Advice about buying uninterruptible power supply (UPS) / battery backup?

I have just bought a new custom-built computer and Dell monitor as well as installing a new Brother printer.

I liked the looks of a CyperPower model I found at Office Depot. 625 VA, 375 watts, three-year warranty, with its own power monitoring software.

 

If using an ultra high efficiency PSU, you may need a UPS that has pure sine wave output.

Quote from CyberPower's literature:

CyberPower's Active PFC Adaptive Sinewave UPS with pure sine wave output solves the critical compatibility issues of non-Sine wave UPS products working with computing systems using Active PFC power supplies (ENERGY STAR 5.0). With PC manufacturers adopting high-efficiency Active PFC power supplies-your equipment may be at risk. CyberPower's innovative Adaptive Sinewave UPS is an affordable solution that ensures equipment utilizing Active PFC power supplies do not unexpectedly shutdown or experience harmful stress when switching from AC power to UPS battery power.

Not all CyberPower (or any other brand) units have this feature. You'll need to check the product details to see which models have pure sine wave output.

Here's a link to a slightly smaller version of the one I have:

http://www.directron.com/cp850pfclcd.html

Hope this helps.

 

I have a Seasonic 620 Watt "Ultra High Performance" PSU.

The CyberPower I looked at has Simulated Sine Wave.

 

For a good while I will be running two computers as I transition.

Current system :
Windows XP
Home Edition
Version 2002
32-bit
Service Pack 3
Dell DIMENSION DIM2400
Intel(R)
Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.66GHz
x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 9
2.05 GB of RAM
Graphics Card: Intel(R) 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV
Graphics Controller, 64 Mb
Hard Drive Size 114.4GB
Free Space was 35.8GB; now under 20GB because after backing up My Documents on Google Drive, Google Drive has duplicated the whole darn thing on my hard drive
Motherboard: Dell Computer Corp., 0G1548
Antivirus : Webroot Internet Security


My new custom-built computer :
Intel Core i7 Processor i7-3770K 3.5GHz 8MB QUAD CORE
INTEL COPPER HEAVY DUTY LGA 1155 COOLING FAN
OCZ/ARCTIC Ultra 5+ Silver Thermal Compound
PROFESSIONAL WIRING
Asus P8B75-V LGA1155/ Intel B75/ SATA3&USB3.0 ATX Motherboard
16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600MHz (PC3 12800) Dual Channel
(2X) MEMORY HEAT SPREADERS
(2X) 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB CACHE SATA 6.0Gb/s
24X DUAL LAYER DVD-RW
INTEL HD 3000 1GB HDMI/DVI/VGA 1080p PCI-EXPRESS VIDEO (ONBOARD)
REALTEK 8-CHANNEL DIGITAL SOUND ONBOARD
REALTEK 10/100/1000 Gigabit Network Card (onboard)
HEC Blitz Black Steel Edition ATX Mid Tower Case
DELUXE COOLING PACKAGE
SEASONIC 620 WATT ULTRA HIGH PERFORMANCE POWER SUPPLY
Logitech Wired USB Keyboard
Logitech Wired USB Black 3 Buttons Optical Mouse
i-Micro 2.0 Channel Multimedia Speakers

 

First, kudos to you for wanting to put your system on a UPS. My personal opinion is all computers should be on a "good" UPS with AVR (noting surge and spike protectors are little more than fancy and expensive extension cords).

That said, like most things, sadly, bigger models tend to have the better features and often use higher quality parts too.

That 625 VA, 375 watts UPS technically is large enough to support your computer under "most" circumstances since it would be very rare for a computer to max out that 620W PSU. And most "quality" power supplies are able to run with no problems with "simulated" or "approximated" sine wave output, though "pure" sine wave is better (and fortunately coming WAY down in price). But 375W would not leave you much head room for heavy demand periods or future hardware upgrades (like a new graphics card and more RAM, for example).

So if me, I would look at the 850VA or larger version suggested by gman for several reasons (including the better output waveform specs). With 850VA/510W, you will have plenty of power to also protect your monitor (or 2 LCD monitors) and all your network gear too. Protecting your network equipment can be particularly important for family safety if you get your phone service over the Internet.

