PC Peripherals APC 650VA or Microtek 800VA UPS ?

nanoneo

nanoneo

Adept
Hey guys, I'm on tight budget and need to buy A UPS that would let me safely save my work and shutdown. Don't really need more than 5-10 min backup.

But I'm really confused whether to get a APC 650 Back Up (~3k) series or go with a Microtek 800VA (~2.5k).

I'm sure that the Microtek would be adequate for my needs. However, according to many forum members Microtek has major issues after around 1 year.

Config is as follows:
AMD X2 550 BE
BIOSTAR TA790GX
MSI RADEON 4670 512MB
KINGSTON 2 x 2GB DDRII
SEAGATE 500 GB HDD
LG DVD WRITER
GIGABYTE SUPER 460
BENQ G2200HD

Will also be connecting my monitor to it.
 
Well, in this shootout, APC wins hands down.

1. I had got a new Microtek 800VA Dual Battery model and that sucked big time. It never worked and i got a refund in 10 days. I think it had some issues with my Corsair VX450. :p

2. APC ASS is very good. Any issues, they come to ur house and give u the replacement. Not like going to the service center which is 15kms from my place in Bangalore.

3. And warranty on everything is 2 years in case of APC, but in Microtek, battery has 1 year.

4. APC UPS can communicate with ur PC to shut it down when power goes without ur presence. And this is the best part, since even when u are out, u can be sure that ur PC is safe. This is not dere in Microtek.

And if u use 24x7 downloading, it can start ur PC after power comes back. :D

So, now do u still need to decide???? :bleh:
 
Hmm.. thanks for the feedback. Just one big question, I see from your sig that you have the UPS I'm going for. How much backup does it give you. Plus, will it be able to support my system?
 
Please avoid Microtek at ANY cost. Simply a waste of money. No after sales service. APC is better anytime, though you'll have to pay a hefty amount for service (which is rare)
 
Microtek 800 VA is a powerful UPS however somehow mine stopped working soon after its warrantee ended rofl! get the APC man.
 
My APC BACKUPS 800VA does what Microtek 1500VA failed to do - switching to battery mode quickly when power goes.Just heed the words here and remove that Microtek name from ur choice.
 
nanoneo said:
Hmm.. thanks for the feedback. Just one big question, I see from your sig that you have the UPS I'm going for. How much backup does it give you. Plus, will it be able to support my system?
Click to expand...

~27 minutes when Intel Speedstep is enabled.
Ya, it will support ur system very well, when it is handling my 4850...:p
 
APC wins Hands down.

But I have a problem with 650VA. Your system is on the limit of the capacity. Should upgrade to a higher capacity.

I had a Cooler Master 600W Extreme+C2D 6550+Intel DG33BU+8600GT Video Card + 2 Hard Disk and a CDROM with a couple of USB devices such as webcam, keyboard etc. which worked fine on a APC650VA.

But when I swapped the 8600GT with a 8800GTX, the APC 650 used to make an Overload Beep the moment the game got intensive and the GPU came under load. So incase you intend to upgrade some components etc., go for a higher rating lest you have to throw a UPS.
 
Man so many votes for the APC. Ok, bye bye Microtek it is.

@matoind: I see the problem. From what I've calculated the 650VA will just about match my system's requirements. If I'm wrong please correct me.The problem of course is that I can't spend around 5k on the APC 800VA. I understand that I wont be able to upgrade the pc much, but I still can't spend over 3k odd.
 
matoind said:
APC wins Hands down.

But I have a problem with 650VA. Your system is on the limit of the capacity. Should upgrade to a higher capacity.

I had a Cooler Master 600W Extreme+C2D 6550+Intel DG33BU+8600GT Video Card + 2 Hard Disk and a CDROM with a couple of USB devices such as webcam, keyboard etc. which worked fine on a APC650VA.

But when I swapped the 8600GT with a 8800GTX, the APC 650 used to make an Overload Beep the moment the game got intensive and the GPU came under load. So incase you intend to upgrade some components etc., go for a higher rating lest you have to throw a UPS.
Click to expand...

Well, for my system, the idle power usage with monitor on is at 136W. Even if it goes on full load, it will go to how much - 250 max. Which is well within the max limit. :)

Though if u go for power hungry quads and multi GPU setups, this won't work.
 
clown_abhi said:
Well, for my system, the idle power usage with monitor on is at 136W. Even if it goes on full load, it will go to how much - 250 max. Which is well within the max limit. :)

Though if u go for power hungry quads and multi GPU setups, this won't work.
Click to expand...

It depends on the GPU or some other accessories that you add. I have done the practical Test. Under regular use of the computer, the UPS worked fine. But when I played games, it started a Long Beep indicating an overload. Probably I was using a power hungry GPU the 8800GTX. Today's GPU consume less power. But I guess better safe than sorry incase a person upgrades regularly.
 
I had Microtek 800VA in my shopping list - now certainly removed. I will not go for APC 650VA instead.

But, is 650VA suffice for below config?

i7-920 D0 | Gigabyte X58-UD4P | Corsair VX450W | Cabinet CM 690 | Samsung 2033W | WD 1TB HDD | Fans 120mm x 2 | Altec Lansing 2.1 | LG DVD RW | NO GAMING
 
I see that no one here is talking about the UPS Monitoring that APC offers. Apart from the regular advantages of a known brand, APC also offers a cable to be connected via USB to your PC so that you can monitor your UPS battery. This will tell you how much battery is remaining and what is it currently doing - whether charging, discharging or idle. This is of great help when you are working on a critical matter on your PC.
Also, it can make use of the power management features of Windows (Vista and now 7), saving a helluva lot of power by configuring it to turn off the monitor after a fixed time or when the battery level reaches a certain point etc.
All this is very well worth the extra 600 to 800 that you pay for an APC.
 
Yes, that is one of many cool features APC offer. I've configured APC network parameters including SNMP and integrate with network management. It even alerts you when battery is due for replacement. Those were for enterprise APCs and wasn't aware of low-ends /households. If it is there it is a great add-on.
 
@rkarthea & bastion

Check post no. 3. The communication part is already mentioned. :bleh:

It is dere in APC-650VA. Regarding the power usage, the world is moving to save more and more power so power usage would be decreasing gradually, nt increasing. :cool2:

For the i7 guy :p, u can safely go for the 650VA. U won't need more than that...

Though if u have the moolah and plan for crossfire and tri-SLI's, then better consider the 1000VA and above models.
 
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