Do I need an APC/UPS?

[Glenifir]

I'm going to use a decent 550w PSU for my med-high end gaming rig and I obviously don't want it to die from electricity doing bad things to it. This is my PSU http://www.ebuyer.com/584152-coolermaster-vs-series-550w-semi-modular-80-gold-power-supply-rs550-amaag1-uk

I understand the benefit of an APC/UPS but do I really need one? Hasn't my psu already got protections on it anyway in case of a power cut or surge?

I live in the center of a small city next to a medium sized train station. I can't remember the last power cut in my 4 years of living in this city. I'm in a nice flat with about 20 flats in my block. I don't know if this is relevant information, but I guess I'm just trying to get across the point that I don't live in a small village with dodgy power lines.

A APc/UPS is expensive and would cost me £64!! http://www.amazon.co.uk/APC-BE700G-UK-Interface-Power-Saving-Back-UPS/dp/B002RXED6A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409713944&sr=8-1&keywords=apc

Would I be OK with nothing, or maybe just a surge protector? Hasn't my house already got surge protection? there is an elevator in my building as well, so maybe the power line is better quality to accommodate for that?

if I do go with the APC/UPS then how long will it last? is this something I need to re-buy every couple years or is it like a 10 year thing?

thankyou

 

[i7Baby]

I get a power outage about twice a year. Sometimes from planned maintenance and sometimes from storms. I've never had a PC (or anything else) failure from them. I do have a surge protector power board. But no UPS.

 

[Glenifir]

I get a power outage about twice a year. Sometimes from planned maintenance and sometimes from storms. I've never had a PC (or anything else) failure from them. I do have a surge protector power board. But no UPS.

My laptop dies from BSODs and pretty random Insta shutdowns for 3 years. I can't play games on it anymore because of this but for a good 2 and a half years it was fine to play any game on even though it BSOD like 5 times every day upon start up.

I think i'll just buy a surge protector. APCs seem like a scam to me.

 

[i7Baby]

BSoDs are usually from overheating in laptops. You just need to periodically blow them out and use a good laptop cooler.

In US with twisters, UPS are a good idea. Same in India where street wiring is DIY.

 

[dingo07]

the main reason to get a UPS is to be able to backup/save your current work and shut down during a power outage. A second reason is not for power spikes or surges, quite the opposite in fact, sags. Sags are what kills electronics more than spikes and/or surges. If your power is dirty and only provides 230v out of the normal 250v, your electronics might fail years earlier than normal because of the undervoltage.

 

[westom]

I'm going to use a decent 550w PSU for my med-high end gaming rig and I obviously don't want it to die from electricity doing bad things to it.

Blackouts and low voltage never damage a properly designed power supply. Only hysteria creates fear of destructive low voltage. Let's put perspective to those concerns.

Normal voltage for any computer is when voltage drops causing incandescent bulbs to dim to 40% intensity. Do your lights dim that much? If not, voltage is constantly more than sufficient.

When voltage causes less than 40% intensity, electronics simply power off - without damage.

As another noted, a UPS is for protecting unsaved data. But it does not do hardware protection. In fact some UPS power is 'dirtier' than anything seen on AC mains. Due to protection routinely found inside all electronics, then 'dirtiest' UPS power is also ideal power for electronics.

Protection routinely found in computers will consume hundred joule surges as energy to safety power its semiconductors. Read UPS specs. It probably only claims to protect from hundreds joules (near zero) surges that electronics consume as if normal electricity.

Many only see a subjective expression in brochures: "surge protection". Then assume it is 100% protection. Near zero joules are near zero surge protection. Just enough above zero so that naive consumers *know* it is 100% protection.

Other anomalies exist. A few may be hardware destructive. Those require solutons located elsewhere. And clearly not averted by an adjacent UPS. Don't let subjective claims confuse you. How often do your lights dim to less than 40% intensity? Note something unique: perspective provided by numbers and no subjective speculation.

 

[Glenifir]

I'm going to use a decent 550w PSU for my med-high end gaming rig and I obviously don't want it to die from electricity doing bad things to it.

Blackouts and low voltage never damage a properly designed power supply. Only hysteria creates fear of destructive low voltage. Let's put perspective to those concerns.

Normal voltage for any computer is when voltage drops causing incandescent bulbs to dim to 40% intensity. Do your lights dim that much? If not, voltage is constantly more than sufficient.

When voltage causes less than 40% intensity, electronics simply power off - without damage.

As another noted, a UPS is for protecting unsaved data. But it does not do hardware protection. In fact some UPS power is 'dirtier' than anything seen on AC mains. Due to protection routinely found inside all electronics, then 'dirtiest' UPS power is also ideal power for electronics.

Protection routinely found in computers will consume hundred joule surges as energy to safety power its semiconductors. Read UPS specs. It probably only claims to protect from hundreds joules (near zero) surges that electronics consume as if normal electricity.

Many only see a subjective expression in brochures: "surge protection". Then assume it is 100% protection. Near zero joules are near zero surge protection. Just enough above zero so that naive consumers *know* it is 100% protection.

