Power supply + Surge protector question? confused

[Xiael]

with the "RAIDMAX RX-850AE 850 WATT 80 PLUS GOLD POWER SUPPLY" Where could I get a strong surge protector? I've been looking on amazon for one and i've yet to find one over 600W (When the supply says 850W) .. am I doing it wrong? would someone be kind enough to explain how it works to me or link me beastly one? Thanks!

Edit: UPS, surge protector, whatever it may be. I want to be able to plug in my computer and accessories to it with the peace of mind that it won't blow up, for sure

 

[ahnilated]

http://www.newegg.com/Store/Category.aspx?Category=314&name=Power-Protection

You can try there.

 

[Xiael]

There has to be something im misunderstanding about the watts

 

[clarkjd]

The wattage of the power supply has nothing to do with a surge suppressor. The surge suppressor simply prevents spikes or surges in electricity supplied by your power company to your house from getting to whatever is plugged into the surge suppressor.

A UPS, or Uninterruptable Power Supply is a device that has a battery in it and it will supply power to your computer even if the power to your house goes off.

What one do you need?

 

[ahnilated]

If you purchase a UPS that doesn't supply enough runtime protection power then it will beep at you or shut down. It's called overload protection.

 

[geofelt]

I recommend a UPS( uninteruptible power supply).
If you should have a power failure at a nasty time, like a bios update or hard drive update with cacheong then you run the risk of irrecoverable damage.
It will also condition the power, insulating you from temporary line quality issues.

A ups will keep your pc running for some number of minutes and allow you to shut down gracefully. Ups software can shut down an unattended pc when the battery backup is echausted. A battery capable of 5-10 minutes operation should be sufficient for most people. The VA rating is an indicator of how long the battery can last.

You may also plug in such components as your cable modem, router, monitor etc. Just because your psu can deliver 650w does not mean that it will normally do so.

Do not get a cheap unit. APC has been one of the best.

If price is not a big condideration, here is one of the best:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842101493

 

[Xiael]

I recommend a UPS( uninteruptible power supply).
If you should have a power failure at a nasty time, like a bios update or hard drive update with cacheong then you run the risk of irrecoverable damage.
It will also condition the power, insulating you from temporary line quality issues.

A ups will keep your pc running for some number of minutes and allow you to shut down gracefully. Ups software can shut down an unattended pc when the battery backup is echausted. A battery capable of 5-10 minutes operation should be sufficient for most people. The VA rating is an indicator of how long the battery can last.

You may also plug in such components as your cable modem, router, monitor etc. Just because your psu can deliver 650w does not mean that it will normally do so.

Do not get a cheap unit. APC has been one of the best.

If price is not a big condideration, here is one of the best:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842101493

Okay thanks, question though.. that says its 875W, let's say.. my computer (It's pretty high end.. I paid 2k for all the parts recently) is running at full capacity using the 850W my PSU can handle, and let's say I plug in my xbox also for whatever reason.. that pushing it over 875W, what happens? Also.. a UPS also protects from surges too right? Sorry for being an electrical noob 😛


I'd prefer not to spend alot but I want something that gets the job done efficiently and if that's going to cost money then so be it

Edit: Actually, with my monitor it could end up being more than 850W :/

 

[clarkjd]

Okay thanks, question though.. that says its 875W, let's say.. my computer (It's pretty high end.. I paid 2k for all the parts recently) is running at full capacity using the 850W my PSU can handle, and let's say I plug in my xbox also for whatever reason.. that pushing it over 875W, what happens? Also.. a UPS also protects from surges too right? Sorry for being an electrical noob 😛


I'd prefer not to spend alot but I want something that gets the job done efficiently and if that's going to cost money then so be it

Edit: Actually, with my monitor it could end up being more than 850W :/

Unless you are using your PC & X-box at the same time, they wouldn't both be drawing power from the UPS, The UPS wattage is what it will supply in the event of a power failure, not the maximum draw that you can use while power is still on.

 

[Xiael]

Unless you are using your PC & X-box at the same time, they wouldn't both be drawing power from the UPS, The UPS wattage is what it will supply in the event of a power failure, not the maximum draw that you can use while power is still on.

My pc running at max + monitor would be over the wattage.. whats the point of keeping my PC powered if I can't see it to make sure it saves + shuts down properly

 

[clarkjd]

My pc running at max + monitor would be over the wattage.. whats the point of keeping my PC powered if I can't see it to make sure it saves + shuts down properly

The point is, unless you are gaming at the time of power failure, you won't be running at max. And even if you were, you should not need ALL 850 watts that your PSU can supply. Hopefully, there is some headroom there. What are all the components of your PC? I would be very surprised if you actually used more than 650 watts even at max, unless you are running an SLI or crossfire setup.

How long does it take you to shutdown?
Do you leave your PC on 24/7?

In the event of a power failure, how much time do you think you would need to shut your PC down cleanly?

 

[Xiael]

I don't leave my computer on 24-7, and it should shut down very quickly unless im mid gaming, but even then quick. my concern is that I am gaming and using alot of energy with my pc and im using my monitor to see.. either one going off will screw me over

I am running dual graphics cards.

Intel(R) Core™ i5-2500K 3.30 GHz 6M Intel Smart Cache LGA1155 (All Venom OC Certified)

8GB (2GBx4) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory (Corsair XMS Gaming Memory with Heat Spreader)

[CrossFireX/SLI] ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 ATX Mainboard w/ Lucid Virtu, Intel SRT, UEFI & 7.1 THX TruStudio Audio, GbLAN, HDMI,

AMD Radeon HD 6970 2GB GDDR5 16X PCIe Video Card (I have two of these)

 

[clarkjd]

If you are gaming, and the power goes off, All you really need is time to shutdown. I would think that even a 650 watt UPS would give you the minute or so of runtime to complete a clean shutdown. Once you start the shutdown, you won't be drawing at the max anymore.

 

[geofelt]

There is a difference between the watts rating, and the va rating.
The va rating is an indicator of how long the ups can supply power at the maximum watts.

To help you determine your needs, go to the APC UPS configurator.
Let us know what it tells you:
http://www.apc.com/tools/ups_selector/index.cfm