave 850 VA too so it's not my PSU's PFC that's preventing it from working.

Is it a VS550P or Plus? Can you post a link to the product?

 

[dejavu619]

I wasn't assuming it was thye PFC.

I can't find a review that says what the hold up time is for that PSU. Do you know what the switch over time is for your inverter and UPS?

Here's my inverter manual. It just says switchover time is <= 15ms. http://nice-power.com/images/microtek/Ups - SEBz/600 va/manl-SEBz-SWE2-V12-WEB.pdf

Is it a VS550P or Plus? Can you post a link to the product?

It's a VP550P V2. Can't find an exact product page for it.

 

[jonnyguru]

Here's my inverter manual. It just says switchover time is <= 15ms. http://nice-power.com/images/microtek/Ups - SEBz/600 va/manl-SEBz-SWE2-V12-WEB.pdf



It's a VP550P V2. Can't find an exact product page for it.

Aha! El Cheapo Grande!

https://www.amazon.in/ANTEC-VP550P-Computer-Supply-Continuous/dp/B00HEYWK76

So there's two things possibly in play here....

1. It's a cheaper PSU, so it probably has limited hold up time. Hold up time is supposed to keep the PSU on even when there's a discontinuation of mains power. If the switch over time is really as high as 14ms, even an average PSU may struggle if under load.

2. It's a 230V only PSU. If the mains drops below 200V, the PSU will shut down to protect itself. So even if your UPS and inverter switch over quickly, if there's a voltage droop in the process, the PC is going to turn off.

There also seems to be ZERO mention that the inverter has an AVR: http://microtek-inverter.com/catlouge/microtek sEBz.pdf

So it is quite likely there is a voltage droop.

But I don't think you need a new UPS or inverter. You just need a better quality PSU. One that can handle full range mains voltages and one that has a hold up time of at least 16ms @ 80% load.

 

[dejavu619]

2. It's a 230V only PSU. If the mains drops below 200V, the PSU will shut down to protect itself. So even if your UPS and inverter switch over quickly, if there's a voltage droop in the process, the PC is going to turn off.

Yes, there are times when my PC turns off even if there's no power cut and just voltage fluctuations. Also, are you sure it's a 230V only PSU?

https://imgur.com/8Nzfzkq

View: https://i.imgur.com/8Nzfzkq.jpg

There also seems to be ZERO mention that the inverter has an AVR: http://microtek-inverter.com/catlouge/microtek sEBz.pdf

What is the implication of having an AVR? Would changing my inverter from wide mode (100 - 300V) to narrow mode (180 - 260V) help in any way? It does say here under the Microtek SEBZ heading (https://upsinverterinfo.com/computer-rebooting-problem-in-microtek-inverters.html) that switching to narrow/UPS mode would improve the changeover time.

So it is quite likely there is a voltage droop.

But I don't think you need a new UPS or inverter. You just need a better quality PSU. One that can handle full range mains voltages and one that has a hold up time of at least 16ms @ 80% load.

But is it common for PSUs to mention hold up times? What metric/specification do I look for when buying a PSU that will tell me if it has an adequate hold up time when under load?

 

[jonnyguru]

Yes, there are times when my PC turns off even if there's no power cut and just voltage fluctuations. Also, are you sure it's a 230V only PSU?

https://imgur.com/8Nzfzkq

View: https://i.imgur.com/8Nzfzkq.jpg

Yes. It says right on the label. Input voltage range is 200V to 240V. Any quality PSU will handle voltages all the way down to 100V without shutting off.

What is the implication of having an AVR? Would changing my inverter from wide mode (100 - 300V) to narrow mode (180 - 260V) help in any way? It does say here under the Microtek SEBZ heading (https://upsinverterinfo.com/computer-rebooting-problem-in-microtek-inverters.html) that switching to narrow/UPS mode would improve the changeover time.

You don't need an AVR if you had a better PSU. A better PSU is going to cost less than a capable AVR, so throw that idea out the window.

But if you CAN change your inverter to a narrower range of voltages, it's worth a try!!! Your PSU might be able to handle 180V. It definitely can't handle much less than that!

But is it common for PSUs to mention hold up times? What metric/specification do I look for when buying a PSU that will tell me if it has an adequate hold up time when under load?

Some times it's on the company's website somewhere. If not, you would have to find a review of the PSU. But most quality PSUs will have AT LEAST 16ms @ 80% load hold up time. Very good PSUs will have 16ms @ 100% load hold up time. Your PSU does not fall into these categories. It's Antec's cheapest offering.

