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Surge Protector

P

pc1x1

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jan 1, 2008
Messages
1,165
With power supplies hitting 1k+, what would be a good surge protector, to lets say protect 2000 Watts plugged into it. And how did you come to your conclusion.
 
I've yet to see a good surge protector/UPS capable of (officially) handling 2000 watts.

What are you considering that would require that much power?
 
Well hoping for something relatively affordable. I saw those APC's, but they are in the thousands, hehe.

I would like to plug in my PC, that has 3 Graphics cards, etc, and my home theature system to one outlet. It technically exceeds 2000 peak watts, but since its been working so far with normal surge protectors, I guess you don't need to match the exact wattage total?, but I am starting to get concerned power is going through the roof. I have my home theater on all the time as my cable reciever is plugged into the receiver and then on to the TV, and its not home theater in a box, its a custom system, that is probably pushing around 1000 watts itself.
 
The HTPC is pushing 1000 watts?

Reminds me of that scene in Christmas Vacation when he plugs all the lights in.
 
Go buy a wattage meter ($25-$30) and measure what you're using. I think you'll find you don't really need that much capacity. 2000W will not run safely on a standard 15A wall socket. You'd need a 20A wall socket (with the non-parallel blades on the plug) or something similar for 30A etc. Hence, you'll not find a simple surge protector that fills the bill.

Surge protectors don't protect the power you draw; they protect the equipment from a spike that is on the outside. Hence, you really want to get something that can stop the surge at whatever you can draw off a 15A wall socket. Most standard surge suppressors will do that.

If you want a UPS with surge suppression and/or power conditioning, then you have to worry about satisfying the actual power draw while running on battery etc. However, these will still be satisfied for about $200 for just backup + surge, not $2000. Power conditioning will cost more.

That 4000W surge suppressor I pointed to was just to show that something over 2000W was easy to find; it was not a recommendation.
 
Michael Daly said:
Go buy a wattage meter ($25-$30) and measure what you're using. I think you'll find you don't really need that much capacity. 2000W will not run safely on a standard 15A wall socket. You'd need a 20A wall socket (with the non-parallel blades on the plug) or something similar for 30A etc. Hence, you'll not find a simple surge protector that fills the bill.

Surge protectors don't protect the power you draw; they protect the equipment from a spike that is on the outside. Hence, you really want to get something that can stop the surge at whatever you can draw off a 15A wall socket. Most standard surge suppressors will do that.

If you want a UPS with surge suppression and/or power conditioning, then you have to worry about satisfying the actual power draw while running on battery etc. However, these will still be satisfied for about $200 for just backup + surge, not $2000. Power conditioning will cost more.

That 4000W surge suppressor I pointed to was just to show that something over 2000W was easy to find; it was not a recommendation.
Click to expand...

Any suggestions on a good UPS? I'd say $200 is my limit. And yes I ordered a watt meter, but since everything isn't build yet, I don't know exactly how many watts are being pushed.
 
You may want to raise your limit by at least $100. Finding an UPS that supports 1000W or more usually costs over $200, not including shipping. (Yes, I am aware that I made a stupid comment in my earlier post... I don't know what I was thinking then... and I'd like to forget about it now.)

But first, follow Michael Daly's advice and get an accurate assessment on how many watts your system/setup is actually pulling.
 
I recommend APC and only APC at this point. They've been in the game longer than most and build good stuff. Once you assemble your computer, run it with the watt meter and push it to full load (a CPU test program for CPU at 100% and a serious game for GPU at high load). Add a buffer to the measured level (a safety factor) and then go to APC's web site and see what they recommend for that power consumption. You'll get a couple of choices at different feature/price points.
 
I like my APC RS1500 but I haven't gotten a ton of use out of it yet. Just figures I finally get around to buying a decent UPS and we don't have all the power issues we used to.:p Their cheaper consumer units top off around there...at the 865-900 watt mark and 1500VA. That's the "PCs and Workstations" section of the catalog. If you want anything higher you'll be buying into a much pricier range of products.
 
There are just so many to choose from on Newegg that are ALL APC. It's crazy to try and figure out what you need/ what the differences are.

Ryan
 
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