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Post by Coolverine on Sept 23, 2024 5:01:17 GMT -5
My old APC UPS was rated for 600w but under heavy gaming my system would reach 580+ watts, and I'd started getting warnings about it. Sounds like that was a defective UPS though, it shouldn't be shutting off anything.
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Post by ForRealTho on Sept 23, 2024 8:03:40 GMT -5
My old APC UPS was rated for 600w but under heavy gaming my system would reach 580+ watts, and I'd started getting warnings about it. Sounds like that was a defective UPS though, it shouldn't be shutting off anything. I'm reading APC has a good warranty, going to see if I can swap it but regardless I think I need something with more headroom. At full usage the 4080S pulls 320 watts and this APC complains if its 500 or over so that is not much headroom. I should have got a 1000 watt UPS to start with |
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Post by sj on Sept 23, 2024 10:59:47 GMT -5
Well I am done using the APC UPS I got a few months ago. I did the math and figured 650 watts is enough, I guess it doesn't actually deliver 650 watts. Twice now my PC has shut off and the APC makes a beeping noise. It also got super hot to the touch. Their software says it is at 100% charge and "functioning normally". I guess I need to get at least a "1000 watt" UPS if I want my 550 watts of usage to be covered. Debating buying one locally at the Best Buy up the street. Sounds like Tom is saying that if you get a PSU that's overpowered for your system, that kills its efficiency at idle (and taxes the PSU more?). |
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Post by ForRealTho on Sept 23, 2024 11:04:57 GMT -5
Well I am done using the APC UPS I got a few months ago. I did the math and figured 650 watts is enough, I guess it doesn't actually deliver 650 watts. Twice now my PC has shut off and the APC makes a beeping noise. It also got super hot to the touch. Their software says it is at 100% charge and "functioning normally". I guess I need to get at least a "1000 watt" UPS if I want my 550 watts of usage to be covered. Debating buying one locally at the Best Buy up the street. Sounds like Tom is saying that if you get a PSU that's overpowered for your system, that kills its efficiency at idle (and taxes the PSU more?). I think my PC has a 800 watt PSU. Enough to if I got a 4090 it should run just fine. As to if its too much for my setup I don't think so. I hit 500-550 watts on crazy intense games. |
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Post by sj on Sept 23, 2024 14:07:24 GMT -5
I'd wager that buying a PSU with a higher efficiency rating (Platinum or Titanium rated) could take some of the guesswork out of which wattage rating to choose (if you're unwilling or too lazy to do the math calculations, like me).
Newegg.com has a PC building tool integrated into their website that shows the estimated PSU wattage requirements and recommended PSU watts rating of your given build.
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Post by ForRealTho on Sept 23, 2024 16:58:11 GMT -5
I went to the Best Buy 10 minutes from my apartment and got a 900 watt "Sine Wave" CyberPower UPS. They had a 900 watt APC but figured I would try something new. Got everything plugged in and working.
Going to do a return on the APC and use it for my audiogear I guess, so if there is a power outage it doesn't all shut off.
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Post by ForRealTho on Sept 23, 2024 17:32:51 GMT -5
MSI Afterburner works just fine with this UPS. It even detects its 900 watts. I'm sitting at 569 watts right now and detected that was 63%
Has an LCD screen. No beeping so far.
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Post by sj on Sept 23, 2024 18:43:34 GMT -5
I went to the Best Buy 10 minutes from my apartment and got a 900 watt "Sine Wave" CyberPower UPS. They had a 900 watt APC but figured I would try something new. Got everything plugged in and working. Going to do a return on the APC and use it for my audiogear I guess, so if there is a power outage it doesn't all shut off. I've used backup UPS in the past and they didn't last longer than 3 to 4 years, but I think that was close to their advertised MTBF and warranty period. It was lead acid batteries, similar to car batteries, when I tried them. That was many years ago, so they could be using new battery technology by now. |
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Post by ForRealTho on Sept 24, 2024 8:51:19 GMT -5
Holy shit, I knew companies were greedy and disgusting but if you buy a CyberPower UPS and want to check the health of the battery you have to pay a monthly fee. I wish I was making that up. What a load of bullshit.
