Choosing a UPS

[Ralm]

Hi there,

I was not sure where to put this topic but since its related to power supplies I thought this was the best place.

Anyway, I have a Corsair AX850W that keeps sending my system down all the time, with one of its protections. Since there is no feedback or a way to know what protection is kicking in I decided to buy one of those dongles that measure the AC power coming in. I found out that the voltage is way too unstable. I might not be right but its a possibility since the oscillations are massive, like going from 220v to 234v in 10mins. (note: Im portuguese, so yeah 220v is the average).
My AX850 has turned off my system so many times lately that Im annoyed and sick of it. Like kicking the protection 4 times in the same boot, yeah. The protection kicks in at irregular times and unpredictable, doesn't matter what the system is doing.

So I decided to buy a Pure Sinewave UPS with AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulator). I read about that it needs to be Pure Sinewave to be 100% compatible with Active PFC power supplies.

Im trying here to get opinions from users that ACTUALLY have or owned a UPS.
The brands Im looking at are CyberPower and APC with the difference of APC being way more expensive, like 30% more expensive for the same product at least.
The models I was looking at are:

APC SMC1000I (Smart-UPS series) link amazon 298£
CyberPower CP1350EAVRLCD (Intelligent LCD series) link amazon 215£
CyberPower CP1300EPFCLCD (PFC Sinewave series) link amazon 235£


If you guys can tell me what are the brands you most trust and what do you recomend me I would be very much appreciated.
My price range is MAX: 350€ or if you guide yourself with Amazon.co.uk 300£
The capacity Im looking for is something around 1300VA with pure Sinewave output, AVR and all the normal protections.

Thank you everyone.

 

[NeverBackDown]

I don't own a UPS so forgive me but just trying to help..

Well looking at the links you provided the first one only has an output of 600watts. It could run your system but i wouldn't trust it as much as the other 2.

From what i know Cyberpower make very high quality UPS and here in the States they are all rated very highly.

 

[Ralm]

I don't own a UPS so forgive me but just trying to help..

Well looking at the links you provided the first one only has an output of 600watts. It could run your system but i wouldn't trust it as much as the other 2.

From what i know Cyberpower make very high quality UPS and here in the States they are all rated very highly.

Hi there,

Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate all feedback and I wrote that about people having one because I was looking more for users experience with the brands. Trying to find out people that had problems with some model or brand.

APC is a highly regarded brand as well, although its more expensive than the others, if I ever decide to go that way I will do it on their website. And they have other perks like paying for all shipment on purchase or warranty if needed. Which is really cool, is not like corsair that asked me to send a keyboard to Netherlands with me paying the shipment of it when I bought it in Portugal. Its kinda retarded but oh well.

Thank you for your help.

EDIT:
Another thing that is throwing me off from Cyberpower is the price because even the first model from Eaton to have all the same features as the above (Pure sinewave and AVR with around 1000VA) costs 280£ at Amazon. EATON-5SC1000i
Its weird to be so cheap and I wonder to which extent can I trust it.

 

[Excalabur50]

Try looking at Socomec ups as well I use one myself it's simulated sine but still very good and not too expensive just make sure though that you choose the right size for your system DON"T underrate.

 

[NeverBackDown]

I would buy the best you could possibly afford with your budget that has everything you need. Obvious but when your paying for something like this it matters.

Could you please list your specs? It will help us judge what you need more to your system.

 

[Goldskis45]

I've used a few UPS systems, the only ones I've had last well in my semi-harsh working environments are the APCs. Had one that was still going strong that looked older than me.

Honestly I would consider looking for an older model that would do just fine

Edit: By semi-harsh working environment, I mean fluctuating room temperature from the morning of 60°F to the end of the day of 90°F at a machine shop where the coolant in the air gets the humidity to 90%+ some days. With aluminum chips and soot from the foundry in the next building it was always an adventure sending compressed air through the vents.

 

[Ralm]

I would buy the best you could possibly afford with your budget that has everything you need. Obvious but when your paying for something like this it matters.

Could you please list your specs? It will help us judge what you need more to your system.

Hi there, that was my idea, Im trying to figure out what is the best at my budget XD
I had my specs before but I got bored of the banner on each post lol.

Corsair AX850W
i7 970 overclocked at 4.2Ghz
Custom watercooling loop, mostly XSPC
EVGA GTX 560ti superclocked (factory overclock)
12GB of Ram from Gskill at1600Mhz Cl8 timings
Asus P6X58D-E
OCZ Vertez 3 MI
WD black 1TB
Seagate 2TB barracuda
Asus Xonar Essence STX

Average power consumption from the wall: 250w
Max power consumption from the wall: 410w

Try looking at Socomec ups as well I use one myself it's simulated sine but still very good and not too expensive just make sure though that you choose the right size for your system DON"T underrate.

I will take a look, thank you for the sugestion.
How long and which one are you using ?

I've used a few UPS systems, the only ones I've had last well in my semi-harsh working environments are the APCs. Had one that was still going strong that looked older than me.

Honestly I would consider looking for an older model that would do just fine

Edit: By semi-harsh working environment, I mean fluctuating room temperature from the morning of 60°F to the end of the day of 90°F at a machine shop where the coolant in the air gets the humidity to 90%+ some days. With aluminum chips and soot from the foundry in the next building it was always an adventure sending compressed air through the vents.

Thank you really much for your testimony, this was what I was looking for.
Did you ever use APC support? like shipping etc? How would you rate them?

Well, the Smart-UPS are the only ones I see that have pure Sinewave from APC for comsumers atm.

 

[Excalabur50]

I use the NETYS PE 1400 VA and have been using it now for nearly 12 months and even after I put in my second 7970 still it's totally fine and the stats in my sig are accurate all I run off the ups is the tower and one monitor the other equipment is surge protected through the ups and a high quality surge board

 

[Edgeyforsure]

when i was in Sweden i had the same problem in my crappy apartment, i ended up buying a 'APC Back UPS RS LCD 550' would run my tower for about 6-15 mins on just battery, [average gaming] and upto an hour desktop idle.

it was cheap, i know nothing about UPS so yes i probably did buy one that was possibly too small for my tower, but yes it did work and has been going strong for half a year now. (i had the same trouble as you with the power spiking up and down all the time, it actually killed my AX860i]

 

[Goldskis45]

Did you ever use APC support? like shipping etc? How would you rate them?

Sorry, no. Had the company purchasing agent deal with all of that.