What UPS to Buy?

[xl3b4n0nx]

Hello,

 

I am looking to buy a UPS for my NAS/Plex server. I have shopped around a bit and I have come across APC and CyberPower for potential brands. I am planning on having the server and monitor plugged in to it.

 

PC Specs:

AMD FX 6300 @ 3.5 GHz (Possible overclock at somepoint)

Stock AMD FX 8350 Cooler

ASROCK 970 a-g/3.1

700W LSP Ultra PSU (I know it's old, but I had it laying around)

Nvidia Gt 210 (Possible GPU upgrade to GTX card)

PCIE SATA expansion card

4 x 7.2k RPM HDDs (Will be getting more drives)

1 x 5.4k RPM HDDs

3 x External USB 3.0 HDDs

2 x 120mm Fans

 

1 x Dell 1400 x 900 monitor

 

I have ordered a Kill-a-watt and will be checking the power draw soon, but I am looking for recommendations on brand and model. The only feature I am sure of is that I want standard US wall plugs (+/-/gnd). Other than that I am not sure what features to look for. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[AvocadosGuac]

Uh get a better cooler.

 

I like APC UPS's tbh. 

[OsuMasterz]

3 minutes ago, xl3b4n0nx said:

Hello,

 

I am looking to buy a UPS for my NAS/Plex server. I have shopped around a bit and I have come across APC and CyberPower for potential brands. I am planning on having the server and monitor plugged in to it.

 

PC Specs:

AMD FX 6300 @ 3.5 GHz (Possible overclock at somepoint)

Stock AMD FX 8350 Cooler

ASROCK 970 a-g/3.1

700W LSP Ultra PSU (I know it's old, but I had it laying around)

Nvidia Gt 210 (Possible GPU upgrade to GTX card)

PCIE SATA expansion card

4 x 7.2k RPM HDDs (Will be getting more drives)

1 x 5.4k RPM HDDs

3 x External USB 3.0 HDDs

2 x 120mm Fans

 

1 x Dell 1400 x 900 monitor

 

I have ordered a Kill-a-watt and will be checking the power draw soon, but I am looking for recommendations on brand and model. The only feature I am sure of is that I want standard US wall plugs (+/-/gnd). Other than that I am not sure what features to look for. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Well how long do you want the UPS to stay on before depleting the battery?

[xl3b4n0nx]

I don't need a better cooler. The cpu temps are fine and it isn't under load very often.

 

Thanks for your input.

[AvocadosGuac]

2 minutes ago, xl3b4n0nx said:

I don't need a better cooler. The cpu temps are fine and it isn't under load very often.

 

Thanks for your input.

The only reason i say get a better cooler is for noise.

 

How large is your plex library?

[xl3b4n0nx]

1 minute ago, OsuMasterz said:

Well how long do you want the UPS to stay on before depleting the battery?

Only about 5 to 10 minutes. Just long enough for safe shutdown. Do all UPSs tell your PC to shutdown when it is low on battery?

[OsuMasterz]

Just now, xl3b4n0nx said:

Only about 5 to 10 minutes. Just long enough for safe shutdown. Do all UPSs tell your PC to shutdown when it is low on battery?

Depends on the model, my Cyberpower 1500VA UPS comes with a USB cable that connects to my PC and acts as like a battery on a laptop, but I'm not sure how it'll act when it gets too low. Do you want me to test automatic shutdown my battery?

[xl3b4n0nx]

1 minute ago, Jrock said:

The only reason i say get a better cooler is for noise.

 

How large is your plex library?

I am not too concerned about noise. It is in a corner of the house where it can't be heard. At the moment it is only about 1.5 - 1.75 TB. It will be getting larger. 

[xl3b4n0nx]

That would be great if you don't mind doing that. What do you have hooked up to yours? 1500VA seems like a lot for my setup.

[scottyseng]

1 hour ago, xl3b4n0nx said:

-snip-

I'd say your setup probably runs 100-200W, no more than that. I really doubt it'd be under load since it's just a NAS.

 

Depending on the desired runtime, maybe aim for 700VA? Also, I'd check out Eaton as well. Cyberpower I think has the best bang for the buck though. Also, try to aim for a UPS with pure sine output if possible, but definitely get stepped sine at the minimum. Usually the good mid range UPS units will be line interactive as well.

 

Oh right, depending on how many drives you have, you will need to slightly oversize the UPS to account for the initial surge of power required to power all of the drives when you turn the system on. My own server surges 400W then idles to 200W ish. This is 16 drives though.

