MP 7,1 UPS Battery Backup for new Mac Pro?

[JesterJJZ]

So as the title suggests, what battery backup is recommended for this beast?
I know it’s pretty power hungry. My 5,1 is running off a APC smart ups 1500va/900w. Is that enough? Pretty much the most powerful one you can get before venturing into server territory.
Thoughts?

 

[jinnyman]

Well the purpose of UPS is usually to buy time for safe data saving in case of power failure. So any decent sized UPS that last that time frame is enough for me. I'm using APC BR550GI (550VA/330W) which is plenty enough for my desktop (9900k & 1080ti) and monitor, and Synology DS918+ to automatically and safely shutdown upon power failure. When I test it, the charge remained plenty enough.

Of course, if you intend to really use UPS as UPS (source of power during power failure), you have to decide how long you want it to juice up your machine. If you intend to last for 8 hours with full loaded system, it's going to be a huge and expensive UPS.

So, in conclusion, the capacity really depends on how you want to use UPS for.

 

[JesterJJZ]

I’m worried about power draw. I only need a few minutes to shut down properly. Doesn’t this MP have a 1400w psu or something?

 

[jinnyman]

As far as power output goes, I think it depends a lot on your configuration. I dont know how much MP will go on boost clock, but 900W is plenty enough unless you plan to push 28 cores and two Vega duo.

Safe bet is calculate the worst case scenario for your configuration with Amp meter, then decide. I usually dont push graphic unless playing game so I made trade off in power.

 

[Average Pro]

Jinny, I'd like to add that a (more) important benefit of purchasing a bigger APC UPS is the filter. This assures your computer, or whatever is plugged into the APC, receives a constant voltage and current without fluctuations. I used an SU1000XL APC for over 10 years. APC confirmed the unit (based on the serial number) was 14 years old. I did change the battery. Everything that was plugged into the APC lasted longer. Case in point, my 30 Apple Cinema Display is still kicking perfectly. I replaced the old unit with a APC Smart-UPS 1500VA LCD 120V. Over-kill for what I have, but it was on sale.

Best of luck with your decision.

 

[jinnyman]

Jinny, I'd like to add that a (more) important benefit of purchasing a bigger APC UPS is the filter. This assures your computer, or whatever is plugged into the APC, receives a constant voltage and current without fluctuations. I used an SU1000XL APC for over 10 years. APC confirmed the unit (based on the serial number) was 14 years old. I did change the battery. Everything that was plugged into the APC lasted longer. Case in point, my 30 Apple Cinema Display is still kicking perfectly. I replaced the old unit with a APC Smart-UPS 1500VA LCD 120V. Over-kill for what I have, but it was on sale.

Best of luck with your decision.

Thank you for the input. That's a new information for me. I plan to upgrade my windows rig with TR3 or Zen3 next year, and I will probably upgrade the ups when I do it.

I guess this is what people say "bigger is better", but you know, you can keep going bigger but price also go way up. Also, when you go up, UPS goes beyond the line that separates consumer to professional (or industrial). It's difficult to find a simple ups for my need with high capacity. Usually vendors add sophisticated features as their models go up. Anyhow, I really don't know. All depends on individual's need. The area I live usually don't go off on power. I think I had only one power outage last 3 years. If you live in the area where the power is unstable, I'd put more emphasis on UPS.

 

[jccrtv]

So as the title suggests, what battery backup is recommended for this beast?
I know it’s pretty power hungry. My 5,1 is running off a APC smart ups 1500va/900w. Is that enough? Pretty much the most powerful one you can get before venturing into server territory.
Thoughts?

Jester, which do you go with? I started the same search for a UPS for my new 2019 Mac Pro and the manual says the power supply is 1400w to 1500w. Did you find one that can handle that much. Others are suggesting 300w supplies and I would think we need something over 1500w. (for enough time to shut down)

 

[DerekFlint]

Jester, which do you go with? I started the same search for a UPS for my new 2019 Mac Pro and the manual says the power supply is 1400w to 1500w. Did you find one that can handle that much. Others are suggesting 300w supplies and I would think we need something over 1500w. (for enough time to shut down)

The Mac Pro power supply is capable of providing 1400W, but most configurations will never require that much power, and the ones that do will only consume that much when they are in the middle of a very computationally-intense task.

 

[AidenShaw]

So as the title suggests, what battery backup is recommended for this beast?
I know it’s pretty power hungry. My 5,1 is running off a APC smart ups 1500va/900w. Is that enough? Pretty much the most powerful one you can get before venturing into server territory.
Thoughts?

