[X4U] OT: Belkin UPS

[Stroller]

On 7 Jul 2006, at 00:22, Linda wrote:
> ...
>> This is 720VA, that should be plenty, right?
>
> Dunno. The 750VA is just 400 watts, the 550VA is 330 watts, the  
> 1100 is just
> 660 watts, so the number in the name is not necessarily the capacity.

My initial reaction to this posting was "how the heck comes a 750  
volt-amps UPS to be only 400watts?" but of course the 750VA is just a  
model number.

> ...
> I'd double-check
> whether you're overloading the beast.

If the higher model numbers in Belkin's range indicate higher wattage  
then he surely is. I don't know about Macs (although I wouldn't be  
surprised if the specs are available on Apple's website) but even the  
cheapest PCs these days come with a 330 watt PSU.

Many PCs have very cheap PSUs that the manufacturers allege on their  
cases to be 400watt - when these fail or I see weird inexplicable  
glitches I replace the PSU with a 450watt model. This very often  
fixes the problem (illustrating, incidentally, that so many problems  
with Windows are not really Microsoft's fault) because a PSU will  
tend to give a much more stable & reliable supply at 50% or 75% of  
it's specified output than at 90% or more.

With a dual-processor machine or one with lots of PCI cards (a  
customer uses his for video rendering and has additional mpeg cards)  
I would generally use a 550watt or 650watt model. Even these are so  
cheap - I think the 450watt ones I use cost me about £12, and these  
"premium" models less than £20.

So I would be really surprised if Apple's PSU is specced at less than  
400 watts. This doesn't mean that the machine will draw all of that,  
of course, but G5s are notoriously hot-running & power-hungry -  
that's why Apple moved to Intel, remember? - and the OP stated his  
was a dual.

Stroller.