Debating returning it and getting the APC UPS that was also 900 watts based off of that alone. At least APC lets you check the battery for free.
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Post by sj on Sept 24, 2024 11:43:20 GMT -5
How very Applesque of them.. I had an APC UPS and wasn't aware that CyberPower did that.
APC is owned by Schneider Electric, which is headquartered in France. CyberPower is headquartered in California. EU generally has more consumer friendly business laws, while the US companies and legal system leans more towards being anti-consumer.
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Post by Coolverine on Sept 24, 2024 18:15:30 GMT -5
Been using this Cyberpower for a while, did notice it doesn't show when to replace the battery but do remember I got it back in the last half of September 2022, guess I'll just remember that. Have heard people say they just keep using the same UPS for years and it keeps working, but if you don't replace the battery in it, they can bulge after a while and get stuck in there. I think I remember also reading that you have to replace the unit itself after 5-7 years.
Good thing I got it, for the first time we started having what could be described as brownouts and the UPS kicked on a few times.
That does suck about having to subscribe if you want more functionality from their software, the unit already costs an arm and leg. When it's time for a new UPS, I probably won't use them again after hearing about that. I kinda did like the APC software better too, it had a lot more features in it. Cyberpower's is very simplistic, definitely made for those who don't know their way around a PC too well.
Also this mouse (G502) kicks ass, the scrollwheel is amazing. The main buttons have mechanical switches and the click feels very satisfying, tracking is very much improved compared to old mouse. Zero complaints. edit - also when the mouse is idle, the led's on it change to a flowing blue kinda thing that mimics hyperspace travel in Star Wars. When in use, it's a light blue that is the same color as the Millennium Falcon's exhaust. Pretty nice attention to detail, wasn't expecting that much.
*edit* Wow, turned off the lighting on the mouse in the Logitech G Hub thing, and the battery life went from 41 hours to 137 hours. Might leave em off. 
*edit* lol just remembered at work a few years ago, I got a call from someone at a site who swapped the batteries in a UPS without first turning it off and unplugging it, he got zapped and the power in the whole place went out. Hope he was okay, last thing I heard was that he'd left the site without calling back and the supervisor had to figure out the breakers to get the power back on.
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Post by ForRealTho on Sept 25, 2024 14:31:11 GMT -5
*edit* lol just remembered at work a few years ago, I got a call from someone at a site who swapped the batteries in a UPS without first turning it off and unplugging it, he got zapped and the power in the whole place went out. Hope he was okay, last thing I heard was that he'd left the site without calling back and the supervisor had to figure out the breakers to get the power back on.
I used to work for a company that got $8,000 Dell desktops. They all had the high end Nvidia Quatro GPUs for simulations. It goes without saying that after dropping that kind of money, they had the most expensive warranty that Dell offers. Got one of the Dell desktops setup in my small workroom downstairs, fresh from a delivery the day before. Plugged it in, hit power *BAM* the whole room goes dark. I had to talk to maintenance and get the circuit breaker flipped. Put a note on the Dell saying "Do NOT plug this in!!!" and called Dell. Told the woman I talked too what happened, she said "that is accidental damage which isn't covered under your warranty, but we can replace the PSU/motherboard for a price". I paused for a second trying to process if she actually said that bullshit. Then I said "Ok thanks" and hung up. Called back the next day, got an Indian guy. Explained what happened. He said "Sorry sir put it back in the mail and ship it back to us and we will ship an identical PC back" Thats more like it. Side note, I NEVER talk on the phone with Dell people these days. Always use the chat. When everything is logged in chat you get better results. |
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Post by sj on Sept 26, 2024 20:16:11 GMT -5
Been using this Cyberpower for a while, did notice it doesn't show when to replace the battery but do remember I got it back in the last half of September 2022, guess I'll just remember that. Have heard people say they just keep using the same UPS for years and it keeps working, but if you don't replace the battery in it, they can bulge after a while and get stuck in there. I think I remember also reading that you have to replace the unit itself after 5-7 years.
