Wanting a UPS just to regulate voltage

[kuboo99]

Okay, I am planning on building a fairly high-end PC that is going to use an 850 watt power supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207017) to power a GTX 680 (Later on I will add a second which is why I am choosing 850 watts).
My question is if I should get a UPS with AVR purely to regulate power and maintain a constant voltage. I was going to use this ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842101381 ) which is a 450 watt UPS with AVR. I realize that this wouldn't power my computer if power went out, but would it work just to regulate voltage? Or would it blow up because of how much power the PSU would be drawing? Or will the PSU itself do a good enough job of regulating the power? Thank you in advance.

 

[aaab]

A UPS won't change the power going into your motherboard/components at all.

It can be a good idea if you live in a country with dodgy power, the most it will do is save you a power supply.

I recommend just getting a decent surge protector and a good quality PSU.

I'm not familiar with XFX power supplies... You might be better off with a Corsair or Seasonic.

 

[dingo07]

I suggest a UPS for EVERY electronic device in your house! Audio and video gear and computer equipment. It ultimately extends the life of the products IF your power grid is dirty or relatively unstable. It's mostly voltage sags that kill electronics equipment, not spikes.

With regard to the UPS you mention, I would go with a unit that will give you a minium of 15 minutes of runtime - that includes powering your monitor and computer, network switch and service modem.

This is my minimum suggestion...
http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BR1000G&total_watts=200

 

[aaab]

I suggest a UPS for EVERY electronic device in your house! Audio and video gear and computer equipment. It ultimately extends the life of the products IF your power grid is dirty or relatively unstable. It's mostly voltage sags that kill electronics equipment, not spikes.

With regard to the UPS you mention, I would go with a unit that will give you a minium of 15 minutes of runtime - that includes powering your monitor and computer, network switch and service modem.

This is my minimum suggestion...
http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BR1000G&total_watts=200

No way do you need a UPS on your toaster!

It really depends on how dirty your power grid is. Also that's what insurance is for.

 

[dingo07]

A UPS won't change the power going into your motherboard/components at all.

This is an incorrect statement... Depending on how you see it. Its not about "changing" it. You want the power supply thats feeding the components of the computer to ALWAYS have as close to 120V @60Hz as possible. That's where the UPS comes in. It provides that (with varying efficiency depending on product) all the time, under Any circumstances.

 

[dingo07]

No way do you need a UPS on your toaster!

I clarified what equipment I feel should be on a UPS.

@kuboo99 - your thoughts are correct about a UPS, it's a very wise decision to have one

 

[kuboo99]

@Dingo07

Power rarely goes out where I live, and I rarely am doing something that would be utterly ruined by loss of power, so would the smaller UPS that I mentioned at least condition power for my system? I don't need it to power my system for any amount of time; I just want it to maintain a constant level of power. And thank you for your help so far.

 

[dingo07]

@Dingo07

Power rarely goes out where I live, and I rarely am doing something that would be utterly ruined by loss of power, so would the smaller UPS that I mentioned at least condition power for my system? I don't need it to power my system for any amount of time; I just want it to maintain a constant level of power. And thank you for your help so far.

With that said it would be wise for you to calculate the load you would be applying to the UPS, and see if it will handle it. The one you mentioned has a load capacity of 420 watts. If your computers' load will exceed 80% of that (336 watts) then I recommend getting a unit with more capacity.

The last thing you want to do is buy a UPS that will meet that scenario, and later find out you need a more robust one because you added another video card, or something.

 

[InvalidError]

would the smaller UPS that I mentioned at least condition power for my system?

Inexpensive UPS have little to no power conditioning and less surge protection than good power bars. What some models do is line-interactive buck/boost regulation but this is a rough process that merely brings out-of-spec line voltage closer to normal without completely switching to battery. When on battery, those UPS use "stepped approximation" rather than sine wave which is far from being a conditioned signal.

If you want a truly conditioned signal, you need to look into double-conversion UPS and those start in the neighborhood of $1000.

 

[jrb427]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102131

you need a ups that has support for active PFC power supplies.

The CyberPower CP850PFCLCD UPS 850VA / 510W PFC compatible Pure sine wave, linked above, would be a better choice. I have a similar model protecting my desktop and it works well. It also has AVR.

 

[kuboo99]

Thank you all for your input. I think at this point I am going to hold off on the UPS until I get some more cash to burn.

 

[InvalidError]

you need a ups that has support for active PFC power supplies.

Or a PSU that does not have moody PFC circuitry.

Most PFC designs have no problem dealing with stepped-approximation UPSes.