ups Good Silent UPS for 24/7 devices?

[NCSGeek]

Hello. Not sure about posting to this category but it was the one I felt fit the most. Anyway, I'm looking for a silent UPS to protect my PC (and dual monitors), network switch, and raspberry pi. To me, the silence of it is very important. I'd like to not hear it even when only the raspberry pi and switch are running, which make no noise that I can notice. I'm not sure that there is such a thing as a totally silent UPS, but I'm hoping there is.

 

For specifications (other than silent), I dont need much battery time. Just enough to alt+F4 everything, ssh into the pi to shut it down, then shut down the PC itself. So like 20 minutes tops to be generous.

As for the VA/power output rating, my PC's PSU is 850W (Full PC part list here), upon googling I read that the Raspberry Pi 5 draws around 12W so I'll round up to 15W for a little padding. For the switch and two monitors though, I'm not sure unfortunately.

Then I just want something reputable and quality that can handle surges and such since that's the reason I'm buying a UPS at all.

 

I've done a fair amount of research but I'm still posting here to get opinions, feedback, and recommendations nethertheless. I wish I could give an exact VA rating I want but I'm not sure of it myself. Any help is very appreciated, thank you!

[BoomerL4D]

25 minutes ago, NCSGeek said:

Hello. Not sure about posting to this category but it was the one I felt fit the most. Anyway, I'm looking for a silent UPS to protect my PC (and dual monitors), network switch, and raspberry pi. To me, the silence of it is very important. I'd like to not hear it even when only the raspberry pi and switch are running, which make no noise that I can notice. I'm not sure that there is such a thing as a totally silent UPS, but I'm hoping there is.

 

For specifications (other than silent), I dont need much battery time. Just enough to alt+F4 everything, ssh into the pi to shut it down, then shut down the PC itself. So like 20 minutes tops to be generous.

As for the VA/power output rating, my PC's PSU is 850W (Full PC part list here), upon googling I read that the Raspberry Pi 5 draws around 12W so I'll round up to 15W for a little padding. For the switch and two monitors though, I'm not sure unfortunately.

Then I just want something reputable and quality that can handle surges and such since that's the reason I'm buying a UPS at all.

 

I've done a fair amount of research but I'm still posting here to get opinions, feedback, and recommendations nethertheless. I wish I could give an exact VA rating I want but I'm not sure of it myself. Any help is very appreciated, thank you!

CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD.

[leadeater]

12 minutes ago, NCSGeek said:

I'm not sure that there is such a thing as a totally silent UPS

I'm not sure either, there are quieter ones but I don't know of any that have zero rpm fan mode or no fan.

 

This is likely the most quiet but due to it's formfactor and design the maximum possible VA/Watts is limited

https://www.eaton.com/gb/en-gb/skuPage.3S850B.html

 

Then there other one that are or should be quiet (~25dB)

https://www.eaton.com/gb/en-gb/skuPage.5S1500I.html

https://www.eaton.com/gb/en-gb/skuPage.EL1600USBIEC.html

 

There are also a few other Eaton options but I'm pretty sure more expensive models, any UPS that is Online type won't be quieter than around 40dB so stick to Line Interactive (cheaper anyway). APC will also have similar options to the above I just know Eaton product range better.

[leadeater]

4 minutes ago, BoomerL4D said:

CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD.

Nice, some user reviews says the fan doesn't run on lighter loads when there is mains power so probably a really good option. Fan will run if on battery or high output wattage.

[NCSGeek]

43 minutes ago, BoomerL4D said:

CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD.

This one seems decent I suppose and I recognize the brand. I'm looking to see if there is any info on how loud it is. They advertise silence but that's just an ad.

38 minutes ago, leadeater said:

Nice, some user reviews says the fan doesn't run on lighter loads when there is mains power so probably a really good option. Fan will run if on battery or high output wattage.

That's good if so. I'll check for those reviews.

