Cheapest UPS that can interface with the PC?

[ArmswieldTheHero]

I'm looking for the cheapest ups with surge protection and some method of interfacing with the computer. The wattage doesn't matter, because I want it to automatically put the computer into sleep mode. It doesn't have to come pre built with the automatic shutdown feature, it just needs some way to tell the computer it's running on battery. I can write a script to sleep the computer.

[Enderman]

I use the cyberpower PFC LCD series, when plugged into the computer it shows up as a battery just like a laptop.

All you need to do is set windows to sleep or hibernate or shut down when the battery gets to a certain % in your windows power settings.

The PFC series is pure sine wave and will not have any issues running any computer PSU.

[steffeeh]

The UPS wattage and VA should matter if you want the components to last, just like with a PSU, even if you only run the UPS battery for half a minute during proper shutdown.

And I mean, a UPS will last you for ages (I hear people saying they've had theirs for 15 years and it's still running well), so why not invest at least something into it, as you probably may be able to use it for something else further into the future.

Generally a simulated sinewave (or sometimes humourously called glorified squarewave) are enough for a good quality computer PSU, but you can always reach out to the PSU manufacturer and check with them, they were happy to do so in my case.

[ArmswieldTheHero]

12 minutes ago, Enderman said:

I use the cyberpower PFC LCD series, when plugged into the computer it shows up as a battery just like a laptop.

All you need to do is set windows to sleep or hibernate or shut down when the battery gets to a certain % in your windows power settings.

The PFC series is pure sine wave and will not have any issues running any computer PSU.

That is extremely over my budget.

[Enderman]

2 minutes ago, ArmswieldTheHero said:

That is extremely over my budget.

So you're willing to plug your PC into a $10 potato that might do more damage than good?

You should be spending at least $100 on a decent quality UPS, if you actually care about your PC that is.

[Enderman]

1) The point of a UPS is not only to keep your PC running when power goes out but also to protect it from surges, exactly what happened to that boy.

I wouldn't trust some cheap chinese UPS to protect anything from a power surge.

 

2) You said you want to put the computer to sleep? Did you not know that during sleep mode PCs still use power? It needs to be hibernated or shut down.

 

3) Depending on your power supply's circuitry, it may not keep running when power goes out even when connected to a UPS, due to the way some UPSes create a simulated sine wave rather than a true sine wave. If it doesn't keep your PC running when power goes out then it's basically as if the UPS didn't exist at all. That's why I recommended a pure sine wave UPS, because then it will work for sure with any power supply, but you don't seem to pay attention or care about what people tell you.

 

4) If you want to try find a good quality UPS from a brand like APC or cyberpower that is pure sine wave and under $50 then go ahead and try.

If you would rather buy a cheap potato UPS that won't protect your computer from surges and might not even keep it running when power goes out, then that's your money you're wasting, not mine, so go ahead anyway.

Edited June 1, 2017 by wkdpaul
cleaned up

[Enderman]

9 hours ago, ArmswieldTheHero said:

Most of the power outages here are only for 2-3 seconds. And if my power supply can keep running while I'm gaming during the huge fluctuation in the electricity (all of the lights dim then brighten) then I have no doubt even a cheap ups can keep my computer running for 2-3 seconds.

That is not the same. Why do you not pay attention?

Lights dimming and brightening are still receiving a sine wave, because they're connected to power.

That is not the same as what most UPSes do, which is create a simulated sine wave.

 

Clearly you don't want to listen to what I say, so go do the research yourself.

 

https://superuser.com/questions/912679/when-do-i-need-a-pure-sine-wave-ups

https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/do-i-need-a-pure-sine-wave-ups.2269092/

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/334080-28-pure-sine-wave

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/26-home-theater-computers/1381900-battery-back-up-ups-do-i-really-need-sine-wave-output.html

https://hardforum.com/threads/random-ups-oscilloscope-readouts.1846078/

 

I will say it again, if you use a non-pure sine wave, depending on your computer PSU, it may not work at all and just immediately shut your computer off as if it just got unplugged, or show an overload warning and then cut off power to the PC.

 

If you want to risk your $50 that's your choice.

[W-L]

11 hours ago, ArmswieldTheHero said:

I'm looking for the cheapest ups with surge protection and some method of interfacing with the computer. The wattage doesn't matter, because I want it to automatically put the computer into sleep mode. It doesn't have to come pre built with the automatic shutdown feature, it just needs some way to tell the computer it's running on battery. I can write a script to sleep the computer.

What are your components and devices you plan to run on your system, as said you are going to want to get a good quality UPS, same as a PSU you want to match it to the load that it will be applied under and the things that they are running.  

[ArmswieldTheHero]

On 5/28/2017 at 3:10 PM, Enderman said:

That is not the same. Why do you not pay attention?

