Last Updated on March 3, 2023 by sourav sahu
When it comes to electricity in India, there are a lot of gaps, to say the least. As work moved to home due to the pandemic, people simply had to make do with what they had, but electricity proved to be a major issue.
Most cities experience power outages, especially during the summertime, and this really proved debilitating to the working class trying to get things done from home.
The most common solution for this problem was to either invest in an inverter, or in a UPS. But if you visit the market and the price of the inverters you will find that they are quite expensive and take a lot of work during installation.
Also, if you live in a rented place, buying an inverter is not preferable, unless you plan to leave it there. The next best option would be to get yourself a UPS.
A UPS is much like an inverter but on a smaller scale and power output. They are mainly used to power PCs during power cuts, and also act as surge protection for your valuable appliances.
Short for Uninterrupted Power Supply, UPS’s are actually pretty good if you want that extra time after a power cut to save your work, or even finish it.
If you are a pro gamer, you know how important is to save the ranking, data, and levels you have achieved. So losing your data can let all the hard work that you did to reach the level can go in vain. And that’s why most gaming setups are made powerful and also require a good standard of UPS to make sure they are powered during an electricity outage.
Depending on your power requirements, or how much power your computer needs to stay on for a dedicated amount of time, you could then decide to invest in a UPS accordingly.
For example, if your PC has a PSU of more than 650W powering your system and its components, a UPS with more than 1100VA proves to be the best. A more powerful PC would obviously need a bigger UPS.
Moreover, the connected peripherals also make a difference. Say you have a 27” monitor and a speaker unit attached to the same UPS, you can guarantee that its power output might not last that long.
The best way to check whether your UPS runs for a desirable amount of time or not is by attaching only the most important peripherals to it.
The cabinet and monitor should be connected obviously, but you should also connect your broadband to it to make sure your internet connection also stays on during a power outage.
How to choose the right UPS?
When it comes to finding the best UPS for PC for your apparent requirements, making the right choice can be sometimes a little difficult especially if you do not know what you are getting yourself into.
The first step should be to understand how much power your UPS is required to supply. This is directly correlated to how powerful your PC is in the first place.
Given your PC is a basic one, a workstation with limited use and not a lot of components to power, you can invest in a smaller UPS, maybe 600VA, or even less. However, the problem begins when your PC is a lot more powerful than a basic workstation.
For example, gaming PCs are most times quite power-hungry and come with a PSU, or a power supply unit of around 550W-650W. The graphics card needs quite a bit of power to run, plus if you have any RGB lights inside, that can add up to the total power requirement as well.
In this case, investing in a bigger, more powerful UPS is the better option. There are two viable kinds of UPS, one is 600VA, and the other is 1100VA. For a basic PC, 600VA is great, for a bulkier PC, 1100VA might prove more helpful.
Also, if you connect additional peripherals to the UPS, it would have to distribute power to each and effectively reduce the total duration of the UPS lasting.
If your cabinet has a lot of components in it, say a couple of GPUs, multiple RAM chips, HDDs, and SSDs connected, that would also effectively reduce the amount of time your UPS would last.
So, combining everything, we can say that you should choose a UPS depending on how much power your computer, or PC, needs to stay on during a power cut.
Yes, a 600VA UPS might keep your PC running for a while, but you can be sure it will not for more than 10 mins. The same computer on a 1100VA UPS would last more than 20mins.
Conclusion
So, yes, UPS are actually quite useful appliances and provide a lot of benefits when you most need them.
The best part is that they are long-lasting products and will keep running for years if you maintain them properly. Treat them as an investment because if you make the right choice while purchasing a UPS, you will not have to worry about replacing it for a very long time.
Also, since they can be used as a power backup for literally any appliance that can run on them, you can even charge your phone, laptop, or even power a desk fan if you want. They are actually highly useful and convenient to use.
Is UPS really necessary for PC?
UPS is not mandatory for your PC. But it can be useful to prevent data loss and damage due to sudden shutdown of the power supply. This ensures that your devices are supplied with power long enough so that you can safely turn them off in the event of a power outage.
What happens if I don’t use a UPS for my PC?
If you don’t use a UPS for your PC, your computer will continue to operate normally as long as it has a stable power source. However, if there is a sudden power outage your computer will shut down abruptly, which can cause data loss and can also damage your computer parts.