There is another discussion of this at https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...update-macpro-power-consumption-test.2217625/

 

[s66]

2 different things to keep in mind when sizing a UPS:

1. The maximum amount of current the mac will draw (worst case scenario) The UPS has to be able withstand that draw. (So something that can handle more than 1500W (or 1500VA is this case, close enough) of peak consumption. If you add your monitors, speakers, and whatnot to the UPS: you need to make sure the total consumption at peak time will not burn out the UPS (a good one will protect itself, but that means an uncontrolled shutdown)
This essentially sizes the maximum current the batteries and convertors etc. can deliver (peak).

2. the amount of power your setup uses under normal circumstances (continous use, not peak use) and how long you want that to last. This is typically measured in Wh (or kWh)
This essentially covers how many batteries you need.


A third one - not unimportant once you get into the the over 1500W ones: how much noise can you tolerate from the UPS. They tend not to be fully silent anymore once they get more capable (cooling their components becomes important as more current could flow through it) - it's hard to hear small UPS in an equipementroom but your MP7.1 is so silent any other fan will ruin the silence.

 

[AidenShaw]

A third one - not unimportant once you get into the the over 1500W ones: how much noise can you tolerate from the UPS.

I have four APC Smart-UPS 1500VA units at home.

They're silent. Except:

• When they do the occasional self-test and switch to battery
• When the power fails and the alarms beep and the fan kicks in

I don't think that either is really an issue. The weekly self-test is random, and if your office has lost power some fan noise while you're shutting down is not an issue.

I do find it odd, however, that some of the posts seem to assume that you'll be at the console - ready to shut down as soon as there's an issue.

In my life, I might not be at the keyboard when the power fails. So I buy much larger UPS systems than the minimum.

 

[s66]

APC Smart-UPS 1500VA

But that isn't over 1500W ... It's the bigger ones that all too often are noisy (I've one (APC as well) in the basement at home (rackmount model) it's noisy even when passing through current -doesn't bother me but I would not want it near me all day. Make sure they're designed for office use and not for equipement room use.
But it does remind me that I might one just for the protection of spikes (power out here is -for now- still quite reliable last power outage out here is many years ago and it was announced then in advance.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

I use only sine wave UPSs for this kind of equipment. It's pretty easy to get 2 of them and then split up usage of the display, and everything else (hubs, speakers, whatever) on one UPS and the computer just itself with another 1500va unit.

I like the CyberPower sine wave UPS as found here:

CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD PFC Sinewave UPS System, 1500VA/1000W, 12 Outlets, AVR, Mini Tower,Black

A mini-tower UPS with line interactive topology, the CyberPower PFC Sinewave CP1500PFCLCD provides battery backup (using sine wave output) and surge protection for desktop computers, workstations, networking devices, and home entertainment systems requiring active PFC power source compatibility. ...

www.amazon.com

Once a year they go on sale for around 119-120... The rest of the year they go for 200+

They work natively with macOS. Just plug them in. No drivers. The power System Prefs picks it right up.

 

[bitnaut]

I also have two of those CyberPowers...cheap enough to get a few of them depending on your power needs and they work silently.

 

[JesterJJZ]

Jester, which do you go with? I started the same search for a UPS for my new 2019 Mac Pro and the manual says the power supply is 1400w to 1500w. Did you find one that can handle that much. Others are suggesting 300w supplies and I would think we need something over 1500w. (for enough time to shut down)

I am using a APC smart ups 1500va/900w.

Normal load seems to float around 250w and to around 300-400w when editing in Premiere, a little more when rendering out.

 

[awkward_eagle]

I use only sine wave UPSs for this kind of equipment. It's pretty easy to get 2 of them and then split up usage of the display, and everything else (hubs, speakers, whatever) on one UPS and the computer just itself with another 1500va unit.

I like the CyberPower sine wave UPS as found here:

CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD PFC Sinewave UPS System, 1500VA/1000W, 12 Outlets, AVR, Mini Tower,Black

A mini-tower UPS with line interactive topology, the CyberPower PFC Sinewave CP1500PFCLCD provides battery backup (using sine wave output) and surge protection for desktop computers, workstations, networking devices, and home entertainment systems requiring active PFC power source compatibility. ...

www.amazon.com

Once a year they go on sale for around 119-120... The rest of the year they go for 200+

They work natively with macOS. Just plug them in. No drivers. The power System Prefs picks it right up.

Thanks for this. My old APC just started acting up and I just bought two of the CyberPowers units to handle a new Mac Pro and a Macbook Pro with a pair of Promise Pegasus raids.

Have you had any problems with them? Specifically the AVR or having two on the same outlet?

 

[konqerror]

Jinny, I'd like to add that a (more) important benefit of purchasing a bigger APC UPS is the filter. This assures your computer, or whatever is plugged into the APC, receives a constant voltage and current without fluctuations.

