UPS wattage vs pc power supply

Status
Not open for further replies.

vaderpro

Fully Optimized
Messages
1,946
I have an APC350 battery pack/ups, rated at, I believe 200watts. My computer's power supply is 380 watts. Does this mean my UPS will only handle or allow up to 200 watts to my computer? Should I be worried not enough power is getting through?
Thanks all for your replies!
 
No, you have nothing to worry about. Look at it this way:

APC makes the model numbers of most of their UPS's what the wattage rating is when drawn upon during the battery backup point.

An APC 350 is about a 350 watt UPS, capable of powering that much when it runs on the battery backup.

Volts X Amps = Watts

Your PC runs on DC power, at 5 to 12 volts, depending on the hardware it is powering.

Look at the PSU, it will tell you what the input and output voltage / amperage is.

Even though you have a 380 watt PSU, it will never use that much power. You might use 225 - 250 with your current hardware setup.

The thing that is very misleading about PSU wattage ratings is that they give that rating under an "ideal" condition. They can guarantee that rating at zero degress celcius, when the PSU is most efficiant. Once you put that PSU under load, inside your case running for hours on end, it is well above room temperature, and capable of putting out around 75% of the rated wattage.

Also, a PSU is only going to deliver as much power as required by the components plugged into it.
 
Thanks for the excellent reply Switch!! I now know I dont have to go out and upgrade my UPS.
Is there any way to see what my system is running at, wattage wise, ie through control panel?

Cheers!
 
vaderpro said:
Is there any way to see what my system is running at, wattage wise, ie through control panel?
Not that I know of, but you can find the specs for power draw for each component from the maufacturers website. The rating they give you will likely be the maximum power draw, which you would have to do the math on.

Example:

You hard drive runs on a 12 volt circuit, the specs say it draws .90 amps. That means the hard drive will pull about 10.8 watts.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom