UPS Recommendations

Polygon

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My power drops every now and then for no real reason, at least not any that the power company can give me. Granted, it only drops for a couple of seconds but my main machine is a server and this can be a real pain in the ass if I'm gone. So, all this UPS needs to do is keep it on for a few seconds until the power kicks back on and maybe five minutes so if it's going to be longer I can get to it and shut it down.

Now, I've been looking at APC but they are rather expensive. However, CyberPower caught my eye and I was wondering if anyone has had experience with them? Also, feel free to post up some suggestions. I do NOT want the power strip style UPSs. Here are the system specs:

Corsair 620HX
MSI P55-GD80
Intel Core i7 860 ~ Zalman CNPS9900
Mushkin Blackline 4GB PC3 10666 8-8-8-24
VisionTek Radeon HD 4850 512MB ~ Zalman VF1000
Creative Labs X-Fi Platinum ~ Klipsch Pro Media 2.1
Seagate 320GB, 400GB, 750GB, 1.5TBx2 2TBx2 SATA, 250GB USB
Plextor PX-B320SA BD-Rom/DVD-RW SATA
Samsung SyncMaster 225BW 22" & 941BW 19" LCDs
 
I have fev questions:
1. how much is your server using power.
2. what is your budget then is APC's are expensive?
3. do you want 1 or 2 ups to your pc's (if i understanded that you have a server and gaming pc)?

I have 2 APC ups's in my home that are nice.
- 1st APC back-ups (XX) 350, for mom's pc and she can use the whole machine for 15min, (Her pc uses 60w when full load as it is very old p4 2ghz)
- 2nd for the "home server" i have another APC smart ups CS620 (400w) (i bought it used 20 euros! previous owner didn't use it) [the server can survive 50 mins with 150w usage (server, adsl-modem, router)].

You can buy the ups used and change the battery for never from the maker (or use deep cycle battery from a car and use it to power your server for a day or so :D )
 
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I have a CyberPower 1285AVR (750 Watt) on my desktop for the same random power dropouts you described. My desktop runs off a 600W power supply, and when the power does go out I can get about 20-25 minutes of full use, this includes the computer, monitor, modem, and lamp running off the battery. I got the UPS on sale for ~$100 about a year and half ago, it's worked flawlessly since then. The driver/program for the computer is optional, it will run just fine without it- the only drawback is you don't get live stats on your computer screen and the ability to run tests (you still get them on the screen that's on the UPS however).

I highly recommend the CyberPower units.
 
I have fev questions:
1. how much is your server using power.
2. what is your budget then is APC's are expensive?
3. do you want 1 or 2 ups to your pc's (if i understanded that you have a server and gaming pc)?

I have 2 APC ups's in my home that are nice.
- 1st APC back-ups (XX) 350, for mom's pc and she can use the whole machine for 15min, (Her pc uses 60w when full load as it is very old p4 2ghz)
- 2nd for the "home server" i have another APC smart ups CS620 (400w) (i bought it used 20 euros! previous owner didn't use it) [the server can survive 50 mins with 150w usage (server, adsl-modem, router)].

You can buy the ups used and change the battery for never from the maker (or use deep cycle battery from a car and use it to power your server for a day or so :D )

I don't really have a budget. I'll spend what it takes, the APC units are just a lot more money than everyone else. I've never looked to see what my main system draws at idle but it's the only system I will be hooking up to it. It's an all purpose machine. I do everything with it. the two monitors are only on when I'm using it.

I have a CyberPower 1285AVR (750 Watt) on my desktop for the same random power dropouts you described. My desktop runs off a 600W power supply, and when the power does go out I can get about 20-25 minutes of full use, this includes the computer, monitor, modem, and lamp running off the battery. I got the UPS on sale for ~$100 about a year and half ago, it's worked flawlessly since then. The driver/program for the computer is optional, it will run just fine without it- the only drawback is you don't get live stats on your computer screen and the ability to run tests (you still get them on the screen that's on the UPS however).

I highly recommend the CyberPower units.

Yeah, I like the idea of the LCD screens, simply because I don't have to install their software. I'm looking at this one: Cyberpower CP1500AVRLCD. It's got a bit more than I need, but I'd rather have more than less.
 
Yeah, I like the idea of the LCD screens, simply because I don't have to install their software. I'm looking at this one: Cyberpower CP1500AVRLCD. It's got a bit more than I need, but I'd rather have more than less.

That one looks good, slightly more capacity than mine but it looks the same. As I said, I have no negatives about it.

You can probably get it much cheaper, too...
 
I don't really have a budget. I'll spend what it takes, the APC units are just a lot more money than everyone else. I've never looked to see what my main system draws at idle but it's the only system I will be hooking up to it. It's an all purpose machine. I do everything with it. the two monitors are only on when I'm using it.

Yeah, I like the idea of the LCD screens, simply because I don't have to install their software. I'm looking at this one: Cyberpower CP1500AVRLCD. It's got a bit more than I need, but I'd rather have more than less.

Well i just bought them, and installed the software, so it can safely shutdown the pc's after "longest time" option.
And you always should go with maxium power available so you can use your pc the longest.

That one looks good, slightly more capacity than mine but it looks the same. As I said, I have no negatives about it.

You can probably get it much cheaper, too...
Yeah that look nice, and even Nabster got it cheaper :p But still very nice.
 
We use Eaton Powerware 9120s at my work- we run our computers and the gas chromatograph off rig power (I work on natural gas drilling rigs) so we use that as a backup for when the rig power goes down (which it does from time to time)- so far we've never had one let us down.
 
Same problem thinking of getting one the cheaper APC's since it would never have to run for over 3 seconds.
 
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