 

 

43 minutes ago, leadeater said:

This is likely the most quiet but due to it's formfactor and design the maximum possible VA/Watts is limited

https://www.eaton.com/gb/en-gb/skuPage.3S850B.html

No idea if 850 VA is enough or not, personally. It also says 510W which definitely is not enough.

 

46 minutes ago, leadeater said:

Then there other one that are or should be quiet (~25dB)

https://www.eaton.com/gb/en-gb/skuPage.5S1500I.html

https://www.eaton.com/gb/en-gb/skuPage.EL1600USBIEC.html

 

There are also a few other Eaton options but I'm pretty sure more expensive models, any UPS that is Online type won't be quieter than around 40dB so stick to Line Interactive (cheaper anyway). APC will also have similar options to the above I just know Eaton product range better.

I'll have to google the differences between Line Interactive and APC. Also, all of these Eaton ones dont show a price unless I contact sales, which usually means it's expensive or less intended to be bought for a single-person at home use-case from what I've seen.

[Needfuldoer]

I have a couple APC BackUPS Pro 1300s, the only noise they make is the relay clicking and a slight 60 cycle hum when they do a self-test or start running off battery. 

[NCSGeek]

17 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

I have a couple APC BackUPS Pro 1300s, the only noise they make is the relay clicking and a slight 60 cycle hum when they do a self-test or start running off battery. 

1300 VA might be too little for my comfort, not sure. Did you mean the relay clicks and humming only happens when it self-tests or switches to battery? If so, how often does it self-test?

[OhioYJ]

35 minutes ago, NCSGeek said:

 Did you mean the relay clicks and humming only happens when it self-tests or switches to battery? If so, how often does it self-test?

I have 3 APC 1500VA units and they just click when they switch over to battery. They do have a fan, but it generally only runs when on battery and on high load. In fact the fans turn on so little the first one I had nearly melted itself down because it had a defective fan that I didn't know about (I didn't even realize they had a fan if that tells you how little they turn on). I will say I was impressed with APC I called them up, explained to them what happened, how hot the thing got, and they replaced it, basically no more questions asked. 

[GuiltySpark_]

2 hours ago, BoomerL4D said:

CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD.

This. I have it and its fantastic.

[NCSGeek]

17 minutes ago, OhioYJ said:

I have 3 APC 1500VA units and they just click when they switch over to battery. They do have a fan, but it generally only runs when on battery and on high load. In fact the fans turn on so little the first one I had nearly melted itself down because it had a defective fan that I didn't know about (I didn't even realize they had a fan if that tells you how little they turn on). I will say I was impressed with APC I called them up, explained to them what happened, how hot the thing got, and they replaced it, basically no more questions asked. 

hm, ok. What do you plug into yours? I'm wondering if the fans would turn on when my PC is running an intensive game/workload.

[GuiltySpark_]

3 minutes ago, NCSGeek said:

hm, ok. What do you plug into yours? I'm wondering if the fans would turn on when my PC is running an intensive game/workload.

UPS's are silent when you have mains power, i'm not sure if that's what you're confused about? 

 

[NCSGeek]

Just now, GuiltySpark_ said:

UPS's are silent when you have mains power, i'm not sure if that's what you're confused about? 

 

Oh, is that the norm? Yeah I dont care about the noise at all when it's on battery power. I just dont want to add noise to my room when on normal mains power.

[GuiltySpark_]

7 minutes ago, NCSGeek said:

Oh, is that the norm? Yeah I dont care about the noise at all when it's on battery power. I just dont want to add noise to my room when on normal mains power.

Yeah, they don't make any noise. I've got two of them in this quiet room, I've never heard them when I have power.

 

(at least the style we're talking about in this thread)

[NCSGeek]

3 minutes ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

Yeah, they don't make any noise. I've got two of them in this quiet room, I've never heard them when I have power.

 

(at least the style we're talking about in this thread)

I care about pretty much any noise honestly. I hear coils whining or things buzzing in my coffee maker and laundry machine. I think I just have sensitive ears or something. What kind of noise do your's make?