The "best" UPS have "0" cut-over times - they basically run off batteries full time but those can easily cost $300 or more. Bigger "good" UPS tend to have extremely fast cutover times. The ATX Form Factor Standard requires PSUs to "hold" voltages for just 19ms (milliseconds) during abnormal power events. That is faster than the eye can see and a "good" UPS can react easily within that time frame. Lessor, entry-level UPS may not react fast enough, especially with a cheap PSU.

Also, note that 850 has a nice LCD status display panel. These are very nice to display the actual load your electronics is actually placing on your wall outlet, and the batteries when in battery mode. A display panel will provide status without having to run your computer to see the monitoring program.

In any case, I would not run both computers off a 375W UPS.

Oh, whether you get Cyberpower, APC, Tripp Lite, or a budget model, batteries tend to last about 3 years and need to be replaced. This is typically an easy user task. You do NOT have to buy replacement batteries from the UPS maker, though they will want you to because they have a very high profit margin on replacement batteries. You can get the exact same batteries from several on-line battery distributors. I use several as they rotate sales (and/or free shipping) so careful research when shopping pays off.

 

Thanks, very helpful. I'm glad that you think an appropriate one for my situation can be had at not much more than $100.

I've been on CyberPower's website, and I got a pretty good impression of them. I'm definitely thinking to buy one of theirs.

What's AVR?

In the store looking at their boxes, the most emphasized attribute was estimated time they keep things going after power goes out. But I don't see that feature at all in most of the online ads. It seems significant to me. I saw lower-end UPSs with only 15 minutes promised while the better ones were over 60 minutes.

 

Sorry, AVR = automatic voltage regulation. IMO, it is the "bread and butter" of a "good" UPS with AVR.

Understand that basically all electronics are capable of handling "normal anomalies" coming through our wall outlets - which occur all the time. But occasionally there are "abnormal" or extremely high and low voltage events coming off the "grid" (perhaps from lightning strikes down the block) or are introduced by other high wattage devices in our houses and offices. These include AC units, refrigerators, toasters, $15 1500W hair dryers, etc.

A surge and spike protector works by "clamping" (chopping off the tops) of the sine waves of incoming abnormal "high-voltage events" (surges and spikes), shunting the excess voltage to ground through energy absorbing MOVs. The resulting waveform is downright ugly, leaving a mess for the PSU and other connected devices to [hopefully] "clean up".

If the surge or spike is excessive the surge and spike protector will [hopefully] simply kill power to prevent damage to your equipment. But suddenly killing power can, and often does, corrupt the data on hard drives - not good - especially if your data is more valuable than the hardware, as is often the case.

During abnormal "low-voltage events" (sags - opposite of surges, and dips - opposite of spikes, and brownouts - long duration sags), a surge and spike protector does absolutely nothing, leaving any regulation to be done by the power supplies and regulation circuits of your connected equipment - IF they are capable of providing such compensation for abnormal events.

The most basic UPS does nothing for surges and spikes. It simply monitors the incoming power and when it detects a drop in power that drops below some set threshold, it switches (cuts-over) to battery backup - hopefully in time to prevent a shut down of connected devices.

A "good" UPS with AVR is constantly monitoring your power. When it detects abnormal high-voltage or low-voltage events, it will attempt to compensate (regulate the power) using the AVR circuits. If the abnormal event is too high or too low for the AVR to compensate, the "good" UPS will cut-over to batteries.

The reality is, with a "good" UPS with AVR, again it is the AVR that is the bread and butter. Power during a complete power outage is just the icing on the cake.

"If" it is essential your computer keeps running for as long as possible during total power outages, then battery run time is important.

But for most users, all you really need is enough time to finish your sentence, save the document you are creating or editing, exit your applications, then "gracefully" shut down Windows and power off your computer before it hard crashes. What's that take? 5 minutes?

BTW, most UPS come with software and interface cable that will allow Windows to monitor power and initiate an automatic save, exit and shutdown when you are away from your computer during a power outage.

 

My new monitor :
Dell Computer Corp E2414H 24" LED LCD Monitor
AC input voltage/frequency/current 100 to 240 VAC/50 or 60 Hz + 3 Hz/1.5 A (Max.)
Inrush current 120 V:30 A (Max.)
240 V:60 A (Max.)

Printer :
Brother MFC-7340
Power Source AC 120V 50/60Hz
Power Consumption - Sleep/Ready/Copying
10W / 75W / 460W

 

As seen here, that monitor is very efficient and draws only 20W during operation.

