1000VA - 1500VA Silent UPS 2016 Update?

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awitko
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue May 10, 2016 7:21 pm

1000VA - 1500VA Silent UPS 2016 Update?

Post by awitko » Sun Jun 26, 2016 10:39 am

Saw threads from years ago about silent Uninterruptable Power Supply devices. I would be interested in an update.

I want a UPS that would keep my PC and one, maybe two, large monitors running (~150-220W). I'd like to be able to do more than just save my work and shut down, but rather ride the battery through many blackouts. I think 60-90 minute runtime would be a good goal.

1500VA models seem to be right. I prefer the pure sine wave option for PFC PSUs. I understand some have said pure sine wave doesn't matter, but also heard some mention of the possibility that some of the sound problems may be interaction of approximated sine waves and PFC PSU.

Cyberpower has a nice product selection feature and these seem to be the models with 1500VA and pure sine wave output. The lower 1000+ VA units are included too. [The following post discusses APC pure sine models.]

Like everyone here, I would like to have other people's feedback and suggestions as to which APC and Cyberpower UPS models are completely silent when on AC power, and (much lower priority) reasonably quiet when on battery power. Thanks in advance! If anyone has feedback and suggestions in the lower VA range that might help others, by all means please mention them too.

Some matching Cyberpower models:

CP1500PFCLCD
PR1500LCD
PR1500LCDN

CP1350PFCLCD
CP1000PFCLCD
PR1000LCD
Last edited by awitko on Sun Jun 26, 2016 6:57 pm, edited 4 times in total.

awitko
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue May 10, 2016 7:21 pm

Re: 1000VA - 1500VA Silent UPS 2016 Update?

Post by awitko » Sun Jun 26, 2016 11:01 am

I took a look at the APC BX1000G on Amazon. I saw some negative comments here on the previous UPS threads but it is highly rated by many users on Amazon -many say it is silent. But see this post about pure sine wave input and power factor correction (top critical review for this APC model on Amazon):

"When I called APC tech support to find out why my new BX1000G* would not power my Dell XPS 9000 in a power outage, the customer rep knew exactly what was wrong. My Dell computer (and many others) needed a pure sine wave input and this APC series of UPS produces a "step approximated sine wave". She even emailed me a company white paper that explained why it was not compatible with many of the newer energy star compliant computers that have "Active Power Factor Correction" power supplies. She recommended that I exchange it for their "smart-ups" model SMT1000 which produces a pure sine wave. This sounded OK until I discovered that the SMT1000 costs almost four times as much as the BX1000G! Google for "apc ups active pfc" to learn much more about this problem. Call APC to find out if your particular PC is compatible before ordering."

Curious whether anyone has experience with APC SMT1000 apparently recommended by APC customer support (and corresponding 1500VA version - SMT 1500). They are described as follows on the APC product page.

APC Smart-UPS 1500VA LCD 120V
APC Smart-UPS 1000VA LCD 120V

Fire-Flare
Posts: 422
Joined: Sun Jun 13, 2010 12:44 pm
Location: Seattle

Re: 1000VA - 1500VA Silent UPS 2016 Update?

Post by Fire-Flare » Tue Jun 28, 2016 2:36 pm

I have an APC BR1500G: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6842101419

I never hear the thing on AC power and its buzzing is tolerable when the power goes out.

At idle my gaming PC, Modem, and monitor can run for about an hour, but what I really love is the fact that APC sells an external battery pack for the thing that extends the runtime: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6842101435

halcyon
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Re: 1000VA - 1500VA Silent UPS 2016 Update?

Post by halcyon » Wed Nov 02, 2016 4:39 am

This concerns me as well as my old and trusty 7-year old APC Backu Ups RS 800 (240V model) has started clicking after I upgraded to GTX 1080. I have a fairly new battery as well (c. 1 year old) so I doubt that is the issue. Something is wrong and the UPS keeps clicking (not switching between line-interactive vs Battery, but I can hear a relay click). It does this even when there is no additional/variable load on the UPS or on the electricity network (no motor starting, no electricity burn-outs or dips).

So, my requirements for a new UPS:
- No fan or very quiet fan (obviously)
- 1000VA / c. 600 W for min 5 mins (I'm on 240V/50Hz)
- Line-interactive
- pref. pure sine-wave (no approximate stepped sine-wave like most APC series)
- no clicking, hum, buzzing or other noises (currently have no place but under the desk for UPS and I can hear it).
- Long warranty
- Reliable according to users
- Decent price (no speciality models, pref below $300USD/300EUR)

So, this is what I have found so far:

CyberPower PFCLCD series (850VA, 1000VA, 1350VA 1500VA)
+ measured pure sine wave
+ PFC
+ line interactive
- slow changeover from line to battery according to users (max 100 Mbit/s)
- RJ-45 ethernet connection pass through causes packet loss according to reviews
- cheap internals (cheaper price too)
- quality issues (internal short, F02, lack of proper gap/insulation at least in 2015 built models)
- warranty seems to be lacking (in US)
- has a temp controlled fan inside (c. 25dBA from 1m according to Tom's, in interactive mode)
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/apc ... 85-12.html
- 3 year warranty

APC APC Back-UPS Pro (aka BR1000G)
+ no fan
- no sine wave output (square-sinusoidal or stepped sinusoidal), no problem with modern PSU according to Tom's
- very low 120/100Hz hum (when listened to close)
= same seems to apply to APC Back-UPS RS Pro series (stepped sine-wave, no fan, some hum)

Eaton 5SC 5SC100i
+ first in Eaton 5 series with pure sine-wave output and if you are willing to gamble that it doesn't switch fast enough to battery power (user horror stories available on this)
- has a fan, very high noise. Can be replaced with standard 60x25mm fans and made very quiet (according to user reviews). This voids warranty, of course
- warranty 3 years

Eaton Ellipse PRO UPS series (ex PowerWare)
- stepped sine-wave (not pure sine wave)
- very powerful/noisy fan on startup, no measurements on how noisy it is during use, although it does speed down

APC Smart-UPS SMT1000
- fan constant ON, even with no power draw, noisy according to reviews
- warranty 2 years

APC SMC1000
- fan very noisy, high pitch
- warranty 2 years

Opti-UPS DS1500B
- full speed fans all the time. 44dBA. Instant discard

Tripp Lite SmartPro SMART1500SLT
- full speed fans all the time. 39dBA. Instant discard.

SUMMARY
- CyberPower PFCLCD if you want pure sine wave output and can tolerate a fairly quiet fan
- APC APC Back-UPS RS Pro, if stepped sine wave approximation is enough and need no fan (unit will hum/buzz quietly due to stepped operation)
- Eaton 5SC 5SC100i if you want purest operation, pure sine wave and are willing to void warranty and change the fan

If somebody finds something better, please let us all know.

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