Good thing I got it, for the first time we started having what could be described as brownouts and the UPS kicked on a few times.
That does suck about having to subscribe if you want more functionality from their software, the unit already costs an arm and leg. When it's time for a new UPS, I probably won't use them again after hearing about that. I kinda did like the APC software better too, it had a lot more features in it. Cyberpower's is very simplistic, definitely made for those who don't know their way around a PC too well.
Also this mouse (G502) kicks ass, the scrollwheel is amazing. The main buttons have mechanical switches and the click feels very satisfying, tracking is very much improved compared to old mouse. Zero complaints. edit - also when the mouse is idle, the led's on it change to a flowing blue kinda thing that mimics hyperspace travel in Star Wars. When in use, it's a light blue that is the same color as the Millennium Falcon's exhaust. Pretty nice attention to detail, wasn't expecting that much.
*edit* Wow, turned off the lighting on the mouse in the Logitech G Hub thing, and the battery life went from 41 hours to 137 hours. Might leave em off.
*edit* lol just remembered at work a few years ago, I got a call from someone at a site who swapped the batteries in a UPS without first turning it off and unplugging it, he got zapped and the power in the whole place went out. Hope he was okay, last thing I heard was that he'd left the site without calling back and the supervisor had to figure out the breakers to get the power back on.
Yep, the wheel just glides (in the given selectable mode). It's like the wheels on those miniature toy Matchbox cars (when I collected them as a kid) with the super smooth spinning wheels. I used to wonder how they engineered such tiny axles to be so smooth. |
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Post by Coolverine on Sept 27, 2024 0:53:00 GMT -5
Probably not much different from any thru-axle, actually is a very genius design. Modern mountain bikes also have quick-release thru-axles that let you take the wheels off and put back on fast/easily, usually no tools required (just a little elbow grease).
*edit* Also one thing I like to do in FO76 is free-spin the G502 wheel and let it land randomly on a weapon to use, like a roulette thing.
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Post by sj on Sept 27, 2024 12:31:14 GMT -5
*edit* lol just remembered at work a few years ago, I got a call from someone at a site who swapped the batteries in a UPS without first turning it off and unplugging it, he got zapped and the power in the whole place went out. Hope he was okay, last thing I heard was that he'd left the site without calling back and the supervisor had to figure out the breakers to get the power back on.
I used to work for a company that got $8,000 Dell desktops. They all had the high end Nvidia Quatro GPUs for simulations. It goes without saying that after dropping that kind of money, they had the most expensive warranty that Dell offers. Got one of the Dell desktops setup in my small workroom downstairs, fresh from a delivery the day before. Plugged it in, hit power *BAM* the whole room goes dark. I had to talk to maintenance and get the circuit breaker flipped. Put a note on the Dell saying "Do NOT plug this in!!!" and called Dell. Told the woman I talked too what happened, she said "that is accidental damage which isn't covered under your warranty, but we can replace the PSU/motherboard for a price". I paused for a second trying to process if she actually said that bullshit. Then I said "Ok thanks" and hung up. Called back the next day, got an Indian guy. Explained what happened. He said "Sorry sir put it back in the mail and ship it back to us and we will ship an identical PC back" Thats more like it. Side note, I NEVER talk on the phone with Dell people these days. Always use the chat. When everything is logged in chat you get better results. It's different with every company. LG.com, for instance, chat is no help and phone works better. Although, they only cancelled/refunded one item on the order. I called back, got some resistance on refunding the 2nd ("our Finance dept will take a look and decide"). Then told her I'll file a dispute against the charges with the credit card company and send them screenshots (of the order showing still in process, my emailed cancellation request, etc), then i get a 180. "We're issuing a refund." Credit card companies are f'in powerful, so i understand their fear. lol |
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Post by sj on Sept 27, 2024 13:27:36 GMT -5
What makes it crazy (on LG's part) is the products never shipped. I wasn't even doing a return, just a cancellation. They billed my credit card for goods that never shipped (not even a week after their estimated delivery date.. not a ship by estimate.. a delivery estimate!). I guess they don't like money, because who would try buying from them online again after experiencing such terrible customer service and what seems to be a bugged order & delivery system.