 

My super overkill Eaton 9130 2000 VA / 1800W UPS unit can run both my desktop and PC at the same time at normal load 400-500W for 34min...45ish min if it's just my server (220W at idle). I have yet to max out the UPS, even with GPU and CPU rendering, the most I could get on both my PC and server was 1000W. My PC is on my profile and my server can be seen here:

 

[leadeater]

19 hours ago, Nertsy said:

Be careful when getting the enterprise UPSes. I got bit by my UPS having a 20 Amp plug. It's not worth an electrician's bill to run a whole new circuit just for a few servers.

3KVa UPS's can use existing cable, you just need to change out the wall socket to a 15A plug with the enlarged earth pin. You need to check how many other sockets are on the same circuit to make sure you stay compliant with electrical regulations but anything 3KVa and below doesn't require anything special, oil heaters use that amount without the larger plug.

 

Talking 230V here btw not USA 110V, no idea about that.

[scottyseng]

4 hours ago, leadeater said:

Talking 230V here btw not USA 110V, no idea about that.

Sadly in the US with our weak 120V, most homes are only 15A circuits, and 15A is fairly easy to get close to with enough high power PC equipment. I got lucky with my UPS unit (2000VA / 120v = 16.6A), 16.6 A at full load, but I have a older home with 20A breakers so I just did a socket swap.

 

Usually though, you can't do a socket change since the wire gauge and breaker wouldn't handle it (At least if you wanted to draw the full power of the UPS safely). There's nothing to stop you from changing the socket though, but if you cross 15A, it will trip the breaker.

 

Commercial sockets are a different story. Those are required to be 20A minimum so they use 20A sockets by default in modern electrical code here.

 

I think 1500VA is as large as you get without the 20A prong here.

[leadeater]

1 hour ago, scottyseng said:

Sadly in the US with our weak 120V, most homes are only 15A circuits, and 15A is fairly easy to get close to with enough high power PC equipment. I got lucky with my UPS unit (2000VA / 120v = 16.6A), 16.6 A at full load, but I have a older home with 20A breakers so I just did a socket swap.

 

Usually though, you can't do a socket change since the wire gauge and breaker wouldn't handle it (At least if you wanted to draw the full power of the UPS safely). There's nothing to stop you from changing the socket though, but if you cross 15A, it will trip the breaker.

 

Commercial sockets are a different story. Those are required to be 20A minimum so they use 20A sockets by default in modern electrical code here.

 

I think 1500VA is as large as you get without the 20A prong here.

110V/120V just plain sucks but you're stuck with it, imagine the chaos of trying to change to 230V as standard.

 

All standard power cabling here is TPS 2.5mm rated at 24A so that's why we don't have to change it, I get 4mm TPS installed anyway but I just like being safe.

http://www.level.org.nz/energy/electrical-design/wiring/wiring-materials/

[scottyseng]

6 minutes ago, leadeater said:

110V/120V just plain sucks but you're stuck with it, imagine the chaos of trying to change to 230V as standard.

 

All standard power cabling here is TPS 2.5mm rated at 24A so that's why we don't have to change it, I get 4mm TPS installed anyway but I just like being safe.

http://www.level.org.nz/energy/electrical-design/wiring/wiring-materials/

Yeah, it's pretty much impossible to convert to 230V as standard (Our idea of 220V is 120V in opposing phases). So many devices would have to be adapted / people would worry that if they stick fingers into the outlets that 230v will kill them faster or something as well...Also I'd imagine the ghetto rigging and wiring we've run across in some of the sites we've worked on wouldn't fly with 230V.

 

Oh wow, I didn't know you used mm for wire gauge internationally. We use AWG here. I also see amps there are actually even numbers...they go by 5s only here...so 15A = 14AWG = 2.08mm^2. 20A = 12AWG = 3.31mm^2. You seem to have better wire thickness as well.

 

[leadeater]

3 minutes ago, scottyseng said:

You seem to have better wire thickness as well.

We need the thicker insulation due to the 230V

[xl3b4n0nx]

I ended up ordering an APC 1300VA UPS. That shouldn't be a problem on a 15A breaker right? I won't be drawing full load on it. 

 

It was a deal for the price and I am going to add my modem and router to it.

[scottyseng]

4 minutes ago, xl3b4n0nx said:

I ended up ordering an APC 1300VA UPS. That shouldn't be a problem on a 15A breaker right? I won't be drawing full load on it. 

 

It was a deal for the price and I am going to add my modem and router to it.

Kind of overkill for your build, but at least not as overkill as mine. It'll be fine. 1300 VA / 120V = 10.83 A.

 

Ah, if you run out of plugs on the back of the unit, make sure you use a power bar and not a surge protector to get more outlets. You don't want to plug a surge protector into a UPS unit. It's okay to plug a UPS into a surge protector though.