Do I need a $150 UPS?

[Correction]

I replaced most of the parts in my old machine with up to date hardware and now the old hand-me down no-brand-name 'UPS' that it used to be plugged into squeals like a pig, presumably because I'm overloading it's wattage rating by a lot. My old comp had a 450W power supply. The new one sports an 850W, a much stronger video card, two extra case fans and a third HDD. So I'm guessing this is the cause of the squealing.

However, as I look at the 'selection' of available upgrades to this ancient device of mine I'm not quite sure I really need it. I have a stack of cheap $20 surge protectors at home and about the only feature they dont' have is a jack for my phone line, which I guess I can live without.

So I ask for some good ol' fashioned Straight Dope. I've had...infrequent blackouts where I live and maybe one brownout in 15 years. So honestly power spikes don't scare me. And the only time I've tripped a breaker with my computer running was because there was a 240V air compressor running on the house circuit at the same time.

Besides those concerns is there really any reason for me to plonk down $150-$200 for a 1400VA / 980W UPS? Can I just get by with my old surge protector power strips?

[Cephius]

I have a 800W UPS just for piece of mind. I don't like losing my data or possibly having a surge spike my computer. I only paid $75 for mine though, so if you can find one go for it. Otherwise, a surge protector will do you just fine if you don't care about losing data because of a power loss.

[Correction]

Yeah it's my gaming rig so 'data loss' means I'll have to download something from the internet again, in 90% of cases. For any serious document work I use a laptop anyway. Built in data protection ftw.

[levish]

surge protector should be fine, although the nicer ups's have Automative Voltage Regulation which is <3

[Akucaen]

The fun thing about UPS' is that my new APC one shows current wattage being drawn. I say that to follow up with this: You won't need a 800watt UPS, you can most likely deal with a 400watt UPS and be just fine. I know you don't care about overvoltage and brown/blackouts, but you'd be surprised how "dirty" electricity can be from even one neighborhood to the next.

I keep my UPS on the tightest possible settings and it used to trip all the damn time when I lived near the outskirts of town from either under or over voltage randomly throughout the day. [Although now where I live it has yet to trip once for any reason, heh.]

Bottom line: Yeah, you probably won't need one, but if that slim chance happens and your equipment gets fucked up, you'll lose far more replacing all of it than the one-time UPS investment.

[levish]

A 400/500va ups is pretty marginal for a gaming computer they are typically 30% lower in wattage rating and 280 is on the low side. If you are going the ups route get at least a 650va unit.

a UPS with AVR also protects against brownouts which can be just as harmful to electric devices.