Surge protector

[Sinisterface]

Do you really need a surge protector for a pc, I live in the UK don't know if that makes any difference ?

[kelvinhall05]

Better safe than sorry.

[paddy-stone]

Well, that's up to you. It can help protect your equipment in the event of a power surge, and seeing as most surge protectors are also power strips it's not a bad deal.

[Boomwebsearch]

1 minute ago, StewartN93 said:

Do you really need a surge protector for a pc, I live in the UK don't know if that makes any difference ?

I would recommend having one because it could prevent any damage to your computer from surges and they are very inexpensive. If there are any surges of current in your mains then they could go through your PC and damage its sensitive components, a power surge can occur regardless of your location and it is not worth the risk of your expensive hardware getting fried or damaged due to a surge of current (able to be resisted by a surge protector or UPS unit).

[RollinLower]

definitely worth it. a surge can occur anywhere, and your PSU can only hold up to so much. imo it is a no brainer, they arn't even that expensive iirc.

even if you never actually need it, the investment would be worthwile since it's also a power strip

[Christophe Corazza]

I highly recommend a surge supressor at minimum to protect your electronics of all types. Look for one which has a lifetime warranty and a "connected equipment warranty" as a better guarantee of reliability. 

As an improved measure, I would also recommend you consider purchasing a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) or Battery Backup Unit. They can be purchased starting under $ 100 and not only protect against surges, but also brownouts and blackouts, and they also condition the power coming into computer which can increase lifespan of electronics.

[Jon Jon]

I am big on going all in on this, as they typically are warrantied for a long time and tend to last forever.

 

Until I had a flood in my last apartment, I had an old APC 850W one from 2008. It only stopped working after getting flooded out in 2016.

 

I now have a 900W CyberPower Pure Sine Wave one that I will probably have for another 8+ years.

 

After having my old $1800 PC build from 2005 nearly go down from a surge, you'll never see me go without a Backup UPS ever again.

[aezakmi]

If you're concerned about surges you should get one, but AFAIK the UK power grid is a decent one and surges are not common...

1 hour ago, StewartN93 said:

Do you really need a surge protector for a pc

well I needed it, plus an UPS, and a standalone breaker, because my city's power grid must be like 70 years old and is constantly failing, two PSUs have died on me because of surges and overvoltages before I had to spend a sh*t ton of cash in protectors, cables, plugs and sockets

[LogicalDrm]

Well,

• Do you have regular thunderstorms where you live?
• Do you have regular power outages where you live?
• Do you have or had any problems with house electronics?
• Are you running hardware & tasks which require constant power?
  • Like long rendering jobs?
  • Servers/NAS?