Ironically, evil Amazon never denied me a return/refund (as long as the product page says "shipped by Amazon"). I was denied by one of their 3rd party sellers though. They wanted me to ship their poor quality, poorly stitched bedding back to India before issuing a refund. However, the shipping (to India) would've cost me more than what the product cost. Then I wrote an honest review on Amazon - they immediately refunded and messaged me through Amazon begging me to remove my review.
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Post by ForRealTho on Sept 27, 2024 14:31:03 GMT -5
I'm very lucky I've never had any issue doing returns with Amazon. On the UPS side I figured there has to be alternate software then what ships with APC/Cyberpower. Sure enough there is software called NUT. Not only does it support UPS but like lights and switches to turn computers off remotely and such. The "catch" is like a lot of command line based Linux software Windows is low priority for them. Here is the main base repo: github.com/networkupstools/nutWith some other projects and tweaking you can get it looking like this:   I downloaded an installer but it replaces the driver that Cyberpower uses, I am going to wait till my 30 day trial runs out before I do that |
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Post by ForRealTho on Sept 28, 2024 10:50:46 GMT -5
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Post by sj on Sept 28, 2024 15:16:36 GMT -5
Remember tho, before you took the OLED plunge, you were about to get a pricey gaming IPS and I questioned why not OLED.   Truthfully, I've still yet to own an OLED PC monitor. I don't know if/when I will, because I don't spend a ton of time gaming on PC.. maybe that'll change next year, if I buy a new PC after the next-gen cpu's and gpu's are released. I use my PC mostly for work/productivity, where burn-in could be an issue. I was basing my OLED monitor assumptions on how great OLED TV's look and, yes, i finally did purchase an LG OLED TV. |
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Post by ForRealTho on Sept 28, 2024 18:20:49 GMT -5
Truthfully, I've still yet to own an OLED PC monitor. I don't know if/when I will, because I don't spend a ton of time gaming on PC.. maybe that'll change next year, if I buy a new PC after the next-gen cpu's and gpu's are released. I use my PC mostly for work/productivity, where burn-in could be an issue. Burnin is less of an issue now then at launch. I run the screen refresh every 4 hours as it says to do. I play a ton of dark games so it's worth it to me. Nice to have the Thief games looking the way they are supposed to for the first time since I switched to LCD |
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Post by sj on Sept 29, 2024 16:00:29 GMT -5
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Post by sj on Sept 30, 2024 16:28:25 GMT -5
What makes it crazy (on LG's part) is the products never shipped. I wasn't even doing a return, just a cancellation. They billed my credit card for goods that never shipped (not even a week after their estimated delivery date.. not a ship by estimate.. a delivery estimate!). I guess they don't like money, because who would try buying from them online again after experiencing such terrible customer service and what seems to be a bugged order & delivery system. Ironically, evil Amazon never denied me a return/refund (as long as the product page says "shipped by Amazon"). I was denied by one of their 3rd party sellers though. They wanted me to ship their poor quality, poorly stitched bedding back to India before issuing a refund. However, the shipping (to India) would've cost me more than what the product cost. Then I wrote an honest review on Amazon - they immediately refunded and messaged me through Amazon begging me to remove my review. The LG order appears to still be in limbo (in process, awaiting tracking) on my LG.com account. I was worried that's what would happen given their prior customer service level, so I did file the dispute with the credit card company (and uploaded documentation/screens to support). The bank/credit company credited my account the very next morning after I filed the dispute online. No waiting for days/weeks longer or having to call LG back repeatedly to hear more excuses and blame for why nothing's happened. |
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Post by Coolverine on Oct 1, 2024 20:52:21 GMT -5
Will probably make the jump to OLED, was just waiting for them to get a little better and cheaper. Have an IPS monitor now and it looks great, so not in too much of a hurry yet.
Also found one thing I kinda dislike with the G502 X Plus, if the mouse is idle and goes to sleep, it has low sensitivity for a second or two when moving it to wake it up. Not a big deal, more of a minor annoyance. As long as the mouse is in use, it's fine though.
