Dumb UPS Question...

[Snowgrifter]

After finally retiring my 8 yr old previous gaming computer, I finally broke down and built a new one from scratch (Thanks Santa!):

Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 solid side
EVGA SuperNOVA 750G2
AsRock Z97 extreme4
Corsair H100i
Intel i7-4790K
Corsair Vengeance Pro 16MB
2 Zotac GTX970 in SLI
Samsung 840 EVO 500GB
WD 3TB HDD
Dell U3014

Anyways, I set down to benchmark at stock speeds. Under heavy load, I get this horrid whine. I panic thinking maybe I botched something, but no, the whine is coming from my Cyberpower 850VA AVR UPS...it's only rated for 510w so I must be just bumping up against the UPC's peak load.

So I don't spend stupid money on UPS capacity I don't need (I've got three kids and between them and the computer, I'm just about Christmas'd out), how much more UPS do I need? Is Cyberpower crud and I should try something else? I see APC and Tripp-Lite out there, but unless it makes sense, I don't see why I'd pay the premium for an APC UPS. Thanks for any feedback!

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Firstly, are you sure you need a UPS? Unless you get very frequent power cuts, I wouldn't bother.

Also see if there's anything on the UPS that you don't need - printers and sound systems are common.

 

[Snowgrifter]

Thanks. Unfortunately, only the monitor and the computer is running through the UPS.

I run the UPS out of sheer paranoia. I "lost' a HD once that contained years of family photos, and sound and video, couple of TB of stuff. I figure a couple hundred on a UPS to give my computer a chance to shut down properly is a lot cheaper than the $1,700 I had to surrender sending the HD to a recovery shop.

 

[Snowgrifter]

Also, yeah, regular backups too. Lesson learned.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Hmm. Usually a power loss won't significantly affect data, except for that currently in use (largely the OS).

Cheap PSUs are pretty useless at blocking spikes, though. That may have been what killed it. However, your current PSU should be fine.

 

[Snowgrifter]

Yeah, I used to have everything on one HDD too, which was when I lost the HD. Happens when you get lazy and complacent (and cheap).

 

[Snowgrifter]

In any case, Someone, I run the UPS just as a precaution...I've been doing it for 4 years...I'll probably be fine finding a 750-900w UPS, should be around the $150 range at most. Thanks for the feedback and Happy Holidays!