Do I Have Issues With Watts??? ...Between Power Supply & Battery Back-Ups?

Hello. I have a question. I have a BFG power supply for my desktop that is rated at 800 Watts ATX 12V 2.2/ EPS 12V 2.91 [BFG model: BFGR800WPSU]. I have an APC Back-Ups power supply/battery backups that is rated at 450 Watts / 725 VA (the rating both for output power capacity & max. configurable power) [APC model: BE725BB]. Obviously, the desktops power supply cord is connected and drawing power from the power supply/battery backups for battery backup reasons. My 19 inch LCD monitor is also connected to this power supply/batter backups as well. My desktop computer has Intel Core 2 Quad processor, only 1 NVIDIA graphics card, 1 Creative X-Fi Sound Card, 6 other PCI cards installed, 2 DVD burner drives, 1 floppy drive, 5 hard drives, 5 internal fans + 1 CPU fan.

Now this is my concern: Do I have issues here concerning my Watts? ...even serious issues? I am not trained and know very little about electricity, but the Watts of my power supply/battery backups is almost half that needed for the Watts for my desktop power supply. Just tonight I have discovered this possible issue. I have been using this BFG power supply for a long time now and have had it plugged into this battery backup system for a long time as well. To date, I have not had any issues. The computer has run just fine. I may be overreacting or I may be NOT! Please comment and state facts about my situation if I do indeed have an issue. Also, if you have any solutions to an issue, please help me! Thanks!

 

I don't see how the wattage would matter too much for a back up power supply would matter since it is only used in cases of emergency like a power outage and it is meant for temporary power until you can save your work and shut down the computer. The only time I could think that it would matter is if the power goes down while you're playing games on a system that requires more than 450 watts (which is pretty standard for basic systems). I've never burned out a power supply myself even when pushing it to its limits (as I have recently found out my old 350 power supply was good enough even for my new graphics card) so I don't see how 450 wouldn't be enough for at least a basic computer. Is there a test mode on the back up to see if it can handle it? What setup do you have with your computer...? If you want to see if the wattage is good enough for your computer you can look for a PSU wattage calculator online, but for a back up I think it's enough. As I said, a battery back up is only a temporary power supply meant to be used long enough to shut down your computer, so as soon as it kicks in you should save your progress and do a shut down.

 

you will get about 3-5 min of power with that UPS and that system

 

Thank you for your responses!

 

Sounds like you know whats what now, but to help, try putting your specs into this PSU Wattage Calculator.

But remember, wattage isnt everything in a PSU, Make sure you buy a good make, EG. Corsair, and the PSU has atleast 60A on the 12v for your system.

 

Thanks for your reply. I have to say I have spoke with a few people lately regarding this issue. They have told me this:

Basically, I have nothing to worry about while I have no power failure. The UPS is handling things fine while I have AC current from my home. The issue is when I do have a power outage and then this is when issues could happen with wattage. I have told that my UPS only needs to support the wattage that your computer is actually "using". Key word is "using". Yes, I have a 800W power supply, but it may be only using 450W-500W when I have a power failure from the UPS. This CAN STILL TAX my UPS during a power failure. I was told to run just 1 test to see how long my UPS runs with a mock power failure. I just unplugged my UPS and timed the period my system stayed on until my system died. I did and found it lasted about 40 seconds. Now, that is very short. This means that I am using more than 450W rated on my UPS since it should be a few minutes UPS operational at least!!! I was also told not to do this too many times as it would cook and kill my battery for good since my system is taxing my UPS. So, I took a look at a sine curve for another comparable APC UPS unit. I found that it was between 500-600Watts I was using plugging in the data I had. So, I figure that am just over the 450W rating of my UPS to handle my current system and monitor that is attached to my UPS. That is why the short 40 seconds. It is basically draining the battery fast! So bottom line, I HAVE TO GET ANOTHER UPS if I plan to use a UPS for what it is! The easiest way I have learned is to get a UPS that handles 875W or greater. It is the safest means to work with! With Watts, just add all the items attached to my UPS and that is the minimum number of Watts I need. No need for an online calculator! Yah, I originally said your UPS only needs to supply the wattage that your computer is actually "using". So I would need about 650Watts if consider "using". BUT TO BE "COMPLETELY" SAFE, I need a UPS that can handle at least 875 Watts with NO WORRIES! I have been told not to buy a UPS that is just getting me by in terms of Watts. BE SAFE! BE SAFE! So, either way, I could buy a 650 W UPS or a 900W UPS. For a few bucks more, I think I will buy a 900W UPS and BE SAFE!

 

Lots of info there, but it sounds like you got it sorted.