Other anomalies exist. A few may be hardware destructive. Those require solutons located elsewhere. And clearly not averted by an adjacent UPS. Don't let subjective claims confuse you. How often do your lights dim to less than 40% intensity? Note something unique: perspective provided by numbers and no subjective speculation.

Yeah I'm just gonna agree with you here, it does seem like a lot of hype. Nobody uses a UPS in my family, everyone's got pc and we even use them during thunderstorms. We might get a power outage or something but everything still works. Even my brother old crap 5 year old pc would work.

I'll might get a surge protector to increase the amount of plugs I have available for my pc.

 

[rhapdog]

A UPS is definitely not a scam, though they are not generally needed by the general population. There are, however, very definite uses for them.

Not to be confused with APC, which is a company that happens to manufacture a line of UPS.

If you are a normal home user that generally never has issues with power outages, and you don't keep mission-critical work on your computer, then a UPS isn't for you. Get a quality surge suppressor and be done with it.

If you are a company, and you want to keep your server from losing power suddenly in case of emergency, then you had better invest in something pretty good. Businesses that can't afford a brief power outage to interrupt their business also need a UPS.

Personally, I won't ever be without a UPS again. They have saved me on many occasions from irreparable harm to my data. I've had my equipment even survive a direct lighting strike on 2 separate occasions. Well, the equipment plugged into it was protected, but I lost my television and DVD player plugged into a supposedly high end surge protector. The computer was fine. Plugged into the same outlet was a surge protector strip for the entertainment center, and my UPS for my computer. The computer survived just fine, and the entertainment center was fried, every last bit of it. I had to pull out the fire extinguisher on it.

Now I have a UPS for the entertainment center as well, because it's the 3rd lightening strike I have had in 3 different houses.

Of course, power isn't as good where I'm at on a regular basis. We tend to lose power on average of 2x per month. Power may be off for just a few seconds, but several times per year it is off for more than 3 hours. My battery backup will allow me to work for the full 3 hours before I have to shut down my computer and switch to my laptop for another 6 hours of use.

 

[Glenifir]

Of course, power isn't as good where I'm at on a regular basis. We tend to lose power on average of 2x per month. Power may be off for just a few seconds, but several times per year it is off for more than 3 hours. My battery backup will allow me to work for the full 3 hours before I have to shut down my computer and switch to my laptop for another 6 hours of use.

Yeah. I'm going to get a good surge protector but not a UPS. I think there are many factors about the area where I live that make a UPS a waste of money. I obviously don't want my computer to die quicker than it should, especially after the money I've put into it, but even without a UPS there seems to be a million different measures taken by every piece of hardware that deals with electricity that I should be OK. and if not, I hope my many warranties all work lol.

I'm a little worried about my PSU which could be of sightly better quality and could use an extra 100 watts, but all in all I think i've thought this through well enough. I just wonder what % of pc owners have a UPS or a Surge protector.

 

[dingo07]

...I just wonder what % of pc owners have a UPS or a Surge protector.

A better question would be how many pc owners are actually "informed consumers" when it comes to a UPS or a surge suppressor?

 

[westom]

I've had my equipment even survive a direct lighting strike on 2 separate occasions. Well, the equipment plugged into it was protected, but I lost my television and DVD player plugged into a supposedly high end surge protector. The computer was fine. Plugged into the same outlet was a surge protector strip for the entertainment center, and my UPS for my computer. The computer survived just fine, and the entertainment center was fried, every last bit of it. I had to pull out the fire extinguisher on it.

Unfortunately that is classic junk science reasoning. Somehow an observation without learning how electricity works is a proven fact?

A surge permitted anywhere inside the house is incoming to every appliance.So every appliance is damaged? Of course not. But that is your reasoning. Surge permitted inside goes hunting for earth. In your case, it ignored GFCIs, UPS, refrigerator, air conditioner, dishwasher, etc. Because a best path to earth via destructively via your entertainment center.

Neither expensive surge protector nor UPS did or claimed that protection. They were protected by an entertainment system that was acting as the best 'whole house' protector. Because you did not have another and proven 'whole house' solution.

UPS does not claim any protection. It connects a surge directly and incoming to every attached appliance. Protection was due to superior protection inside that appliance combined with a better earth ground path via an entertainment center.

Any protector that must be replaced every few years is, well, undersize it to fail on surges too tiny to damage adjacent appliances. That gets urban myths to recommend it. That increases profits. Did you read manufacturer specification numbers for that UPS? Hundreds of joules? Tiny. How did that avert a destructive surge that was hundreds of thousands of joules? It didn't. And it won't.

You had damage because a surge was all but invited to go hunting inside a house. Earth a 'whole house' protector to have protection even from direct lightning strikes decades later.

The word protector is secondary. What harmlessly absorbs hundreds of thousands of joules? That should have all your attention. A 'whole house protector connects to what actually protects all appliances. Single point earth ground. Not any earth ground. Not wall receptacle safety ground. All four words have electrical significance. Single point earth ground. So that another entertainment system need not become an expensive surge protector.