UPS for a gaming PC - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Undweeber
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2021, 08:38:34 pm
content: There are currently brown-outs in NYC, few days ago while playing GTA my computer crashed and restarted, one of my wifi outlets burned out too (second time it happened), the wifi outlet was powering an air conditioner.I need help picking a UPS, r/buildapc is useless nobody is responding. My computer system is 400W being powered by a 550W PSU, here is the link to my system build.https://pcpartpicker.com/list/vh3JrrI am looking at several 1500VA 900W Line interactive UPS’es ranging from $160-200, they all seem to have some type of “automatic voltage regulation.”What I’m unsure about is how concerned should I be with the purity of the sine wave and will these be able to withstand brownouts or voltage spikes.These are the units I’m looking at:•CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD PFC - $220•CyberPower CP1500AVRLCD - $160•APC UPS, 1500VA UPS - $160I know ideal UPS are online ones, but those are super costly. And these line interactive ones have easily swappable lead acid batteries.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2021, 08:44:03 pm
content: See if you can get a used rackmount UPS for free or really cheap and replace the batteries. The rest of the unit rarely fails and that's an easy way to get a top notch UPS for cheap.

author: Undweeber
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2021, 08:47:36 pm
content: I will check ebay thank you for the suggestion!, but isn't rackmounted hardware usually loud?

author: bdunham7
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2021, 09:02:25 pm
content: What is a 'wifi outlet' and how do you power an air conditioner from it??Any of those UPS models will likely work fine for brownouts and brief power outages, but if you are running the PSU too close to its maximum, it may not have sufficient hold-up time to keep the computer going for the 10-20 milliseconds that it takes the UPS to switch over. You can test this by running the computer at max GPU and CPU power and simply yanking the UPS cord out of the wall repeatedly and making sure the computer reliably continues to work. If not, the fix is a bigger PSU, not a faster UPS. Given that your 400 watts is probably an absolute maximum given your components, it probably will be OK.Sine wave would be preferable, but probably not absolutely necessary.

author: Undweeber
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2021, 10:01:56 pm
content: thank you many good points, yes one solution is bigger PSU, say i go for 1000W or 850W, I am running mild overclocks so I can definitely max out much above 400W, 400W is an optimistic number provided by pcpartspicker, I dont actually know how much i draw, I could be at the limit for all I know.wifi outlet is just that, a power outlet that can turn the power on and off, so I can remotely turn on my AC, and set schedules for when it runs.https://www.amazon.com/smart-plug/s?k=smart+plugI've done some eBay searching and there are powerful online UPS systems for really competitive prices, so I wouldnt have to worry at all, but they are probably with ran down batteries that I would have to replace.What you suggest - yanking the power cable under load is the first thing I would try, unfortunately however if that does not work I cannot return the UPS back to amazon, I noticed today that none of the UPS solutions are returnable, some are but will take 50% of the price as restocking fee. So it could be cheaper for me to keep my current PSU and get a used online UPS from ebay and tinker with that.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 05, 2021, 01:08:09 am
content: I suspect any line interactive UPS will work well enough for what you want, although I was not very pleased with the CyberPower unit that I once had which ate batteries. I had not heard that NYC was having such problems.Quote from: Undweeber on July 03, 2021, 08:47:36 pmSome sure are but not all. I have a Liebert GXT2-700RT120 which is surprisingly quiet enough, and my Powerware 9120 is a little louder but not too objectionable, but the reconditioned Liebert GXT2-3000RT120 that I just picked up is so loud that I would not want to be in the same room for long unless I was being paid, and maybe not even then.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 05, 2021, 01:25:29 am
content: IMHO line-interactive is useless in most cases, it is good for one very specific situation and that is prolonged conditions of significant over or under voltage, as in longer than a minute at a time. Line-interactive means it has an autotransformer with several taps, usually 1-2 each buck and boost taps that it can use to kick the voltage up or down by about 10-20V and the disadvantage is that this transformer is burning up 5-20 watts of power 24/7 whether your line voltage is low or not. Now if what you describe as a brown out really is lasting a sustained period then yes, line-interactive is probably what you want. In my own case I've only ever had momentary voltage sags in which case I just want the UPS to kick in and run off battery until normal voltage is restored.The vast majority of UPS's produce a "modified sine" wave which is actually a square wave with dead time which results in approximately the same RMS and peak votlage as a sine wave. Fortunately most computer gear doesn't care at all and this will work just fine. There are a few true-sine UPS's on the market but they are harder to find and considerably more expensive.If you are on a budget you might look at used units. Personally I have never paid much over the cost of shipping for a UPS and I've had several of them given to me for free. Almost always when they die the only thing wrong with them is worn out batteries and a new battery is cheaper than a new UPS.Regarding the wifi outlets, when the voltage drops an induction motor as used in an air conditioner will draw more current and this may exceed the capacity of the outlet. Most of them that I've looked at are really not good for loads much larger than a lamp, maybe a few hundred watts. If you want to run an air conditioner you should look for one that is specifically designed to handle an appliance like that, or build your own with an ESP8266 and a heavy duty relay.

author: Undweeber
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2021, 03:34:31 pm
content: Thanks for the info! Thats a good point AC drawing more power when voltage drops, but the outlet is generic chinesium, of course advertised as the type to be able to handle the AC load, and in general it does, but not during a brown-out. Good points on the UPS, I suppose I will go with just line interactive one, and ill try to find a true sine wave, maybe used one with a dead battery and replace it myself.

author: PKTKS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2021, 10:26:18 am
content: Quote from: james_s on July 05, 2021, 01:25:29 am**IF** the folk is using a "gamer" thing setup..Which seems so and likely a GPU hungry gizmo is sinking very fast spikes from an absolute oversized PSU above 500W...**IFFFF** that is the case these PSUs are almost 100% PFC oriented designed and they do not work very nice with quasi-sinus (squared-RMS) waves.Bottom line is that under high load the PFC booster is totally clue less with the square harmonics and chances are it will fail to do proper regulation *AND* proper protection tripping.IMHO under 500W (or up to 500W) a "normal" non PFC ATX type is absolute perfect with quasi-sinus UPs.Otherwise.. you need to spend a few more bukcs (these PFC ATX are rather epxensive) and really find a TRUE SINE INVERTER of proper ratings..Expensive thing.Being there several times.When possible I ditch these PFC types for that altogether reason.They triple the budget at leastNo do not trust that PFC will be nice with square waves..Paul

author: SL4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2021, 11:01:59 pm
content: I’m thinking the OP is gaming alone by himself in a shuttered room, otherwise, there’s a good chance his wired internet connection could go down at the street level.There may be a bigger problem here.