Question about battery back-up(UPS)

[InspectahACE]

Just wondering what would be good for me. I don't know much on these really. Last one I had, I think overloaded and the top of it melted a tad. (I assume from using it past it's rated wattage for a long time). I just want something that would let me power everything down without blowing the battery. Oddly I had power outages for two days in a row. News said a transformer exploded.(explains how a 5 mile radius was out of power and I'm on the edge of the affected area lol)

[Sporg]

APC is probably your "A" answer. With that said, I have a Belkin that I've been using for a few years without trouble. Also be sure to get one that has AVR (automatic voltage regulation) included as this will help with dips and spikes.

[Darkstar]

Cant go wrong with APC

I use the APC Smart UPS 1500 myself, and there are other posts covering who uses what and why.

[InspectahACE]

Alrighty. Next question is, how much of a wattage rating should I look for ? The most I've ever been able to push was 720 watts under load on my rig. Does that matter? (500 watt range for idling by the way)

I was thinking maybe this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6842101067 . It exceeds what I use and seems like I wouldn't blow it since I can't use more than the rated wattage at this time .

[Major_A]

I've only used one and that was in 1997. My stepdad bought it from Sears (APC don't know what model) and it lasted 5 years. One day the computer turned off and refused to turn back on. Unplugged it from the UPS and it worked. Since then I haven't used or seen one. It did it's job and it didn't go out in spectacular fashion either.

Crappy story and recommendation but I wouldn't mind having one but they are too rich for my blood. I just can't seem to talk myself into buying one, even when I have spare money.

Alrighty. Next question is, how much of a wattage rating should I look for ? The most I've ever been able to push was 720 watts under load on my rig. Does that matter? (500 watt range for idling by the way)

I was thinking maybe this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6842101067 . It exceeds what I use and seems like I wouldn't blow it since I can't use more than the rated wattage at this time .

It's my understanding most people buy these so when the power goes out you can take the time to shut the electronic down correctly. Unless you plan on benching 3D Mark Vantage when the lights go out I doubt you need 865W.

What I would want a UPS for is to help condition the crappy power we have in our neighborhood.

[KnightRid]

I use an APC 1300 on my system that is pulling around 250w with f@h running on the cpu and video card and it gives me somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes of time depending on how it feels on a certain day ;)

I think the 1500 would be nice, but if you are pulling that much wattage ALL the time, you should get something bigger if you can. Figure if you are playing a game and sucking up 720watts, you probably would not have enough time to save, exit the game, shut down the computer, before the ups would shut it off for you.

500 watts idle? really? wow. You must have some serious stuff in that beast since mine is a Q6700 with 8 hard drives, and 8800gt video running at only around 250w with full load like i said above.

Mike

my reading are taken from the front of the UPS itself so they should be pretty accurate. Also have the dsl modem, wireless router, and lcd hooked to the battery side.

[InspectahACE]

It's my understanding most people buy these so when the power goes out you can take the time to shut the electronic down correctly. Unless you plan on benching 3D Mark Vantage when the lights go out I doubt you need 865W.

Well, it would suck to be gaming and the power go out so it would be cool to have something that could handle it and give me time to shut it down.

I think the 1500 would be nice, but if you are pulling that much wattage ALL the time, you should get something bigger if you can. Figure if you are playing a game and sucking up 720watts, you probably would not have enough time to save, exit the game, shut down the computer, before the ups would shut it off for you.

720 was the max I was able to get it(with furmark anyway) but I didn't want to sheist it in case something managed to push it that high or higher.

500 watts idle? really? wow. You must have some serious stuff in that beast since mine is a Q6700 with 8 hard drives, and 8800gt video running at only around 250w with full load like i said above.

yea surprised the hell out of me too. Having two GTX 480's will do that it seems