Laser printers are NEVER recommended to be put on a UPS. They pull WAY too much power when first starting up during printing and as noted here and your own specs that 7340 can be expected to draw a whopping 460W when copying (and scanning).

Plus, printers are not normally considered "essential" so even much less demanding Ink Jets are not normally put on battery backup. Fortunately, most UPS come with several outlets that are surge and spike protected only and they will do for ink jets - but again, not lasers.

 

Yea, I have a book that told me no laser printer on your UPS, though I forgot that temporarily. I'll keep on using my ordinary surge protector for it.

The specs for my old Dell all-in-one desktop :
Wattage 200w or 250 W
Voltage 100 to 120 V at 60 Hz; 200 to 240 V at 50 Hz

 

http://www.amazon.com/APC-BR1500G-BACK-UPS-10-Outlet-1500VA/dp/B003Y24DEU

this is what I use. I don't recall if its the 1000 or 1500. Pretty sure its the 1500.

I get over an hour runtime with my computer and two 27 inch monitors running.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41zNdp228oL.jpg

 

Will simulated sine wave be good enough for my system, or will I need pure sine wave?

https://www.dougv.com/2010/03/01/active-pfc-enabled-psus-are-not-compatable-with-most-low-end-ups/

 

Give me the exact model number of your power supply, and I will see.

For most home use cases, stepped sine is fine.

I know I had a Corsair bronze rated 650W PSU on one without issue.

 

For reference, I have used this with a stepped sine wave UPS with zero issues.

http://www.corsair.com/us/power-sup...d-650-watt-high-performance-power-supply.html

Just make sure you get a line interactive one.

My current machine is a a mac, so it doesnt really apply.

 

This is based on my custom-built make before the manager walked me through a few changes at purchase time. The Seasonic is the exact same as what I'm getting.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?
ViewItem&item=291031289221&ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:US:3160

 

I am looking. Although, if you don't want to chance it, grab the one gman was talking about. It is comparable to what I use but is not a stepped sine wave.

 

Unless I am blind, I cannot find it from Seasonic.

Ultra high performance could just be buzz words.

 

As is so often the case, that link was defective. Try again :

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=291031289221&ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:US:3160

You'll see the Seasonic 620 Watts midway down the page.

 

I made the link work, I just couldn't find it on the Seasonic website.

 

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cases/display/seasonic-ss-psus_2.html

These were tested with a stepped sine UPS (a model inferior to my own).

 

Could you boil down the significance of that for a non-techie like me?

 

Huh? Don't recall? As noted in that image, the model number is printed on the bottom.

That said, I have the same one (1500) on my system to support my heafty i7, 16Gb, GTX 650Ti system, 2 22" monitors, and all my network gear, including my phone. No way I get 1 hour of run time with both monitors running, but I easily get 1/2 hour. But again, 5 minutes is more than enough to "gracefully" save your data, close open programs, shutdown Windows and power off the computer preventing a system crash and corrupt data - which is the main reason for having battery back up power.

I have never had an issue with any "good" power supply running off a "good" UPS with AVR. Seasonic is known for quality supplies and that particular Seasonic 620 is 80 PLUS Certified. It should have no problems on a "good" UPS designed for computer applications.

 

It worked fine with Seasonic.

 

I know how to find a model number. I happened to be at work at the time. Your comment was silly and unnecessary.


As it turns out it is a Back-ups XS1000. The one I linked charges quicker but they are essentially the same thing.

 

I'm going to try to tread lightly and add one more thought.

I have two APC 1500 units at work and a CyberPower pure sine wave at home. From the standpoint of quality, both seem like excellent products.

This being said, the APC and CyberPower units are similar in price. Given the choice on my newest one, I opted for the CyberPower since it had the "real thing" in terms of pure sine wave.

My thought is a UPS backup can last as long as 8-10 years if you change out the batteries every 2-3 years. Even though I don't absolutely need pure sine wave on my current tower PC, it is likely I'll upgrade or replace the PC before I replace the UPS. Given this, I decided buying the CyberPower was a more "future proof" investment in case my next PC requires pure sine wave technology.

 

I've only known APC so I am just speaking from what I've used. I have also had an APC straight jack up a motherboard in a computer years ago. I had to replace the motherboard 3 times before I found the cause.

That said, choose the best product, not the best brand. No need to tread lightly with a suggestion, friend. When I get another UPS, I will probably give Cyberpower a serious look.