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What size UPS should I buy for my Alienware Aurora r4?
I am considering buying a UPS for my system as I live in an area where power can be unreliable at times. I just need something to condition the power and provide a bit of extra juice to give me time to save and exit in the event of a power outage. I am unsure of what I need though, as I have never bought one before, especially if the Aurora r4 is more power hungry than the average computer.
There are three that I'm looking at. 1000 VA 600 W, 1350 VA 810 W, 1500 VA 900 W. I'm thinking the middle option, but not sure if that is sufficient.
Here's are my specs:
Aurora R4
i7-3820 (Quad Core, 10 MB Cache) OCd up to 4.1Ghz
8 GB Quad Channel DDR3 at 1600Mhz
2GB GDDR5 nVidia GeForce GTX 680
2 TB Serial ATA 3 HD
BluRay, 23In Flat Panel Display
AAA737flyer
757 Posts
1
September 17th, 2012 14:00
I have the 1500 with a less powerful system.
The system sitting idle shows 207 total watts and should I lose power I would have about 22 minutes battery time. That would allow enough time to finish up anything and wait a few minutes hoping power was restored.
The UPS is set to shut off on its own with five minutes of battery life left, so a 1500 system at 207 provides 27 minutes minus the five minutes for a 22 minute run time. You can not reduce the five minute minimum on the UPS. I believe the advertised minutes on the UPS box do not take into consideration their five minute cut-off limit.
Don't be to conservative with your choice. It would be best to have more battery time than needed than to realize later that the extra 10 minutes would have come in handy.
Buy the 1500, you can add the printer and a monitor or two as well as external speakers. The extra plugs on the 1500 may not provide batttery back-up for all but one monitor but will provide surge protection for everything plugged into it.
1500