Note most modern APC and CyberPower consumer-level ones don't filter anymore, they bypass the transformer in normal operation. Energy Star efficiency requirements and cost. They can only compensate in one specific case, a moderate undervoltage. APC will call this "boost AVR".

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

Thanks for this. My old APC just started acting up and I just bought two of the CyberPowers units to handle a new Mac Pro and a Macbook Pro with a pair of Promise Pegasus raids.

Have you had any problems with them? Specifically the AVR or having two on the same outlet?

Well I dont have the promise RAIDs. I have 2 of the CyberPowers. One that feeds just my Mac Pro. The other feeds 6 30" cinema displays, USB hubs, one or 2 laptops at any given time, basically everything else. I plug BOTH the UPSs into the Mac and they both show up in iStat.

Best thing I can say about them is I don't think about them. They do their thing. When we get occasional power outages, they just trip the right way, no muss or fuss.

 

[awkward_eagle]

The other feeds 6 30" cinema displays, USB hubs, one or 2 laptops at any given time, basically everything else.

Wow. 6 displays. Doesn’t sound like a stretch that it’ll work just fine for my setup. Thank you.

 

[MikeabMac]

Im using a Prolink SFC2000 ( 2000va) on my 7,1 12c/98GB/1TbSSD/Pro Vega II connected to Apple Thunderbolt Display and Airport time capsule as backup... works flawlessly

 

[sablackman]

The APC XS1500VA LCD that I’m using on my 5,1 doesn’t have a USB Port to allow me to connect it to the Mac and take advantage of the UPS functionality in the energy system preference. It has a data port, which is an RJ-45 connector, and I assume I could in theory connect it to the secondary ethernet port on the computer. But given that PowerChute doesn’t work on Mac what other options do I have to be able to have the Mac and the UPS able to talk to each other for automatic shutdown

 

[OkiRun]

Y

The APC XS1500VA LCD that I’m using on my 5,1 doesn’t have a USB Port to allow me to connect it to the Mac and take advantage of the UPS functionality in the energy system preference. It has a data port, which is an RJ-45 connector, and I assume I could in theory connect it to the secondary ethernet port on the computer. But given that PowerChute doesn’t work on Mac what other options do I have to be able to have the Mac and the UPS able to talk to each other for automatic shutdown

You accidentally on 7,1 and not 5,1 on thread title. Maybe fix and get more answers?

 

[bsbeamer]

APC XS1500VA LCD that I’m using on my 5,1 doesn’t have a USB Port to allow me to connect it to the Mac

If it's like other older APC units, you need one of these USB to data port cables (or the original):

Hidden Camera Detectors - Hidden Devices Detector, Bug Detector, Anti Spy Detector, GPS Tracker & Listening Device Jammer, Hidden Camera Detector KonnectIT Replacement APC UPS USB Cable AP9827

For reliable connections to your Smart UPS look to KonnectIT Cables. Our low cost high quality compatible replacement cable for APC Smart UPS devices provides a convenient replacement for AP9827 and 940-0127B, 940-0127C and E. Compatible with: APC Back-UPS CS BK350 APC Back-UPS CS BK500 APC Back-...

www.amazon.com

 

[sablackman]

If it's like other older APC units, you need one of these USB to data port cables (or the original):

Hidden Camera Detectors - Hidden Devices Detector, Bug Detector, Anti Spy Detector, GPS Tracker & Listening Device Jammer, Hidden Camera Detector KonnectIT Replacement APC UPS USB Cable AP9827

For reliable connections to your Smart UPS look to KonnectIT Cables. Our low cost high quality compatible replacement cable for APC Smart UPS devices provides a convenient replacement for AP9827 and 940-0127B, 940-0127C and E. Compatible with: APC Back-UPS CS BK350 APC Back-UPS CS BK500 APC Back-...

www.amazon.com

I received the cable. The System profiler in USB properly identifies both the connection and the XS1500 as being the source. However, Energy Preference in Mojave does not show a UPS option. Is there additional software or steps I might need to take to have have the 5,1 Mac Pro recognize this as a ups device (and I realize this is a 7,1 forum)

 

[choreo]

I just purchased one of these a few weeks ago to replace another APC 1500/900 unit that finally was acting erratic after a few years:

APC Back-UPS PRO BN1500M2 Battery Backup & Surge Protector

Buy APC Back-UPS PRO BN1500M2 Battery Backup & Surge Protector featuring Output: 900W / 1.5 kVA, Input: 120 VAC @ 60 Hz ± 3 Hz, 10 x Total NEMA 5-15R Outlets, 6 x Battery Backup & Surge Outlets, 4 x Surge-Only Outlets, NEMA 5-15P Input Connection (6' Cord), 1080 Joules Surge Energy Rating...

www.bhphotovideo.com

On my 12-Core, I have not seen it go above 250 watts draw yet.