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Is this UPS (Ellipse 600) good for my gaming PC?

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Hi!,

I'm new to the forum although I've been reading it for quite a while regarding overclocking and PC building recomendations.

I wanted to ask wether this UPS system I got my hands on is good for my PC or could be worse than nothing, the device is rather old, so maybe I should change the batteries, no idea about that.

The UPS System is an MGE Ellipse 600

My rig is:

CPU---->i5-4670K@4,4Ghz-1.235V
MB----->Asus Maximus Ranger VII
GPU---->Ati 7850 Sapphire
PSU----->Seasonic 520W semi-modular
SSD----->Samsung 120Gb SSD
HDD---->2x500Gb HDD
Ram----->Gskill 2133Mhz 2x4Gb

I attach a screenshot with the UPS system specifications:
Screenshot.png
 
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I would test it first as the batteries are probably crystallized inside if they are a few years old, and also 360w output may possibly be insufficient if your rig happens to be running at high load, though it may be okay with your system configuration. Generally it is desired to have a UPS wattage greater than the PSU output wattage, even though you aren't using that 520w PSU at 100% load.
 
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New batteries are around 20€, I would prefer not to spend any money as blackouts are rather uncommon here, I would mainly use the UPS because of the voltage spike proteccion, if I understand correctly it can prolong my PSU capacitors' life.

Anyway, how would you suggest testing the batteries?

By the way, thank you for your fast informative response!
 

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Another thing to look at is if your PSU is active-PFC, then you need an active-PFC UPS, of which there are not a large number of them. Another phrase it might have listed is sine-wave compatible output, which would mean it works with active-PFC PSU's.
 
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newtekie1

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The unit is better than nothing. It would probably keep your system running when idle, but probably not at load. Though you have to be careful with UPSes and overloading them. If you overload it, it is likely to shut down. So if you fire up a game and start loading the computer, the UPS just might kill the power, which could be just as bad as a black-out.

Another thing to look at is if your PSU is active-PFC, then you need an active-PFC UPS, of which there are not a large number of them. Another phrase it might have listed is sine-wave compatible output, which would mean it works with active-PFC PSU's.

Where in the world did you ever hear that? You don't need a special UPS if you have an active-PFC PSU.
 
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rtwjunkie

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Because I did my research a couple years ago when I bought my UPS's. I perused countless user reviews and manufacturer responses to complaints. The short of it is it will work to supply throughput power and work as a surge protector, but the hang up comes when it is time to supply backup power. It's a 50/50 hit or miss if you don't have an active-PFC compatible UPS.
 

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Because I did my research a couple years ago when I bought my UPS's. I perused countless user reviews and manufacturer responses to complaints. The short of it is it will work to supply throughput power and work as a surge protector, but the hang up comes when it is time to supply backup power. It's a 50/50 hit or miss if you don't have an active-PFC compatible UPS.

What...that is total mis-information. The only issue that a non-Sinewave output UPS would have is a lot of them take way to long to switch over to battery power, because they are cheap, so when the power cuts out they don't switch over quick enough for the PSUs hold-up time, and the machine still turns off. But that has nothing to do with the waveform, and there are sinewave units with that issue too. This is specifically why hold-up time is in the ATX spec.

In fact, the PFC circuit is specifically designed to take unclean power. If anything, a PSU with PFC would be more suited to handled a simulate sinewave or even squarewave than a PSU without PFC.

And if you want an expert opinion here is JonnyGuru's, a person that literally designs PSUs:
I haven't been able to figure out what a square or simulated sine wave would be bad for PFC circuits.

I'd avoid squarewave units, just because they are usually so cheap they are crap in other areas. However, there is no need for an expensive sinewave unit, a simulated sinewave unit will work just fine with an active-PFC PSU.
 

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What...that is total mis-information. The only issue that a non-Sinewave output UPS would have is a lot of them take way to long to switch over to battery power, because they are cheap, so when the power cuts out they don't switch over quick enough for the PSUs hold-up time, and the machine still turns off. But that has nothing to do with the waveform, and there are sinewave units with that issue too. This is specifically why hold-up time is in the ATX spec.

