UPS value battle - APC vs. Belkin

I

IDversusEGO

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I have 2 full tower PCs that I am using as servers and want to get a UPS system for them. Based on the APC calculator, I need around a 1500va unit. I see the APC BX1500 is a fan favorite at $200, but with the Belkin coupon code I can get F6C1500 (manufacturer link) for $150 shipped. and before I get griped at for the small $50 difference, my "wife approved" budget is $100, so any little bit helps in the fight.

any opinions on if the Belkin is decent? It is an established brand for sure, but I am not sure how long they have been making the UPS units.
 
LOL go with the APC, I know when I overbudget with the wife, that extra $50 doesnt make it any worse ;) Besides, the APC is the better brand with wonderful tech support.
 
Hmm... Got dimensions on that Belkin? It looks a lot like the Cyberpower 1500VA, but with a new bezel. If that's the case, it's got 4 batteries which is going to give you great run time.

What do you think about getting two 1000VA's (one for each tower) for the same price, though?
 
huh, two 1000 for same price isn't a bad idea. more headroom and such. hing is one server has 12 hard drives and 3 DVDs and the other only has 6 hard drives and no DVDs. Both have 3-5 PCI cards in them and are p4 class machines. I was going with a single unit for the consolidtation. as for the runtime, I really don't care. as log as it is 10-15 minutes, I am good.
 
Even better. A 1000VA for one and a 650VA for the other! Save even more money!

Just makes sure they have AVR. ;)
 
An argument for considering two units: the APC power monitoring software that can automatically power your system down.
 
i actually have 2 of the belkins you describe. overall, they are great lil backups, and come with their own software. the software is bulldog plus and it also monitors power, and has auto shutoff parameters. i had one of the UPS powering 2 computers and a 24" dell monitor at 68% load. the other one i had a duallie rig:: tyan k8we, 2x 246 C0, 1kw pcp psu, 2x 7800gt, 1x 80 gig WD, 4x 1gig corsair pc3200, and various case fans. the load on that one was at 43%. i never fully checked how long it would hold the system active since i had them setup to shutoff as soon as there was a power outtage. g/l
 
both hav avc and auto shutdown software. and I can't find 2 units that would save me any money over the one belkin 1500 with 40% off.
 
My choice would be APC over Belkin.

Have a Liebert UPS personally. No substitute for a true "on line" unit if you want clean power.
 
Another thought you might want to consider in an attempt to save yourself money, if you haven't already done this, is to not factor in power requirements of a monitor. You say that these are for your servers, and so I'm working on the assumption that they usually do not have a monitor powered on.

I definately recommend some sort of UPS for anyone who leaves their systems on 24/7. I had a power outage here a couple nights ago. I've got two BackUPS XPS 1000's. One kept my Shuttle, cable modem, router and 8-port switch up for 50+ minutes before it hibernated the system. (With my monitor - a Dell 2001FP - it will still get about 30 minutes of runtime.) The other one went three hours before I manually turned it off, but none of the stuff connected to it was turned on.
 
Yeah, I am not factoring in the monitor, but I am factoring in the switch, router, and shared printer. My power just went out unexplainably for about 10 seconds. no rain, nothing, just the whole house went down. I am probably going to get a cheap UPS to put at my living room HTPC, projector HTPC, and main rig. This is annoying.
 
IDversusEGO said:
Yeah, I am not factoring in the monitor, but I am factoring in the switch, router, and shared printer. My power just went out unexplainably for about 10 seconds. no rain, nothing, just the whole house went down. I am probably going to get a cheap UPS to put at my living room HTPC, projector HTPC, and main rig. This is annoying.
Click to expand...

This shared printer.....it isn't a laser preinter is it? And really a preinter isn't a critical item.
 
Spectre said:
This shared printer.....it isn't a laser preinter is it? And really a preinter isn't a critical item.
Click to expand...
not a laser printer, but "critical item" is a subjective term. My wife gets super pissed when the power resets it and I hate that it prints a calibration page each time. so keepign the wife un-pissed is a critical item. ;)
 
I've had a 1200VA Belkin UPS for about 4.5 years now on my main rig. I replaced the original batteries after 2.5 years and it's still going strong. It has AVR and was bought when I lived in Georgia. During the summers there, lightning hits around town would cause the power to black out for 1-2 seconds, sometimes 3-4 times in a row. Not good for electronics at all. Now, here in Arizona, we get horrible brown outs during the summer. The AVR kicks in all the time during the summer when the power sags too low and it hasn't missed a beat yet.

Getting the batteries out for replacement was a pain though. It wasn't very user friendly. I don't know how the newer ones are... Then again I've used APCs that were a pain also.
 
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