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Markarian421 · Feb 21, 2007, 02:51 PM

I searched on this but didn't find what I was looking for. Can anyone recommend an uninterruptable power supply for the Quad G5 from personal experience?

I moved a few months back and the new place seems to have more than its fair share of power outages. The last time I looked into this I found that some people who had APC UPS units which the APC web site claimed were ok for the quad found that in reality they did not have enough juice to let the quad finish shutting down. And if I get one matched to the quad's power supply, that's getting into the really serious server models and they get really expensive. So if there's a normal consumer level model that you have seen work, let me know. Thanks.

-- Brian

mduell · Feb 21, 2007, 06:22 PM

Originally Posted by Markarian421

I want a UPS for my quad, but I don't want to pay enough to get one rated for it's needs, so I was wondering if anyone can recommend something too small that might work some of the time.

Back-UPS RS 1500VA should do it.
May need to add a APC BACK-UPS RS/XS 1500VA 24V BATTERY PACK if your quad has an especially long shutdown time.

Markarian421 · Feb 21, 2007, 07:23 PM

Uh . . . thanks, but . . . I think you misinterpreted my question. Since you indicate this solution "might work some of the time" it doesn't sound like what I'm looking for. I am actually having power outages, this is not a maybe sort of thing. It needs to work, and from reading other posts it's clear that simply specing something off the web page isn't good enough -- what APC actually recommends, I've seen people say is not enough. But this power supply skirts just under the ratings for most of their server UPS units -- I'm sure somewhere in that range is one that will actually work. Thus, I'm asking if someone with a quad has something that they have actually seen work -- consumer level is fine, but it needs to work.

Thanks!

mduell · Feb 21, 2007, 08:06 PM

I think my paraphrasing was correct, if coarse. The personal experience you've requested will at best tell you which of the consumer models work some of the time. The UPS that "will actually work" every time is the one recommended by the company, from the SmartUPS line. You're correct in noting that the UPS I linked to, the largest in the consumer family, is rated at just under the maximum possible power draw for the PowerMac quad. If you've got a half dozen hard drives and every PCIe slot filled, along with a high-power monitor on ADC and the CPUs pegged at 100%, it might not have enough juice when the power goes out. But for the stock or average quad, it should be more than enough.

Personally I own an older SmartUPS 1400, but not a quad. It served me well through several thunderstorm seasons in Arizona with frequent power outages.

brokenjago · Feb 21, 2007, 08:18 PM

I own a Cyberpower 1500VA UPS that lasts 19 minutes per charge (with the computer and monitor connected,) which is great. I don't have a Quad G5, but I do have a Quad Mac Pro, which, if I remember correctly, has about the same maximum power draw as the Quad G5 (980W.)

Markarian421 · Feb 21, 2007, 08:55 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

I think my paraphrasing was correct, if coarse.

Not really, but thanks for trying to help, I guess. I am not exactly sure why you would assume someone who owns a quad is too cheap to buy the ups they need (it's kind of like assuming someone who buys a Hummer is really concerned about the price of gas) and based on that assumption not actually answer the question in your first reply.

The APC web site has an UPS selector tool, which seems to recommend terribly underpowered UPS solutions. A little more research on other forums shows that that a 1500 would be a waste of money, many G5 quad owners report that their quads (with nothing else plugged into the UPS) will overload it waking from sleep, no power outage required. (They will boot from it just fine, but I guess they really hit peak demand waking from sleep.) So I guess I'm in the market for a 2200 at least.

brokenjago, I've seen at least one claim that the Intel machines are a little less power crazy than the G5 quads. My quad is basically a space heater.

-- Brian

zerostar · Feb 23, 2007, 01:53 PM

That is strange....

I have an APC Back-UPS 800XS and have never had a problem starting, waking from sleep or shutting down in time. I get around 10 min on it when the power shuts off.

I have 2 10K drives, a Quadro Video card and a Black Magic Decklink HD card that is always running at least 1 monitor.

I have had the UPS for about 2 years now.