Do You Use a UPS for Your PC?

archieduh on 17/09/2021 - 13:37
Last edited 17/09/2021 - 13:52

Building a Gaming PC with 750W PSU and helping someone build a workstation with 850W PSU.
So wondering if we should get a UPS each?

Also, read that most UPS above 400W have noisy fans.
Do they run/make noise when running off direct power also or only when it is actually running off batteries (when there is a power cut or severe distortion in supply)?
And does the answer differ for Pure sine always online vs simulated sine ones?

Lastly, if the answer to above is yes they make noise randomly throughout the day. Considering an 850W PSU will for most workloads be running at say 400W. Is it ok to get a 400W UPS? What happens if it tries to draw more?

Just looking for thoughts and recommendations.

Poll Options

  • 22
    Yes
  • 50
    No
Computing Uninterruptible Power Supply

Comments

  • oscargamer on 17/09/2021 - 13:46
    +5

    I think I'm right in saying that a cheap home-based UPS is primarily used to safely power the PC for a short time, allowing you to safely save your work and shut it down…happy to be corrected.

    • archieduh on 17/09/2021 - 13:48

      Yes that's my understanding too.
      I get what you are pointing is - the question of fan noise only arises when it is not on Power.
      I will elaboarate my quesion by editing the post.

  • Hithere on 17/09/2021 - 13:49
    +3

    read that most UPS above 400W have noisy fans

    Rubbish, I have a 720 watts Cyberpower UPS and I can't hear it running.

    A UPS is good especially if your area is prone to power outages, it's saved me from losing important work on more than one occasion.

    • archieduh on 17/09/2021 - 13:53

      Thank you.
      Are you using 720W for powering one PC? What is the power consumption of your machine/PSU and how many minutes do you get?

  • Hithere on 17/09/2021 - 13:58
    +1

    1 PC, 1 Router, and 1 printer are plugged into the UPS.

    According to the UPS readout it's good for 75 minutes - I've never needed it running for more than 10 minutes so 75 minutes may be a little enthusiastic.

    I have the UPS set to shut everything down when UPS has only 5 minutes of protection is left.

    Computer PSU is, I think, 500 watts

  • lanky074 on 17/09/2021 - 14:02
    +1

    Actually I my UPS for running 2 x NAS and routers.

  • Hithere on 17/09/2021 - 14:09
    +1

    How to size a UPS
    List all equipment to be protected by the UPS. …
    List the amps and volts for each device. …
    Multiply the VA by the number of pieces of equipment to get the VA subtotals.
    Add the VA subtotals together.
    Multiply the total by 1.2 to get the grand total. …
    Use the grand total to select a UPS.

    https://powerquality.eaton.com/thoughtleadership/choosing-up…

  • redfox1200 on 17/09/2021 - 14:25
    +5

    i got the Tesla powerwall as my UPS

    • Nugs on 17/09/2021 - 14:38

      same here, but if the circuit trips it won't help
      .

    • Chandler on 17/09/2021 - 20:36
      +3

      I got the laptop's battery as my UPS

  • CrispyChrispy on 17/09/2021 - 14:41
    +1

    Yep, got my PC using a UPS. I never hear it going though.

    • archieduh on 17/09/2021 - 14:42

      Brand Wattage? Any recommendations…

  • nomoneynoproblems on 17/09/2021 - 14:56
    +1

    Never used a ups. I don’t run a server or run backups or anything. My gaming machine doesn’t need it 🤷

  • pjetson on 17/09/2021 - 15:34
    +2

    The capacity of most UPS units is not usually listed in watts (W), it's listed in volt/amps (VA). A common rule of thumb is to multiply the VA rating by 0.6 to get the rating in watts.

    So, your "400W UPS" may really be a 400VA UPS, and is therefore only about 240W

  • AgentXKnight on 17/09/2021 - 15:51

    If you are planning on running a UPS for gaming computer you generally need to have it be active PFC compatible which generally means using a pure sine wave UPS due to most PSU in the 80+ bronze or greater category having active PFC. If your UPS is not active PFC compatible it means generally when you are actually running a large power load on your PSU from gaming or running a lot of power on the UPS the computer will automatically shut itself down even when you are under the maximum wattage/va of the UPS due to when under certain percentage loads on PSU using PFC which does not generally like simulated sine wave UPS.

    For noise generally UPS do not produce much noise unless you got coil wine on the UPS where they generally only produce noise when they are active where the fan turns on ie when they regulating low or high voltages, running on battery when power is out or if they are online UPS the fan is generally I believe always on due to the UPS actively regulating the voltages to a set number ie to be close to exactly 230 voltages as opposed to standard grid power that fluctuates a few percentage higher or lower than 230.

    • archieduh on 17/09/2021 - 16:14

      Thanks so much for the explanation related to PSU requirements.
      Wondering days gone by UPS was a must as sudden outage was a risk to a HDD with moving parts. With SSDs and M.2, is this still a concern?
      Apart from losing unsaved data or losing a game :) any other reasons a UPS will help?

      • AgentXKnight on 17/09/2021 - 16:47
        +1

        Other things UPS can help is protection from power surges where a good UPS will sacrifice itself to protect equipment connected to it ie lightning strike though I am not if it will protect from direct lightning strikes. Also some people have very bad grid power so use a UPS to reduce the damage from under and over vottages in their AC power mains which can impact equipment that is sensitive to power fluctuations and reduce the damages these vottages can do to electrical equipment.

  • Switchblade88 on 17/09/2021 - 16:10
    +1

    I've got an Eaton 1500VA model.

    The fan ONLY runs when it's charging or under load i.e. needing to cool down the electronics & transformer. Other than that it's silent. I've also had an APC one that functioned in the exact same manner.

    If you're gaming whilst the power goes out, it is possible that you'll be drawing too much for the UPS to handle and it'll shutdown with an overload cutout too early - I've had this happen when my PC was GPU mining on my old UPS, so had to upgrade to a bigger model.

    EDIT: This deal will be useful!

    • archieduh on 17/09/2021 - 16:14

      Thank you. What sort of W were you drawing when mining? 800W?

      • Switchblade88 on 17/09/2021 - 19:36
        +1

        Using a clamp meter, my power draws were:

        70-100w idle load
        250w when mining (3070)
        420w full load (i.e. GPU + CPU load plus monitor, lamp etc on my desk)

        Eaton software reported higher values by about 20%, but that's a reasonable buffer when you consider the UPS needs to be well under the rated load to provide any useful backup.

        For the price point, I wouldn't go any less than 1500VA simply because the 12v SLAs in these UPSs can't provide much higher current without risking shutdowns. I'd have to go ex-server UPS if I wanted any longevity, but then you're talking thousands for a rack-mount device + bays of batteries, which doesn't pass the 'wife-approval factor'

        • archieduh on 17/09/2021 - 20:48

          Haha. Thanks for sharing. I just want a minute of backup for a powerful workstation to safely shut down that's it.

          • Switchblade88 on 17/09/2021 - 20:54
            +1

            @archieduh: Definitely go extra with the ratings:

            1) the ratings are not trustworthy
            2) the batteries will die eventually

            You’ll hopefully not need the UPS for a while, but by the time you do you’ll likely have lost half the capacity from new. Test it every few months to make sure it’ll do it’s job when you really need it!

  • payless69 on 24/09/2021 - 12:54

    Since I have become vocal about dodgy power provider privatisation the outages have delcined to the point that a UPS has no place anymore. Updating a million dollar item is perhaps wise to have a do not brick strategy.

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