PC Peripherals Active PFC PSU and Non-Pure Sine Wave UPS

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AlphaOmega

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I am getting a new build soon, which will be powered by the Seasonic S12D-850W PSU.

I currently have an APC Back-UPS BR 800VA UPS for backup and security, that is working fine with my current PSU (which doesn't have active PFC), and I am satisfied with.

I had heard it said that a PSU with active PFC will not run on a UPS that doesn't output pure sine wave current. So when researching which PSU to buy I started reading up on this. After reading a ton of material on the subject, I have ended up more confused than ever, since there seems to be no consensus on the matter. Everyone seems to have differing opinions and experiences.

For example, a very informative thread on jonnyGuru forums about the subject, with the site owner himself participating, and people communicating with PSU engineers, had the following contradictory points:


- jonnyGuru himself says that he runs all the PSUs he reviews off stepped-sine or simulated sine wave UPSs and in the hundreds of PSUs he has reviewed he has never had any problems whatsoever.
- Communicating with a PSU engineer from Silverstone, it was "deciphered" (it was difficult to know exactly what he was saying as his English was terrible) that non-pure sine wave UPSs are bad for PSUs in general.
- The same engineer said that running a non-pure SW UPS with APFC was totally safe for 110v regions (like the US), but problematic for 230v regions.
- Contradicting the above point, some people from Europe claim to be running APC non-pure UPS with APFC supplies. I have also seen some people on Indian forums doing the same (mostly with Corsair 450 and 550W supplies).
- Enermax claims that its APFC supplies are totally compatible with both, pure and simulated/stepped sine wave UPSs.
​

The original thread: Active PFC Power Supply and NON true sine wave UPS. - jonnyGURU Forums

I don't want to spend a huge amount on getting a pure sine wave APC UPS (which are almost twice as expensive). So I ask, does someone conclusively know if it's safe? Has someone run this kind of power setup in Indian conditions?

Rest of my rig, if it makes a difference:
i7 950
ASUS P6X58D-E or ASUS X58 Sabertooth (undecided)
ASUS GTX 580
Mushkin or G.Skill DDR3 1600 3x2GB
Corsair Force F120 SSD
Dell 2407WFP 24" LCD
 
I have a cooler mater real power pro SMPS and it did not work with APC Backup UPS nor with the other cheapo brands, the system abruptly shuts down because the input power is no clean. We do not have any other option than to spend more when we have high efficiency UPS. I had to get the APC smart UPS to keep my system running.

It goes with out saying that, the SMPS will provide a constant voltage output only when the input current is clean. So why to take a risk of spoiling the entire rig to save some 7k or 8k on UPS.
 
so which ups u are having now and what is it price..........??

i am also looking for one with pure sine wave output as i will be upgrading my rig soon.......

EDIT : just read your signature.... anyways what is the ups's cost......??
 
devesh38 said:
so which ups u are having now and what is it price..........??

i am also looking for one with pure sine wave output as i will be upgrading my rig soon.......

EDIT : just read your signature.... anyways what is the ups's cost......??
Click to expand...
I have APC SUA 1000 UXI, it costed me 12K when i bought it in 2009, i guess the price should have come down. The model that i have does not come with batteries, you will have to connect 2 12volt external batteries. I am running with just 2 7AH batteries just to make sure i shut down my system properly. We have option of .75kva as well which should cost less.

You can also check Numeric and Microtek, but not sure about the efficiency. APC has a good efficiency compared to the other models that were available during my purchase. So just do a reasearch on after sales service and choose the right sine wave UPS.
 
thanks for the info.......... the price is over the budget.......... but i think it will be worth it.........
 
Normally APC Smart UPS have around 70 % efficiency.
So if you go for a 750 VA UPS, it can handle around 500 W of load.
Check APC SUA750i for ~ 7.5 K or APC SUA1000i for ~ 12K & decide yourself.

I too faced some problems with Backup series APC UPS BR800IN & TX850.
 
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