Is UPS a must for PC...

[AnkitJha]

Does frequent(once or twice a day) power cuts really hurt the PC components and reduce their life.And do i need a UPS for that....if yes then what should be the wattage considering my system config.

 

 

 

[VioDuskar]

power cuts will make you lose current work, but it's generally not a big deal to have an outtage, as long as you don't have an oversurge.

[Cream pie filled car]

Does frequent(once or twice a day) power cuts really hurt the PC components and reduce their life.And do i need a UPS for that....if yes then what should be the wattage considering my system config.

Computers are not hurt by cutting the power to them but if you were working on something important and the power goes out, you should get a UPS

[AnkitJha]

power cuts will make you lose current work, but it's generally not a big deal to have an outtage, as long as you don't have an oversurge.

I have a surge protector for that which has all the wires runnning into it.

[X_Rated_Box]

power cuts will make you lose current work, but it's generally not a big deal to have an outtage, as long as you don't have an oversurge.

second this

[Sanjeev]

Improper shutdown due to power cut can be bad for your hard drive.  Your primary partition where your OS was installed may get corrupted I have personally seen this happen especially if your  C drive has 70% or more of used space

 

[infamous_last]

If your getting daily brownouts or blackouts a UPS is highly advisable.

UPS specs will depend on weather you want to be able to continue working for x amount of time  (expensive), or whether you just want to be able to shutdown safely.

 

Alternative is to migrate to a laptop system (i.e. with a dock and separate monitors), which essentially has a built in UPS due to it's battery.

[Counter-Strike Player]

To me it's worth it. Even if you only pay for cheaper simulated sine waves ones (just don't plug too many transformers into them.) When a pc (according to its bios) is supposed to "power off" at an "ac loss" condition, but the power sag interruption is so brief that it just reboots the pc instead? Nope, not having that (or any condition that doesn't allow current writes to finish.) This is another one of those essential $150 items you need (every 4.5 years due to battery.)

[Litargirio]

Does frequent(once or twice a day) power cuts really hurt the PC components and reduce their life.And do i need a UPS for that....if yes then what should be the wattage considering my system config.

 

A UPS is not a must, but if it happens as often as once of twice a day, there is a chance that it might happen while operating system or other critical files are being written to; if it does, the system files could get corrupted which would result in the PC refusing to boot. Of course, you can also keep regular backups, on an external drive, but in this case, unless you don't have any important documents stored on your PC, I'd really recommend getting a UPS.

[Counter-Strike Player]

Also a "PS" for those of you who think you are totally safe by having surge suppressors ("protectors" as you like to call them) as your only source of surge suppression. You're not going salvage any equipment if a lightning strike hits within half a block from your house. Cyberpower/APC will demand papers from your homeowners insurance and then (also demand) you to send in your damaged equipment (at your own expense) so they can value the current state of the equipment for reimbursement -- and don't take my word for it either. Long story short, you're not getting any compensation unless you have meticulous copies and photo's of everything (before and after damage) and are *well-prepared* for small claims court (and how you don't recognize "acts of God" because you're an atheist, as corroborated by your fellow atheist club members who will join you in court.)

 

You can buy "whole house" surge protection which may better arrest surges at the circuit breaker box, but unless you're willing to spend quite a bit more for specialized equipment and basically own your own house (quite the rarity today), it's a "rest in pepperoni's" situation.

[ErickS89]

Oh god yes, if you're not getting clean power and even power spikes or you're in a room that basically shorts until you flip the switch on the breaker to reset and it powers back on. 

My current system is not plugged into a UPS (my next system will due to the price of the system) but a good surge protector.  

 

Make sure your UPS has the same amount of watts as your power supply, if you have a 1000W PSU get 1000W UPS.   Doesn't hurt to go over either.

 

If your going to use a UPS make sure you have enough plugs for ALL of your components, if you're using external audio equipment that's potentially 1-2 plugs, 1 UPS might not be enough, I need about 20 plugs  to plug my entire room in.   For your PC and Audio gear use a UPS, everything else a high end and quality surge protector.

[W-L]

Does frequent(once or twice a day) power cuts really hurt the PC components and reduce their life.And do i need a UPS for that....if yes then what should be the wattage considering my system config.

 

I'd personally recommend it since losing work or data is a pain also as some others have noted a surge protector can only do so much. Also to note India has a pretty low power factor (PF) for the most part require more current for electrical devices mainly in inefficiencies in the electrical system.

 

For your system it shouldn't use more than 400W total so a 450-500W capable UPS is not a bad idea for the PC and peripherals.