buying a UPS for my new PC

[don]

i am buying a new PC that is coming with a 600 watt power supply and I have
an existing APC BACKUP that has 750VA and 450 Watts....... is this good
enough for my new PC?

 

On May 27, 8:34 pm, "don" <d...@panix.com> wrote:

i am buying a new PC that is coming with a 600 watt power supply and I have
an existing APC BACKUP that has  750VA  and 450 Watts....... is this good
enough for my new PC?

Your PC is likely not running 600 Watts - more likely 100-200. That
UPS will run it long enough to do an orderly shutdown or do you want
to keep running for a while?

G˛

 

[Tom Biasi]

On 5/27/2012 11:34 PM, don wrote:

i am buying a new PC that is coming with a 600 watt power supply and I have
an existing APC BACKUP that has 750VA and 450 Watts....... is this good
enough for my new PC?


Your PC will not be using 600 watts all the time if ever and your ups

can supply a little more for a short time.
"Good enough" is entirely in your opinion. Your new PC may have a
setting to automatically shut down logically on power failure.
I "guess" you will have time for that.

Tom

 

[Ecnerwal]

In article <jpurps$109$1@reader1.panix.com>, "don" <don@panix.com>
wrote:

i am buying a new PC that is coming with a 600 watt power supply and I have
an existing APC BACKUP that has 750VA and 450 Watts....... is this good
enough for my new PC?

If it actually is still working at all, likely yes, if all you want is
short power blips and shutdown fairly soon on power outage - and if the
new computer can talk to the old UPS - if the UPS only has a serial port
and the new computer only has USB, that can be an issue if you are not
sitting in front of the computer when the power goes out. Power supply
wattage is one of those numbers that marketeers crank up on the
too-valid assumption that fools and their money will trend towards a
bigger number. Your computer may never draw that much power even when it
melts down. I happily tool along at 25% rated PS wattage or less most of
the time, peaking at about half when off the rails in an infinite loop
and winding up the fans. Spending $20-30 on a Kill A Watt can be quite
informative, even if it's not the finest meter on the planet.

The bigger problem with an old UPS is that UPS batteries go bad (UPSes
seem to have the lousiest battery maintaining circuits on the planet,
with the possible exception of emergency lights.) As a class, they chew
up and spit out sealed lead acid batteries like clockwork, so you might
want to see what your old one does and consider replacing the battery if
you find that it does not actually do what it claims to do (or for as
long as it should) when the input power is shut off. New batteries are
usually cheaper than a new UPS if the UPS is still working and does what
you need it to. Sleaze-bay with careful shopping is generally (but not
always) the cheapest source. You may be able to get a physically-same
size but slightly higher amp-hour battery, also.

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