In fact, the PFC circuit is specifically designed to take unclean power. If anything, a PSU with PFC would be more suited to handled a simulate sinewave or even squarewave than a PSU without PFC.

And if you want an expert opinion here is JonnyGuru's, a person that literally designs PSUs:

I'd avoid squarewave units, just because they are usually so cheap they are crap in other areas. However, there is no need for an expensive sinewave unit, a simulated sinewave unit will work just fine with an active-PFC PSU.

As a quick point of reference, I will point to what appears to be the same thread: http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3964 that you are referring to. But if you read all 15 pages, you have countless examples of the kind of thing I found, which is PSU manufacturers recommending a pure sine-wave UPS. And they did so for precisely the same reason you and I both did: so the PSU would not shut off. Remember, this is exactly what you purchase a UPS for, so that your system doesn't suddenly shut off in the event of power loss.

At worst, this is an inconclusive science still, that no one agrees on yet uniformly. At best, I will yield to your superior knowledge on the subject, since the back and forth isn't helping the OP.

I still maintain though, you can't go wrong making sure that you DO have a pure sinewave UPS if you have an active-PFC PSU. It's like auto insurance. Just because you never had an accident doesn't mean you won't need the insurance one day. Is it essential? Probably, or maybe not, but I am not willing to take that chance with all my computer parts.
 
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sine wave or not doesn't matter so long as the UPS is a quality one
newteki is right here it all comes down to how quickly the UPS can switch it has nothing todo with active-pfc
the "problem" is that some cheaper Active PFC power supply's have a lower hold up time then the UPS's switching time
and if your USP has a line-conditioner witch it should if its any good its a none issue because then power is always passing though the DC>AC transformer so the switch time is virtually zero
 

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sine wave or not doesn't matter so long as the UPS is a quality one
newteki is right here it all comes down to how quickly the UPS can switch it has nothing todo with active-pfc
the "problem" is that some cheaper Active PFC power supply's have a lower hold up time then the UPS's switching time
and if your USP has a line-conditioner witch it should if its any good its a none issue because then power is always passing though the DC>AC transformer so the switch time is virtually zero

I can't agree more, first and foremost make sure you have a quality UPS. But really, when you have a host of PSU manufacturers telling you what is better for their own PSU's, as I found through 3 months of research, and apparently others receiving the same responses as stated on JohnnyGuru, it's definately worth at least looking into more. I will say it's inconclusive at this time, but I prefer to err on the side of caution.
 
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I would hazard a guess that it would keep your system on for some time, enough time for you to shut it down. The real question is if your PSU will work with the Pseudo Sine Wave, as i have personal experinece that not all computer PSUs will function with Pseudo Sine Wave. That was mostly from 12V DC/230V AC converters, but the principle is the same.

Also, as the specs state, the batteries have a average lifespan of 4 years, so they are probably going to need replacing.

You could just use it as a surge protector, cause i think that the UPS part is unnecessary as there is NO way to be sure that it will work before you try it.

So in summary: check if it works without the batteries, if so then use it.
 
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Thank you a lot guys! Lot of information here, I will probably start digging on the matter just out of curiosity.
Will use this UPS unit as a surge protector as you've recommended and will check the batteries tomorrow with a high consumption lamp or something like that, see how it holds up.
 
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APC has the best service and damaged equipment policy. Also they are more an enterprise brand that's the most used in datacenters.

Two APC UPS units here. XS1000 on my system and an RS800 on the hubby's
 

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I accually Have 2 older APC 800VA's that I converted to run off of 4 12V marine gel-type deep cycle batteries
powers the basement in the winter ( lights water, pump,furnace)
 

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its actually not all that difficult to wire a UPS up for use with a car or boat battery
most NEMA connectors are 24V and then its just a matter of some 4AWG and a 15 or 20AMP resetable breaker or buss fuse
 
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Cool. I'd do that for a mobile testing lab :)
 
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