UPS vs Surge Suppressor

[Deiz]

I've got a bit of a dilemma here - I'm about done a build (Q6600, G80 8800 GTS, 6 HDDs...) and will soon be integrating it into my office. In the office, I have a piddly 500VA APC UPS that's several years old, so the batteries have decayed substantially. They last exactly 38 seconds with present load. (20W in audio kit, main rig [X2 4200+, G80 8800 GTS {About to be kidnapped by new system.}, 4 HDDs...], two LCDs, a switch, a router.)

So, I have two ways of updating my power hardware. Either I buy a Kill-a-Watt, get a ballpark estimate of how much wattage is being used and buy a UPS with 10-30% headroom, or I buy a surge suppressor and live without battery back-up.

FWIW, black/brownouts are a rarity here, but on the odd occasion that they do happen, they last a good few hours.

A third, but hardly ideal option is to put the new system on the existing UPS's battery back-up, and shift the old system onto surge suppression only. (So as to not kill the poor thing's inverter when I lose power.)

 

[Zardoz]

UPS's can be very nice to have. also remember that a UPS conditions the power as well, and gives your system a nice consistent power source. This will put less stress on the PSU and your system in the case where the power "browns out" but not enough to power the system off.

If I was you I get a 1300 to 1500 AV for the system. and a 800 -1000 AV
for the displays and everything else.

the 1300 to 1500 AV would get you around 15 mins on the system. that should be plenty of time to shut down or have it auto shut down.


update

For the system:
http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BR1500LCD&total_watts=200

For the displays and stuff:
http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BR1300LCD&total_watts=200

 

[Deiz]

I was looking at the white Back-UPS 1500VA earlier. (Slimmer, so it'll fit into my equipment rack with less hassle, and its recharge time is 8 hours vs the black LCD versions' 16.)

Between the two systems, 10 HDDs should be around 100W, the 8800 GTS 150W, each CPU (Account for overclocks) should use around 100W. That's ~450W DC, ~560W AC from the wall assuming 80% efficiency. We'll round up to 600W to account for motherboards and RAM. That results in 10 minutes runtime with any of the 1200VA+ Back-UPS models.

Of course, my estimates could be wholly wrong - That's why I'm planning to buy a Kill-a-Watt.

I'm thinking you're definitely over-estimating on the secondary UPS, though - Two 40W LCDs, 20W in audio kit, router, switch should sum to ~110W overall, and thus last at least 10 minutes on my existing UPS.

 

[Zardoz]

Yeah, I did if you only have that on it, but sounds like you have the right idea.

 

[Michael Daly]

Don't consider a UPS as a way to run a computer when the power is out. To do that meaningfully, you'd need a really big UPS. Just use it to perform a graceful shutdown when the power is off and let it reboot when the power is back. For that, your existing UPS should be fine. You can get a new battery for something like $35 IIRC.

A UPS tends to have better surge suppression than most of the power strip surge suppressors. Considering the price of a decent surge suppressor power strip compared to a basic, good quality UPS (or in your case a new battery), you might as well stick with the UPS.

Also consider that most power strip surge suppressors are not fail-safe; they are usually based on MOVs and can fail in an open-circuit mode which provides no protection, often without warning. Some UPSes, at least, have some kind of fail-safe features in them if you look for them (though good power strips can too).