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Post by sj on Oct 2, 2024 0:10:44 GMT -5
I think Dell is the only brand OLED PC monitor with a 3 years warranty that explicitly covers screen burn-in. Best Buy's extended warranties might also cover it (at least they did in the past, on OLED TV's) on any brand, but I'm not 100% sure about that.
Dell's are very pricey though unless you wait for a good sale. Maybe look into what (if any) inexpensive "MSI" branded OLED's that Best Buy carries and find out if BB's extended warranty covers burn-in.
But even if you're in the market for one rn, probably best to wait 2-3 months for a sale. Black Friday/Cyber Monday and then sometimes right around New Years, are the best time for sales on Electronics and PC stuff.
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Post by sj on Oct 2, 2024 10:43:53 GMT -5
I wouldn't normally recommend a Chinese brand like MSI, but they're nearly half the price (even regular retail price) of comparable Dell or Samsung OLED monitors. The pricing difference is so substantial, it's difficult to ignore the brand.. why pass on saving nearly $1000..Edit: My mistake.. The price difference isn't that much (if u catch the Dell or Samsung models on sale). I must've criss-crossed models and was thinking of the OLED ultra-wide 49" prices, which are about double the price of a 32" OLED monitor. If I pulled the trigger on one today, I'd go with the full UHD (formerly marketed as "4K") 32" model, because even the PS5 Pro actually supports UHD/4K now with its own version of DLSS, i.e. "PSSR" (or what some gaming YT channels have nicknamed "pisser").  www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-mpg321urxqdoled-32-quantum-dot-oled-uhd-240hz-0-03ms-gaming-monitor-with-hdr400-displayport-hdmi-usb-black/6576567.p?skuId=6576567Of course, being MSI's most highly rated OLED at Best Buy, it's sold out. |
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Post by sj on Oct 2, 2024 11:01:02 GMT -5
I've read that these newer monitors and TV's, with their built-in AI chips, record screen captures of whatever you're watching (every few seconds) and sends them to who knows who. It's probably best to leave your shiny new monitors/TV's disconnected from the internet as much as possible, unless it's necessary to do a firmware update to fix some major issue (and then, only temporarily connect it to your home network/wifi).
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Post by sj on Oct 2, 2024 18:01:12 GMT -5
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Post by sj on Oct 2, 2024 20:43:48 GMT -5
Will probably make the jump to OLED, was just waiting for them to get a little better and cheaper. Have an IPS monitor now and it looks great, so not in too much of a hurry yet. Also found one thing I kinda dislike with the G502 X Plus, if the mouse is idle and goes to sleep, it has low sensitivity for a second or two when moving it to wake it up. Not a big deal, more of a minor annoyance. As long as the mouse is in use, it's fine though. Now I understand why. I've read a few of the rtings.com OLED gaming monitor reviews and OLED gaming monitors have a flicker problem if your PC or game console experiences framerate dips. Obviously, not a problem you'd see often if you have a high-end gpu/PC that doesn't experience big frame dips. OLED TV's (at least the major brands, like LG & Samsung) have some feature/s that reduce the low frames flicker issue (for those ppl with a low to mid gaming PC or game console). It's likely just a matter of time until they bring these improvements to OLED gaming monitors. |
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Post by Coolverine on Oct 2, 2024 20:49:46 GMT -5
I found one OLED monitor from Asus on Amazon that looked good and the price seemed good, but one of the features I saw on it is that it has a heatsink and active cooling inside to "reduce the risk of burn-in." Guess they do still need some work.
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Post by sj on Oct 2, 2024 22:08:40 GMT -5
Don't they all have heatsinks? Active tho.. so then you have to accept even more intermittent fan noise, since that's already a factor with modern PC and console gaming.
Dell and Samsung OLED's try to deal with the burn-in risk a different way. Instead of using an active cooling fan, they have a pixel refresh feature that (forceably?) runs once every four hours, preventing you from using your monitor while it runs - something that might irritate some binge gamers out there.
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