 

[dejavu619]

Some times it's on the company's website somewhere. If not, you would have to find a review of the PSU. But most quality PSUs will have AT LEAST 16ms @ 80% load hold up time. Very good PSUs will have 16ms @ 100% load hold up time. Your PSU does not fall into these categories. It's Antec's cheapest offering.

Thanks a lot for your help in isolating the problem. I was looking at the CX650M review (https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-cx650m-psu,4770.html ) and just wanted to ask which hold-up time metric is relevant? Is it the 17ms or the 14.5 ms?

Lastly, would this UPS (https://mdcomputers.in/apc-1kva-230v-br1000g.html?search=Ups) suffice for the CX650M?

 

[jonnyguru]

Thanks a lot for your help in isolating the problem. I was looking at the CX650M review (https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-cx650m-psu,4770.html ) and just wanted to ask which hold-up time metric is relevant? Is it the 17ms or the 14.5 ms?

Lastly, would this UPS (https://mdcomputers.in/apc-1kva-230v-br1000g.html?search=Ups) suffice for the CX650M?

Good question.

The "Hold Up Time" number is the one every one in the industry uses.

You'll note that the two bars below it are a dissection of total hold up time. 14.5 + 2.5 = 17.

 

[Karadjgne]

When shopping for a psu, quality is good, but you'll need to dig around for the hold up time in reviews. I have a decent quality psu, Evga G2 550w, but the hold up time is abysmally low at 12ms. Which means my UPS fails to keep the pc on with any power interruption.

A good psu is an investment, so it's worth doing the research to get what's best for your needs. The education you'll get by doing such, won't hurt either and could be a deciding factor in choices.



Corsair RMx 550w. Covered ever which way including Sunday for quality, hold up, reliability, dependability, quality outputs, warranty etc etc etc. It'll be the once piece of hardware you can move to your next pc and not worry about being enough.

 

[DJ_TARUN]

i have a same problem my PC connected to ups restart after a slight fluctuation(within the fraction of seconds) in power supply although ups is giving 30 minutes backup to same connected PC. Please Help

System Details
Ups- APC BX1100C-IN
Cpu-Intel 4460
Power Supply- Corsair VS 650
Ram- Corsair Vengence 8gb ddr3
Motherboard- Gigabyte B85-D3H
Bios Vesrsion- AMI FD (12/08/2015)
OS- Windows 10 64bit Version 10.0.18363

 

[Karadjgne]

A psu contains some very large capacitors. These act as a battery that'll last several milliseconds if power is interrupted for some reason. An APC takes a certain amount of time to switch from line voltages to battery voltages. What's happening with your pc is that the psu isn't staying powered by the capacitors for as long as it takes the APC to switch over, so shuts down.

You have 2 fixes for that. Either get a psu with a longer hold time, or get an APC that switches faster or uses a battery constantly to supplement line voltages so has no switchover time.

I have the same issue, my psu has 12ms hold time, my APC takes 15ms to switch over. Psu runs out of power before the APC can kick in, so I get shutdowns.

 

[dejavu619]

A psu contains some very large capacitors. These act as a battery that'll last several milliseconds if power is interrupted for some reason. An APC takes a certain amount of time to switch from line voltages to battery voltages. What's happening with your pc is that the psu isn't staying powered by the capacitors for as long as it takes the APC to switch over, so shuts down.

You have 2 fixes for that. Either get a psu with a longer hold time, or get an APC that switches faster or uses a battery constantly to supplement line voltages so has no switchover time.

I have the same issue, my psu has 12ms hold time, my APC takes 15ms to switch over. Psu runs out of power before the APC can kick in, so I get shutdowns.

But like DJ_Tarun mentioned, the same UPS is able to support his PC in case of a power outage. It's only during brownouts or voltage fluctuations that his PC turns off.

 

[DJ_TARUN]

But like DJ_Tarun mentioned, the same UPS is able to support his PC in case of a power outage. It's only during brownouts or voltage fluctuations that his PC turns off.
[/QUO

Transfer time mentioned in ups user manual is 10m/s (https://download.schneider-electric.com/files?p_File_Name=JGNY-A297BQ_R2_EN.pdf&p_Doc_Ref=SPD_JGNY-A297BQ_EN&p_enDocType=User guide ) and the hold up time of corsair vs 650 is 13.4 m/s (https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-vs650-psu,6017-2.html )

My setup is 5 yrs old and the apc ups is 3 yrs old thats why i checked the batteries volts which comes to 13.11 and 13.41 at discharging state. I also performed "Brain Dead Procedure" mentioned in apc community forum which clears the ups's logic circuit.