[SOLVED] UPS Power Consumption and Simulated Sine-Wave for High-End PC

[danieldemais]

I recently ordered a CyberPower CST1300AL UPS unit, but after looking into it some more, I'm debating whether I should even use it or sell it for something else.

First off, would it increase my power bill? According to what I found, a UPS with around 95% efficiency wouldn't make too much of a difference, which I'm skeptical of, but I don't know how efficient this particular UPS is, and since the occasional power outtages haven't really affected my PC in any obvious way, I'm thinking of whether or not I should have a UPS at all.

Second, would there be noticeable advantages to using a true sine-wave UPS instead?

 

[jay32267]

I think the amount it would increase you bill would be pretty insignificant as it would only be a small percentage of the total load of the PC.

As far as whether you need it or not...that's up to you. I don't use one as I almost had an apartment burn down due to a faulty one.

As far as true sine waves...they are better for sensitive equipment...and they allow the equipment to perform more efficiently as you aren't losing energy in heat trying to make a simulated sine wane into a pure sine wave.

 

[danieldemais]

I think the amount it would increase you bill would be pretty insignificant as it would only be a small percentage of the total load of the PC.

As far as whether you need it or not...that's up to you. I don't use one as I almost had an apartment burn down due to a faulty one.

As far as true sine waves...they are better for sensitive equipment...and they allow the equipment to perform more efficiently as you aren't losing energy in heat trying to make a simulated sine wane into a pure sine wave.

Thanks for replying.
Do you know if the simulated sine-waves would affect a pc's overall performance? Could it be worse than not using one at all?

 

[jay32267]

Thanks for replying.
Do you know if the simulated sine-waves would affect the pc's overall performance? Could it be worse than not using one at all?

I don't think it would affect the PCs performance.
If anything were significantly affected...I think it would be the power supply.
The power supply takes that wave and filters it and rectifies it.
A pure sine wave wouldn't need much filtering.
So the power supply has to do more work to filter a non pure sine wave....which I think would result in a little extra heat....but I don't think that would cause a problem.
Power supplies aren't exactly what I would call "sensitive equipment".
They are actually fairly robust.....especially on the input side.

 

[danieldemais]

I don't think it would affect the PCs performance.
If anything were significantly affected...I think it would be the power supply.
The power supply takes that wave and filters it and rectifies it.
A pure sine wave wouldn't need much filtering.
So the power supply has to do more work to filter a non pure sine wave....which I think would result in a little extra heat....but I don't think that would cause a problem.
Power supplies aren't exactly what I would call "sensitive equipment".
They are actually fairly robust.....especially on the input side.

The PSU is an EVGA 850W Supernova G2.

I'm kind of considering not using the UPS since I would expect the extra heat to lower the PSU's life expectancy more than power outtages would. So far I haven't felt any performance changes from outtages and whatever work I'm doing is always saved frequently, when I don't shutdown the pc completely as soon as a thunderstorm hits.

What worries me the most besides performance and life expectancy is the hit on the power bill, and since the CyberPower's page for the unit doesn't list the efficiency, I can't help but think it's not great.

 

[jay32267]

The PSU is an EVGA 850W Supernova G2.

I'm kind of considering not using the UPS since I would expect the extra heat to lower the PSU's life expectancy more than power outtages would. So far I haven't felt any performance changes from outtages and whatever work I'm doing is always saved frequently, when I don't shutdown the pc completely as soon as a thunderstorm hits.

What worries me the most besides performance and life expectancy is the hit on the power bill, and since the CyberPower's page for the unit doesn't list the efficiency, I can't help but think it's not great.

As I said....I think don't think the power bill hit would be all that great.
First of all you are never using the full 850 watts.
I'm thinking you would only lose about 50-100 watts to the efficiency but this is just a ballpark guess.

As I said...I don't use a UPS. I generally shut down if an electrical storm is coming.

I think one way to have a problem is if you lose power while the PC is writing to a drive....especially if it's writing something related to the operating system....but generally I don't think this is the case the vast majority of the time.

 

[danieldemais]

As I said....I think don't think the power bill hit would be all that great.
First of all you are never using the full 850 watts.
I'm thinking you would only lose about 50-100 watts to the efficiency but this is just a ballpark guess.

As I said...I don't use a UPS. I generally shut down if an electrical storm is coming.

I think one way to have a problem is if you lose power while the PC is writing to a drive....especially if it's writing something related to the operating system....but generally I don't think this is the case the vast majority of the time.

For the meantime I might use it and see if the hit is too bad. One last thing, I know you don't use a UPS, but do you know if they're supposed to be on while the devices it powers are off? Is there an idle consumption for it to keep its batteries charged?

 

[jay32267]

For the meantime I might use it and see if the hit is too bad. One last thing, I know you don't use a UPS, but do you know if they're supposed to be on while the devices it powers are off? Is there an idle consumption for it to keep its batteries charged?

Yes you keep it on and yes there is an idle consumption but that would be very small....in the neighborhood of a few watts.

 

[danieldemais]

Yes you keep it on and yes there is an idle consumption but that would be very small....in the neighborhood of a few watts.

Alright, thanks for the help and for your time!

 

[jay32267]

Alright, thanks for the help and for your time!

You're welcome!

 

[digitalgriffin]

I recently ordered a CyberPower CST1300AL UPS unit, but after looking into it some more, I'm debating whether I should even use it or sell it for something else.

First off, would it increase my power bill? According to what I found, a UPS with around 95% efficiency wouldn't make too much of a difference, which I'm skeptical of, but I don't know how efficient this particular UPS is, and since the occasional power outtages haven't really affected my PC in any obvious way, I'm thinking of whether or not I should have a UPS at all.

Second, would there be noticeable advantages to using a true sine-wave UPS instead?

Some power supplies are much more sensitive to non sine-wave power inputs, thus will shut down if you used a stepped power supply. Most good quality modern power supplies have no problems here.

If your data is valuable, or you are running a RAID array, or a NAS, or need to have backup internet while power is out, or perform frequent BIOS updates, a UPS is worth it.

It may only strike once or twice a year, but not having to rebuild your array, a weather emergency, or the kids going crazy without internet it well worth it IMHO.

I have two. One for my NAS which automatically shuts down the NAS after 30 seconds of no power, and one for my internet (modem/router/switch/AP which runs 90 minutes)

 

[danieldemais]

Some power supplies are much more sensitive to non sine-wave power inputs, thus will shut down if you used a stepped power supply. Most good quality modern power supplies have no problems here.

If your data is valuable, or you are running a RAID array, or a NAS, or need to have backup internet while power is out, or perform frequent BIOS updates, a UPS is worth it.

It may only strike once or twice a year, but not having to rebuild your array, a weather emergency, or the kids going crazy without internet it well worth it IMHO.

I have two. One for my NAS which automatically shuts down the NAS after 30 seconds of no power, and one for my internet (modem/router/switch/AP which runs 90 minutes)

Did power consumption raise too considerably? That's my main concern for the moment.

 

[digitalgriffin]

Did power consumption raise too considerably? That's my main concern for the moment.

In the overall cost of things, I would say its minuscule. Once the battery is charged, its only a few watts to keep running. Theres a trickle charge in the order of a few ma, plus power for the main circuitry. A modern router uses more.