I just finished building a gaming PC with an RTX 5070 Ti, Ryzen 7 9800X3D, and 32 GB of RAM. I want to protect it from power surges and outages, and I have about $150–$200 to spend. Is a UPS worth getting, or would a good surge-protected power strip be enough?
2 Answers
First decide whether you actually want battery backup. If surge suppression is all you need, you can avoid spending the full $150–$200 on a UPS and choose a quality surge protector instead.
The main difference is that a surge protector only helps handle voltage spikes, while a UPS includes a battery and keeps the computer running briefly during an outage so you can shut it down safely. If you don’t need battery backup, a reputable surge-protected power strip should be sufficient.
Got it. Do you have a recommendation for a reliable power strip?
Surge protection alone should be fine for my setup.