 

But good to know it's the norm to be silent when on mains power. I didnt know that.

[GuiltySpark_]

16 minutes ago, NCSGeek said:

What kind of noise do your's make?

None, as I said.

[NCSGeek]

4 minutes ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

None, as I said.

The part below led me to believe you meant "no sound other than some kinds we mentioned" which made me think it made some other kinds of sound when not on battery. I must've misunderstood then.

25 minutes ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

(at least the style we're talking about in this thread)

[GuiltySpark_]

11 minutes ago, NCSGeek said:

The part below led me to believe you meant "no sound other than some kinds we mentioned" which made me think it made some other kinds of sound when not on battery. I must've misunderstood then.

We're talking home UPS's in the 1500VA range, not industrial double conversion fully online types you'd find in a data center. 

[leadeater]

6 hours ago, NCSGeek said:

No idea if 850 VA is enough or not, personally. It also says 510W which definitely is not enough.

VA is the proper rating for a UPS and the output watts is based on power factor, the 510W is more the typical of what to expect. Also just because you have a 850W PSU plus some other devices doesn't actually mean you need ~900-1000W UPS, you actually only need what your usage is plus 10%-15% extra. But I do agree it's not likely to be enough for you.

 

1300-1600 VA is the range that will be enough.

 

During gaming your PC is most likely around the 520W-550W range based on your parts list.

 

6 hours ago, NCSGeek said:

I'll have to google the differences between Line Interactive and APC. Also, all of these Eaton ones dont show a price unless I contact sales, which usually means it's expensive or less intended to be bought for a single-person at home use-case from what I've seen.

They are all fairly cheap, Eaton doesn't sell direct, you just have to google the model name and buy from a local supplier that comes up or just from Amazon.

[OhioYJ]

7 hours ago, NCSGeek said:

hm, ok. What do you plug into yours? I'm wondering if the fans would turn on when my PC is running an intensive game/workload.

I have a 13900k / 4090 on mine, my son's machine is a 12900k / 3080. The third just runs my firewall / network equipment. 

 

I don't have any accessories plugged into mine, but my 13900k machine I've seen draw ~950 watts from the UPS (just during synthetic loads though).

 

 

[NCSGeek]

22 hours ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

We're talking home UPS's in the 1500VA range, not industrial double conversion fully online types you'd find in a data center. 

Alright. Shows how limited my knowledge is I suppose.

 

18 hours ago, leadeater said:

VA is the proper rating for a UPS and the output watts is based on power factor, the 510W is more the typical of what to expect. Also just because you have a 850W PSU plus some other devices doesn't actually mean you need ~900-1000W UPS, you actually only need what your usage is plus 10%-15% extra. But I do agree it's not likely to be enough for you.

 

1300-1600 VA is the range that will be enough.

 

During gaming your PC is most likely around the 520W-550W range based on your parts list.

 

They are all fairly cheap, Eaton doesn't sell direct, you just have to google the model name and buy from a local supplier that comes up or just from Amazon.

I do know I dont "need" to match my PSU wattage but it would give me peace of mind I suppose. But yeah, around 1600 VA is what I was looking at. Also depending on how well the UPS handles transients and how bad my transients are, I dont know if I'd need exta padding to account for that.

 

16 hours ago, OhioYJ said:

I have a 13900k / 4090 on mine, my son's machine is a 12900k / 3080. The third just runs my firewall / network equipment. 

 

I don't have any accessories plugged into mine, but my 13900k machine I've seen draw ~950 watts from the UPS (just during synthetic loads though).

 

 

Thanks for sharing, good to know!

[GuiltySpark_]

1000W/1500VA is plenty for a single PC and display. 

[NCSGeek]

27 minutes ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

1000W/1500VA is plenty for a single PC and display. 

Alright. Then that CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD seems good. Only question is if I can get away with cheaper. I'll do some research and see if anyone has any ideas here. Appreciate your input and everyone else's so far!