APC Smart UPS 750VA

[Giantwasp]

I've decided that I really need to get a UPS. I have no faith in my home power supply the lights flicker every now and then and I think my old surge protector is actually not protecting from surges anymore (light on it has gone out).

After a bit of research I am now looking at getting a APC Smart UPS 750VA.

Noise
First question after looking at the APC website I noticed that some of the UPSs state that they produce 45dBA of noise, mainly ones that seem to have fans but not for example Back up RS 800 which I can't see a fan on.
I have tried to keep my rig fairly quiet and I currently feel it is near silent and I don't want to ruin that with a noisy UPS.
The Smart UPS 750VA doesn't mention the noise in the specs so I think it is silent and it has no fans (it does state noise for the rack mount model but not for the standard model). Can anyone confirm that it is quiet.


Power
Also I want to confirm that it is powerful enough, I want to run at least the following:

500W seasonic PSU connecting -> 2 HDDs, 6800Ultra GPU, AMD64 3500 CPU
2 19" LCD monitors
Powered Speakers (1Sub and 2 side)
Cable Modem
Wireless Router

I have a couple of other small things (eg. Palm charger) I might connect as well if it is sensible.
I also want to have some room for future expansion, another HDD, potentially 2 SLi PCi express cards (although not in near future)

I only need enough backup to allow for shutdown in blackout and to give smooth running during brown out.

I believe 700VA ~ 500W but from what I understand the PSU doesn't actually use 500W even under load, it is just that it can power that much. Even if it does will it be to much for the UPS?

I am in the UK on 240V if that makes any difference.

 

[Reapsy01]

I recently borrowed a power metre and was surprised at how little power my system draws from the mains 130W idle 144W load (amd64 3200+ @2.3Ghz 2 hdd's 1 dvd, sound card, 6800gt). Now I feel kind of stupid for buying a 460W power supply.

Anyway my guess is 700VA will be plenty to power your system.

 

[imported_rod]

I have a 600VA UPS powering the system in my signature, along with a 19" CRT (~110W according to the manual). My system doesn't exceed 50% load even under full load. But i figured it's better safe then sorry.

BtW, why do you need to run all that gear on the UPS? I have my speakers on the "Surge Protection Only" sockets. Anywayz, your system will probably draw a little more power than mine, but both your monitors combined will take less than mine.

RoD

 

[Operandi]

Noise will only be an issue when the UPS is running off the battery or charging, when you?re on AC it should be dead silent. As far as power requirements go you are in pretty good shape since you have one of the most efficient PSUs out there along with APFC so you'll be getting some pretty good time on the battery. I would also 2nd rod's advice and only run what you need off the battery, one monitor, no speakers and whatever else you can leave out.

Edit.

Also enable Cool n' Queit if you haven't allready.

 

[MWink]

The Smart 750 should be more than enough. It is an excellent choice. I don't believe it has a fan but if it does, it will only run when it's on battery or the battery is fast charging (after an outage). The rest of the time it should be very quiet. The Back-UPS RS ~800 does not have a fan but it's not a great unit (and everything in it is packed so tightly it gets quite hot). The Back-UPS RS 1000 would be a much better choice, it LOOKS like it has a fan because of the vents but it does not have one (at least mine doesn't). It's pretty similar to the RS800 but it's bigger because things are spread out (which means it stays cooler). One thing APC DOESN'T say is that the RS 800 does NOT have AVR Trim (only Boost), the RS 1000 has both. Anyway I'd highly recommend the Smart-UPS 750, but the Back-UPS RS 1000 is not a bad choice either, I would avoid the Back-UPS RS 800.

 

[Giantwasp]

Thanks for your comments.

I think I will go ahead with the Smart-UPS 750.

From the comments it seems noise would only be an issue if running off battery, which is not a problem for me at all. It may even turn out that the 750 is quiet on battery aswell which is just a bonus.

I am fairly confident now that the power will be plenty sufficient

Back-UPS RS 1000 is actually another one that I was seriously conscidering because it had slightly more power and also the surge only outputs. (interesting to note that it doesn't have a fan it really looked like it in the picture). I think I will stick to the 750 though and just get a good seperate surge protector. It is cheaper as well.

I will probably connected up all that I orginally stated and see what the power draw is if it is high then I will not connect things like speakers etc. if it is low then I can have full funtionality (although perhaps for less time) when the battery is in use.

If it does turn out that the load is only very low and I want to connect other gear is there any issue (apart from decreasing battery time) in connecting more than 6 devices ie by using y splitter cable, provided that is doesn't increase load by much?

The specs says it comes with 2 IEC jumpers does this mean it comes with 2 cables and I only need to buy 4 more for the other sockets? Or is this something else and I will need 6 cables?

Yes I do have Cool n' Quiet enabled. I run linux and I have cpuspeed deamon running which sets my CPU down in a couple of steps to 1Ghz when full power is not needed.

 

[pkme2]

My UPS backups range from 750 to 1250. For my Graphics machine, the 750 is AOK. My 1250 works with my video rig, my 2 linux machines and my laptop. I run at least two at anytime and the 1250 is ideal, plus it was affordable.

 

[JimPhelpsMI]

Hi, A UPS is only intended to run your system long enough to be shut down properly. Only the Box and Monitor need be connected to the main outlets. Only a few minutes are needed. Lenght of time is dependent on the size of the battery in the UPS. Hope this helps a little, Jim

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: Reapsy01
I recently borrowed a power metre and was surprised at how little power my system draws from the mains 130W idle 144W load (amd64 3200+ @2.3Ghz 2 hdd's 1 dvd, sound card, 6800gt). Now I feel kind of stupid for buying a 460W power supply.

Anyway my guess is 700VA will be plenty to power your system.

Don`t feel stoopid you just measured the wrong thing...
its the amperage for each rail that you need to be worried about..watts mean very little in the big picture!!

 

[MWink]

Back-UPS RS 1000 is actually another one that I was seriously conscidering because it had slightly more power and also the surge only outputs. (interesting to note that it doesn't have a fan it really looked like it in the picture). I think I will stick to the 750 though and just get a good seperate surge protector. It is cheaper as well.

The RS 1000 can handle a larger load than the Smart 700 but it won't run the same size load any longer because they both use the same batteries (2 x 12V 7AH). The RS 1000 does have a place for a fan which is why it looks like it has one but it's actually unused. I think the RS 1500 uses the same case and does have a fan. Also the main advantage to the Smart-UPS over any Back-UPS is the fact that it outputs pure sine wave instead of stepped wave ("simulated" sine wave).

If it does turn out that the load is only very low and I want to connect other gear is there any issue (apart from decreasing battery time) in connecting more than 6 devices ie by using y splitter cable, provided that is doesn't increase load by much?

APC says not to but they didn't give me a convincing reason as to why. I've done it without a problem (so far).