Lights dimming and brightening are still receiving a sine wave, because they're connected to power.

That is not the same as what most UPSes do, which is create a simulated sine wave.

 

Clearly you don't want to listen to what I say, so go do the research yourself.

 

https://superuser.com/questions/912679/when-do-i-need-a-pure-sine-wave-ups

https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/do-i-need-a-pure-sine-wave-ups.2269092/

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/334080-28-pure-sine-wave

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/26-home-theater-computers/1381900-battery-back-up-ups-do-i-really-need-sine-wave-output.html

https://hardforum.com/threads/random-ups-oscilloscope-readouts.1846078/

 

I will say it again, if you use a non-pure sine wave, depending on your computer PSU, it may not work at all and just immediately shut your computer off as if it just got unplugged, or show an overload warning and then cut off power to the PC.

 

If you want to risk your $50 that's your choice.

I mean, every bit of 'research' you just showed me was nothing but speculation with no real world proof of computers getting shut down from cheap ups's. The only thing that even came close to that was a report that a 'high end name brand computer' crashed. I mean, 'high end name brand computer' could mean a dell with a PSU worth no more than 20 dollars in it. 

In fact in that very first superuser thread, this is the exact text of the conclusion copied and pasted:

"

Now you see why this low-end line of UPSes costs about half that of the mid-range UPSes.

That said, I have never seen one of the devices plugged into that UPS fail to ride through a power outage.

Conclusions

Many devices simply don't care much about AC power quality. An extreme example is an incandescent desk lamp, but any device with a well-regulated and well-filtered power supply should cope with ugly AC input.

As we have seen above and in other answers, though, there are devices that will not cope with bad input power. For these cases, you need a true-sine UPS

"

 

[ArmswieldTheHero]

On 5/28/2017 at 4:01 PM, W-L said:

What are your components and devices you plan to run on your system, as said you are going to want to get a good quality UPS, same as a PSU you want to match it to the load that it will be applied under and the things that they are running.  

I'm certain that I dont need anything more expensive than 60, I just need something that has some sort of method to interface with my PC.

[Enderman]

10 minutes ago, ArmswieldTheHero said:

I mean, every bit of 'research' you just showed me was nothing but speculation with no real world proof of computers getting shut down from cheap ups's. The only thing that even came close to that was a report that a 'high end name brand computer' crashed. I mean, 'high end name brand computer' could mean a dell with a PSU worth no more than 20 dollars in it. 

In fact in that very first superuser thread, this is the exact text of the conclusion copied and pasted:

"

Now you see why this low-end line of UPSes costs about half that of the mid-range UPSes.

That said, I have never seen one of the devices plugged into that UPS fail to ride through a power outage.

Conclusions

Many devices simply don't care much about AC power quality. An extreme example is an incandescent desk lamp, but any device with a well-regulated and well-filtered power supply should cope with ugly AC input.

As we have seen above and in other answers, though, there are devices that will not cope with bad input power. For these cases, you need a true-sine UPS

"

 

WOW it's almost as if you didn't read at all!

 

One example that took 3 seconds to find:

Quote

A cheap (~$60) 550 Watt APC UPS worked great with my first HTPC for several months. I then upgraded to a new HTPC using an Antec case with an Earthwatts 500W power supply. I immediately noticed that my new HTPC shutdown every few days for no apparent reason. I ran RAM tests, Googled extensively, and posted numerous questions. No luck, until I finally ran across an article about PFC power supplies and UPS's (sorry I can't remember the site/URL). After reading the article I ran downstairs and pulled the plug on the UPS. Sure enough, the UPS switched to the battery and the computer immediately cut off. While my power never went out while I was experiencing this problem, it turns out that the slightest power variation would cause the UPS to switch to battery followed by my computer power supply cutting out due to the approximated sine wave from the UPS.
 

And if you READ all the other links you will find more people that also bought a non-pure sine wave UPS and found out that it does not work with their computer PSU.

 

Why is it so hard for you to understand that pure sine wave  =/= simulated sine wave???

When it switches from wall power to battery power, a lot of PSUs will simply shut off due to the UPS switching transient.

If you have a high end PSU in your computer then this might not be an issue, because high end PSUs often have a long hold-out time.

 

 

Again, it just seems like you're completely ignoring all the facts right in front of your face, so if you want to risk your money on a UPS that might not keep your PC running, that's your choice.

[W-L]

37 minutes ago, ArmswieldTheHero said:

I'm certain that I dont need anything more expensive than 60, I just need something that has some sort of method to interface with my PC.

Yes I understand but it still need to be enough to power your devices underload and provide good quality power. What was it your thinking of putting on the UPS.

