EggXpert

I was reading up on UPS and was convinced that it may not be a bad purchase sometime.

I was wondering what kind of wattage (or whatever other rating) I should look at if I were looking to connect two computers (one with a 750W PSU and another with 450W) as well as peripherals such as an all in one printer.

Any recommendations? I was looking at the ~800W Belkin UPS but I don't really know what I should look for in terms of wattage.

 

Thanks!
 

The wattage for your PSU's are not representative of the actual wattage you are using. While your PSU's have the ABILITY to provide 750w and 450w you dont actually draw that much wattage or that many Volt-Amps (VA). With out actually measuring the wattage and Volt-amps you are drawing it is difficult to determine what specifics are suitable for your needs. Assuming you are drawing about 80% wattage from the above mentioned Computers you would need a 960 Watt UPS with probably around um 120volts*26amps=3120VA (Nvidia Suggested PSU amperage for a 8800gts). Good luck finding that ^_^ for a reasonable price.

 

That being said, if you wish to provide decent coverage, a ~800W ~1200VA UPS should provide enough power for the PCs. This will provide more than enough power for a quick shutdown and possibly even extended use during a power outage. However if you are in the middle of heavy gaming the UPS may fail to provide sufficent power for the machine to shutdown properly.

It doesnt make sense to provide UPS for your erroneous peripherals like your printer. Doing this reduces the runtime of the UPS, increases the load on the UPS and therfore increases the chance of it failing to provide sufficient power during an outage.. If you would like to give them surge protection and line cleaning, might i suggest a high quality surge protector that also has line conditioning.

 

Some Docs from APC 

Not only does a printer cause unnecessary power draw during a power outage but it can also cause a shutdown or failure of the UPS during initial power up of the printer.  With your inkjets, there probably isn't much of a inital power draw to worry about.  But with lasers, the concern is definitely warranted.  I know it's ridiculous to plug my color laser into any consumer grade UPS.  The big UPS' which can support the draw of a laser power up are way too expensive for home use anyways.

APC's UPS calculator

Thanks guys, you've been really helpful :D