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Need help choosing a UPS (plus general UPS tips)

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nstgc:
Datora, you mention you have a 630W PSU, but you don't say anything else about it. From what I've read on Newegg reviews, some PSU have problems with the stepped sine wave used in other UPSs. Can you tell me more about your PSU, as well as your thoughts about this. UPSs that produce a nice smooth sine wave cost quite a bit from APC and so I'm concerned about the relatively low price of the CyberPower units' quality.

By the way, one of the reasons I chose the UPS listed in my opening post is that it seems to have a built in surge protector which presumably means I don't need another (although its only 1kJ). Also, I made sure that it would have replaceable batteries.

Here is one thread I read on the matter: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/252532-28-purest-sine-wave-output

[edit] here's some more information:

http://www.techenclave.com/topic/431055-of-psu-ups-pfc-and-sine-wave/

kitamesume:
if the PSU has a PFC it'll correct the input voltage by itself, its not much of a strain since they're designed to correct the input voltage for as long as they live.

PFC filters current-surges/fluctuations/voltage-spikes/etc. and they also even out the on/off surge induced by a PC, just think about it, turning on a 1,000watt PC should induce a flicker on the lights like when turning on a water pump, but it doesn't, right?

Edit: oh but active-PFC works kind of different, so it might be not so good with active-PFCs.

datora:
.
[ ninja'd by kitamesume ... ]

I can't speak specifically to your other questions.  I'm just not that literate on the topic.  I described my experiences.  This whole thing about sine wave interference isn't something that's come up for me before.

The setup I generally described above I've been using for nearly 20 years, and it's never caused me a problem.  All my systems ran smoothly, including my stereo gear, which has always been in the semi-pro range since the mid-1980s.  Every electronic component I've lost has been when it wasn't protected, and my systems have been through dozens of power outages and hundreds of other minor burps & farts in the supply.

That said, I can't list my other PSUs (a couple are Dell branded, that I know), and I've used a fair number of CoolerMasters over the years.

This one (turns out its 620 watts) is in my home-build from last year:

 - Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC


The APC units I described above work with this flawlessly.  Also, the APC units I described above have built-in surge suppression ... so, the other Tripp-Lite surge suppressors are certainly not necessary.  It's a case that I happen to have robust surge suppressors, and it does not hurt to run the APCs off of them.

What you should never do, though, is to plug a surge suppressor (or power strip) into your battery UPS.  The electronics of the power strip or suppressor can degrade the clean current you get out of the UPS ... as well as set you up to overload your UPS and vastly shorten its life expectancy.

nstgc:
I think I need to contact Corsair (who makes my PSU) and ask them directly since I'm just getting conflicting information without any real explination. I understand that PFC consists of lots of filtering. It makes sense, from what I know about a modern PSU, that it wouldn't matter. At the same time people are saying that there is something about active PFC that causes problems, that many companies are strongly urging and sometimes even requiring sine-wave UPSs, and people saying that their old UPS doesn't work with their new PSU. One person in a thread I read had the same UPS that Datora recommended, but when he (or she) bought a new PSU with an active PFC the PSU turned off when fed the stepped wave. But then Datora (who posted before I could post this) says that the PSU being used with the BE750 has active PFC

...AHHH!!! What the fuck!?

Definitely need to contact Corsair or just stop giving a shit and buy something. I also probably should contact APC.

[edit] Also HP since I'm worried about my monitor which if I were to replace it, it would be with a LP2475 which would cost me quite a bit.

halfelite:
For home use I run the cyberpower 1500AVR, I run 3 of them http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102048  been using one of them for more then 2 years before it became the green model, Also not sure if you run linux at all but you would need to make sure NUT has support for whatever model you go with if you do.  My only complaint about APC models is there batteries tend to not last as long for me. Not sure if its something with my setup or just how they are.

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