[ArmswieldTheHero]

 

5 minutes ago, W-L said:

Yes I understand but it still need to be enough to power your devices underload and provide good quality power. What was it your thinking of putting on the UPS.

Not much, just my pc. It has an I3 6100, and an R9 380. One hard drive and 8GB ddr4 dual channel.

 

[W-L]

8 minutes ago, ArmswieldTheHero said:

 

Not much, just my pc. It has an I3 6100, and an R9 380. One hard drive and 8GB ddr4 dual channel.

Something like this would be what I recommend at the least, it will also be enough to include peripherals and networking equipment.

http://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/products/APC-Back-UPS-900VA-9-outlets-120V-Retail/P-BN900M

 

42 minutes ago, Enderman said:

WOW it's almost as if you didn't read at all!

 

One example that took 3 seconds to find:

And if you READ all the other links you will find more people that also bought a non-pure sine wave UPS and found out that it does not work with their computer PSU.

 

Why is it so hard for you to understand that pure sine wave  =/= simulated sine wave???

When it switches from wall power to battery power, a lot of PSUs will simply shut off due to the UPS switching transient.

If you have a high end PSU in your computer then this might not be an issue, because high end PSUs often have a long hold-out time.

 

 

Again, it just seems like you're completely ignoring all the facts right in front of your face, so if you want to risk your money on a UPS that might not keep your PC running, that's your choice.

It really depends on the unit some PSU's will reject an approxed sinewave, while I have use many stepped approxed units I haven't encountered an issue with compatibility but it does for sure exist. 

Edited May 31, 2017 by W-L

[Enderman]

17 minutes ago, W-L said:

It really depends on the unit some PSU's will reject an approxed sinewave, while I have use many stepped approxed units I haven't encountered an issue with compatibility but it does for sure exist. 

Exactly!

It may or may not work depending on his computer's PSU, so it's up to him if he wants to risk his $50.

 

This is NOT the same as "bad power delivery" that a home might have, this is a circuit that switches from a pure sine wave to a simulated sine wave, and some PSUs will simply shut off when that happens.

 

Apparently this guy thinks that because I own a $200 keyboard then the difference between pure and simulated sine wave doesn't exist??

[W-L]

Just now, Enderman said:

Exactly!

It may or may not work depending on his computer's PSU, so it's up to him if he wants to risk his $50.

 

This is NOT the same as "bad power delivery" that a home might have, this is a circuit that switches from a pure sine wave to a simulated sine wave, and some PSUs will simply shut off when that happens.

 

Apparently this guy thinks that because I own a $200 keyboard then the difference between pure and simulated sine wave doesn't exist??

There is a difference for sure it's just how picky the PSU is, it's just a risk in this case if he's willing to take it. All the APC units I've got haven't run into problems before with the PSU's I've used with them other than a excessive of electrical noise on my current unit due to the PSU trying to correct or adapt to the stepped approx sinewave, not perfect but works at providing backup power without fail. 

[Enderman]

5 minutes ago, W-L said:

There is a difference for sure it's just how picky the PSU is, it's just a risk in this case if he's willing to take it. All the APC units I've got haven't run into problems before with the PSU's I've used with them other than a excessive of electrical noise on my current unit due to the PSU trying to correct or adapt to the stepped approx sinewave, not perfect but works at providing backup power without fail. 

He could also buy one from a physical store with good return policy and return it if it doesn't work with his PSU.

All he needs to do to test it is unplug it from the wall with the PC running, if it shuts off then he 100% needs a pure sine wave UPS (or a better PSU).

[W-L]

3 minutes ago, Enderman said:

He could also buy one from a physical store with good return policy and return it if it doesn't work with his PSU.

All he needs to do to test it is unplug it from the wall with the PC running, if it shuts off then he 100% needs a pure sine wave UPS (or a better PSU).

Yes buying form a store would be ideal or a free shipping policy if ordered online so you can return it if there is a compatibility problem with the unit. 

 

@ArmswieldTheHero Depending where you are I found for returns Costco has a really good options. They carry a decent choice for UPS's.

[Tsuki]

here you go

this might work if all you want to protection from power dips. its the cheapest thing i would even remotely trust.

but everybody else is correct, if you actually want a good ups, you should expect to spend a MINIMUM of $100. power supplys and ups's are something you should not cheap out on

[ArmswieldTheHero]

On 5/30/2017 at 8:35 PM, Tsuki said:

here you go

this might work if all you want to protection from power dips. its the cheapest thing i would even remotely trust.

but everybody else is correct, if you actually want a good ups, you should expect to spend a MINIMUM of $100. power supplys and ups's are something you should not cheap out on

Thank you, I found a really expensive surge protector in my dads old machine shop equipment. I think I'll just use that and just deal with the power cuts.