Question Want to purchase a UPS but I don't know how much watt capacity it needs

outlawstar15a2

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Mar 25, 2010
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I have a desktop PC with a 850w PSU 80+ Gold, I have two Dell S2719DGF 27" monitors, and a Verizon Router and it's ONT that needs UPS protection. Maybe I'd plug my Tablet and Phone into it as well but I won't if it's gonna increase my price point. I'm thinking I need at least 1300w watts because supposedly PCs and Monitors draw more then maximum wattage during transition periods such as powering on from a power off state or waking up from sleep mode. But see here in lies my problem I don't know if power draw exceeds the listed maximum and it's important because I am having a hard time finding a Pure sine wave line interactive UPS with active voltage regulation with the necessary wattage needed for a reasonable price. So I need to cut corners and figure out the exact amount of voltage I need in a max draw scenario because I play alot of high end games so I put my equipment under a lot of stress as is....

Also does anyone know if a Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 850w RGB PSU needs a pure sine wave UPS or if it can use other types... Why are UPSs so retardedly expensive?
 
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Eximo

Titan
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The term you are looking for is inrush current, and that is going to happen under AC power, not the battery/output of the UPS, so you shouldn't worry too much about that. Capacitors in the UPS will hold enough charge to handle inrush current, that is basically what also makes it uninterruptible. Enough power to switch over to battery, which it can do in under a second.

Wattage of your PSU is not that much of an important factor. What is the power consumption of the hardware in the system?

Computers are rarely ever maxed out, so even if you take the worst case from your hardware, typical high end system would be something like:
95-125W CPU
225-300W GPU
+100W for Motherboard, Ram, and 3 or 4 fans.
SSDs and hard disks don't use all that much, unless they are actively writing.

Tablets and phones are battery powered already, surge suppressor and their charging bricks are enough to protect them from anything less then a direct lightning strike.

Router/Modem, PC, and ONE of your monitors would be my suggestion, unless you really need that second monitor. Unless you spend a lot of money the battery power will typically only run for 5-10 minutes, really just for shutting down and saving your work.

I like to use AMPs calculator personally to pick out a relevant model, then start shopping around for similar stats.


Though for the typical PC, this is usually what comes up for the US:

https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/prod...B-Charging-Ports-AVR-LCD-interface/P-BR1500MS
 

Paperdoc

Polypheme
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Be careful about what specs you look for. The main thing you want is max WATTS on the output. Now, most people are aware that Watts = Volts x Amps. BUT a VERY common spec on a UPS is the "VA (Volt - Amp) Rating", and they ALWAYS are significantly MORE that the real max WATTS rating. It's weird, but that is what they publish. So don't go by the VA Rating for this.

The other important item it TIME. First you need to know the actual average power consumption (in Watts) when you are using your system normally. This will NOT be the max rating. Good UPS makers will tell you how long this unit can continue to supply the desired Watts of power after the supply from the wall outlet fails. A unit that lasts for 5 to 10 minutes gives you time to react to the Power Fail alarm and shut down your system in an orderly manner. If you plan the keep on working with no power from the wall, you need a unit that can keep up that wattage for at least 30 minutes, maybe more. THAT is where it starts to get expensive!
 

outlawstar15a2

Distinguished
Mar 25, 2010
80
0
18,540
The term you are looking for is inrush current, and that is going to happen under AC power, not the battery/output of the UPS, so you shouldn't worry too much about that. Capacitors in the UPS will hold enough charge to handle inrush current, that is basically what also makes it uninterruptible. Enough power to switch over to battery, which it can do in under a second.

Wattage of your PSU is not that much of an important factor. What is the power consumption of the hardware in the system?

Computers are rarely ever maxed out, so even if you take the worst case from your hardware, typical high end system would be something like:
95-125W CPU
225-300W GPU
+100W for Motherboard, Ram, and 3 or 4 fans.
SSDs and hard disks don't use all that much, unless they are actively writing.

Tablets and phones are battery powered already, surge suppressor and their charging bricks are enough to protect them from anything less then a direct lightning strike.

Router/Modem, PC, and ONE of your monitors would be my suggestion, unless you really need that second monitor. Unless you spend a lot of money the battery power will typically only run for 5-10 minutes, really just for shutting down and saving your work.

I like to use AMPs calculator personally to pick out a relevant model, then start shopping around for similar stats.


Though for the typical PC, this is usually what comes up for the US:

https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/prod...B-Charging-Ports-AVR-LCD-interface/P-BR1500MS

I'm not too worry on battery duration I only want to the UPS in the event I get another power dip or brownout which wrecked my mobo's memory controller and set in motion a series of events that left me without a working PC for the last 4 months... So 5-10 minutes is excellent for me since I would use the UPS to safely shut the PC down and then unplug it from the wall and let the power disruption event pass on it's own.

But I'm confused doesn't the second monitor have to be on the battery backup to receive active voltage regulation and protection from dips and spikes?

If you want I can post my PC's specs here to help with calculating load.

EDIT: I think this is everything as far as PC hardware I included everything pretty sure I didn't leave anything out if you want I will provide direct links to each store page.

2 x Dell S-Series 27-inch LED Gaming Monitor (S2719DGF)
EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 Super XC Gaming
Intel Core i5-9600K
Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI motherboard
32 GB (4 x 8GB) G.Skill Ripjaws V Series DDR4 3600 RAM
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition CPU Air Cooler 120mm Fan
2 x Crucial P1 1TB 3D NAND NVMe PCIe Internal SSD
Fans for Fractal Design Focus G Mystic Red ATX Mid Tower
3 x Arctic P12 PWM PST 120mm Fan
Chassis Fan Hub CPU Cooling 10 Port 12 V SATA to Fan-Header with 4 Pin PWM Controller
WD 4TB Elements Portable External Hard Drive (for NVMe backup)
Razer Kraken Ultimate RGB USB Gaming Headset
Razer Naga 2014 Left Hand MMO Edition Gaming Mouse
Saitek Eclipse 2 Keyboard
XBOX 360 Wired USB Controller for Windows
Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 850w RGB 80+ Gold PSU

I need to look at serial number for Verizon Router another thing I have a hard time finding is a UPS with a protected data in and out port...
 
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