Recommendation for UPS

[nanobeast]

I am looking to buy a UPS for my new system. My system consists of:

CoolerMaster V850 PSU
i7-4770k
32GB RAM
A pair of evga 780s SC in SLI

Any sugestions for good UPS?

I am looking at

http://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP1350PFCLCD-Sinewave-Compatible-Mini-Tower/dp/B00429N19M

and

http://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP1500PFCLCD-Sinewave-Compatible-Mini-Tower/dp/B00429N19W

1) Do I need 1550 or will 1350 be good enough? I am assuming the difference only kicks in when I need power once the system is running entirely on battery. As in the one with 1550 will give me more power for longer. During wired operation, it should not matter, correct?

2) The non-sine wave ones of these are cheaper by about $30-40. Is my PSU ok with the non-pure sinewave one? Safer to get the pure sinewave one?

 

[coolpurplefan]

I did some searching myself and for the cheaper UPSes, you usually don't get AVR (automatic voltage regulator) so I bought a more expensive (like $160) Tripp Lite Omni VS 1500.

 

[nanobeast]

Those are priced same as yours and based on the info on the site have voltage regulation as well.

 

[BigJayDogg3]

I'm not sure which you should buy, but I do know UPSs rating matters even when running on the wall. After a certain level of draw, it will turn itself off. I discovered this when I had a 560Ti and my 670 running simultaneously during folding.

 

[Tom_S]

My top choice for the average consumer is a properly sized Opti-UPS, DS line and add an extra battery pack if you need the extra run time. Most people will not pay the extra money for the Opti-UPS DS, but in my opinion they are worth it. Their customer service is no better or worse than any other UPS seller.

Your UPS’s current capacity must comfortably exceed your combined load whether it is running on battery or not. You might exceed the 810 watt rating of the 1350 you linked to, based on the limited info you provided and depending on how you’re using your computer and what peripherals you need to run as well. The 1500 you linked to is 890 watt rated and may not give you much current margin or run time.

My understanding is that the non-pure sine wave UPS’s can push a modern PSU’s (one suitable for use with Haswell) voltages far enough out of spec. to cause a computer to shut down to protect itself. This can happen at any time but usually only during a power event and usually to the high side. I only have my research on the internet and the following two cases to base that on.

I have two of the 1350’s you linked to in service with no issues for roughly 1 year. Both machines were built for clients with high end Z77 or Z87 ASUS motherboards and Seasonic gold or platinum PSU’s, one was originally plugged into a surge protector and other into a non-pure sine wave UPS. I witnessed both of these computers shutdown due to the voltage being too far out of spec. according to the onscreen message when they restarted. The problem has not recurred since installing the pure sine wave UPS’s. Neither of the machines appear to have been physically damaged by these events (and according to the owner it happened several times on one of the machines) but any work not saved to disk was lost, one time a user account had to be restored and other minor problems had to be corrected.

Both machines are located in rural areas with poor quality power and frequent outages. Old equipment that I retired from these locations (computer motherboards, PSU’s, Monitors, switches, etc.) had power related problems such as bad capacitors, rectifier bridges, other diodes, etc.

The more powerful of these two machines needs to run up to 16 minutes while a backup generator warms up and kicks in. It can do it while running under full load with two 2560 x 1440 27” monitors and amplified 2.1 speakers but just barely, and it only has one video card.

 

[Bluesun311]

I have two of the 1350’s you linked to in service with no issues for roughly 1 year. Both machines were built for clients with high end Z77 or Z87 ASUS motherboards and Seasonic gold or platinum PSU’s, one was originally plugged into a surge protector and other into a non-pure sine wave UPS. I witnessed both of these computers shutdown due to the voltage being too far out of spec. according to the onscreen message when they restarted. The problem has not recurred since installing the pure sine wave UPS’s. Neither of the machines appear to have been physically damaged by these events (and according to the owner it happened several times on one of the machines) but any work not saved to disk was lost, one time a user account had to be restored and other minor problems had to be corrected.

I have a 1500VA 860Watt APC BR1500G stepped/sine wave unit that I got because it offered Master control over other outlets that would shut off after a delay. I'm not aware of any higher powered or pure sine wave units on the market that do this but I'm probably wrong and just don't know where to look. At any rate... the unit usually works for my seasonic platinum 1000W PFC Haswell certified PSU, but it makes the power supply itself buzz. The first unit failed a scheduled self test about 2 months after I got it. It had about 8 power events on its counter at the time and APC paid shipping both ways to replace the unit even though they knew what PSU I was using it on. It was suggested that my PSU might be too powerful for the 860W battery backup, but the truth is my total power demand was well below 800Watts at worst possible peak. I think it is perhaps the extremely LOW voltages that Haswell may demand that sometimes trips up stepped-sinewave units on PFC power supplys with Haswell type processors.

The second BR1500G I received didn't get much of a chance to look good (actually they look funny because they are too heavy on one side and leannnn over on the carpet, even though they don't fall. They wont sit flat against a desk side). Within a week we had a good storm and I was working on a word processor at the time and after about 5-6 brownouts the unit failed completely and shut everything that was plugged into it off. No damage. Unit came up saying battery was bad at first, but subsequently checked OK. APC insisted on sending me another of the same unit but I'll be picking up a pure sinewave unit that can do 1500Watts as soon as I can.