A UPS that's too small can cut your PC off the moment the lights flicker, the one thing you bought it to stop. Pick your graphics card and processor to see the size to buy, how long it lasts, and whether the one you own is big enough.
Best fit
Rated 810 W or more
The smallest size that keeps your load under 80% and lasts at least 5 minutes.
| UPS | Load | Battery time | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 600 VA / 360 W | 133% | - | Too small |
| 850 VA / 510 W | 94% | - | Too small |
| 1,000 VA / 600 W | 80% | about 4 min | Short on time |
| 1,350 VA / 810 W | 59% | about 6 min | Best fit |
| 1,500 VA / 900 W | 53% | about 7 min | More time |
| 2,200 VA / 1,320 W | 36% | about 12 min | More time |
| 3,000 VA / 1,800 W | 27% | about 18 min | More time |
Checking for your Pro plan...
Pro Plan a whole setup
Add your PCs, monitors, consoles, NAS and network gear, then put them on one UPS or split them across three. Each unit gets its own size, battery time and plug count.
Sample plan
A gaming PC and a streaming PC on their own units, with the internet kept up for 10 minutes
Best fit
1,500 VA UPS
Rated 900 W or more
The smallest size that keeps this load under 80% and lasts at least 5 minutes.
Best fit
1,350 VA UPS
Rated 810 W or more
The smallest size that keeps this load under 80% and lasts at least 10 minutes.
Plugs needed counts one battery outlet per device. Many units also have surge-only outlets that go dark in an outage, like 6 of the 12 on the CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD.
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Each row has one 1440p monitor and a router on the battery, with five minutes to save and shut down. Pick your own parts above for exact numbers.
| Build | Draw while gaming | UPS to buy | Battery time |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 5060 + Ryzen 5 7600 | 320 W | 850 VA, 510 W or more | about 5 min |
| RTX 5070 + Ryzen 7 9800X3D | 480 W | 1,350 VA, 810 W or more | about 6 min |
| RTX 5070 Ti + Core i7-14700K | 625 W | 1,500 VA, 900 W or more | about 5 min |
| RTX 5080 + Ryzen 7 9800X3D | 605 W | 1,500 VA, 900 W or more | about 5 min |
| RTX 5090 + Core i9-14900K | 940 W | 3,000 VA, 1,800 W or more | about 7 min |
A power supply's rating is the most it can deliver, not what your PC uses. NVIDIA asks for a 1000 W power supply for the RTX 5090, yet TechPowerUp measured the card at about 590 W in games.
So size the UPS to what the PC really pulls from the wall. That's a bit more than the parts use, since a power supply turns some power into heat. An 80 PLUS Gold unit only has to be 87% efficient at full load.
That's why a 1000 VA UPS can be fine for a PC with a 650 W power supply. Popular 1000 VA models like the APC BR1000MS and CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD are rated 600 W, so they work while everything on the battery stays under 480 W.
It counts the graphics card at its full rated power, since demanding games push it there. The processor counts at 60%, the top of TechPowerUp's game tests, where a Core i9-14900K averaged 149 W against its 253 W limit.
The rest of the PC adds 60 W, and the total is divided by 0.88 to cover power supply losses. Monitor figures sit a little above ENERGY STAR's data, which puts a typical 27-inch 1440p screen near 18 W, to allow for gaming brightness.
Every UPS lists two ratings, like 1500 VA / 900 W. Your gear has to stay under both, and the VA figure is always the bigger one, so the watt rating is the number to check.
Home units give about 0.6 W per VA. The APC BR1500MS2 is 1500 VA / 900 W, and the CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD is 1500 VA / 1000 W.
Online units run nearer 0.9, like the CyberPower OL1500RTXL2U at 1500 VA / 1350 W. Bigger units often beat 0.6 too, such as the APC SMT2200C, rated up to 1980 W, so set the UPS type under Fine-tune to match what you're shopping for.
Keep your normal load at or under 80% of the watt rating, as both CyberPower and Schneider Electric advise. Graphics cards also spike past their rating for a split second, and TechPowerUp caught that RTX 5090 at 644 W in short bursts.
Battery time shrinks faster than the load grows, because lead-acid batteries work best when drained slowly. The CP1500PFCLCD runs 10 minutes at half load but only 2.5 minutes at full load.
Five minutes is enough to save your game and shut down, and CyberPower says most outages last about that long. If you want 20 minutes or more at a gaming load, look for a model that takes extra battery packs.
The planner's battery times follow CyberPower's published half-load and full-load runtimes. Your own model's runtime chart has the final word.
Batteries wear out, too. APC says most of its batteries last three to five years, and every 15°F of extra heat cuts that in half, so keep the UPS somewhere cool.
Most gaming PCs use a power supply with active power factor correction (active PFC). CyberPower warns that these need sine wave power, and the gaps in a simulated sine wave can make the PC shut off right when the UPS switches to battery.
So look for "pure sine wave" or "sine wave output" on the box or spec sheet. A unit that only lists a simulated or stepped wave is fine for a router, but not for your gaming PC.
Schneider Electric's guide to UPS types covers the common designs. For a gaming PC, the choice comes down to how steady your power is.
| Type | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Standby | Starts its inverter only when the power fails, often with a stepped wave | Office PCs on steady power |
| Line-interactive | Boosts low voltage and trims high voltage (AVR), saving the battery for real outages | Most gaming PCs |
| Online | Runs everything through its inverter all the time, with zero switch-over time | Frequent outages or shaky voltage |
Plug the UPS's USB cable into your PC and install the maker's shutdown software. That's PowerChute Serial Shutdown for APC, or the free PowerPanel Personal for CyberPower.
When an outage runs long, the software closes Windows cleanly before the battery dies, even when you're away from the desk. That protects your files and drives from a hard power cut.
Got two PCs on one UPS? APC's setup guide says a UPS can protect only one computer through its cable, so the second PC needs network shutdown software. The Plan a whole setup tab in Computer Info Bits Pro flags this and can split your PCs across units.
Already losing power? Our free PC Reporter logs every sudden restart in its Crash Trace tab, so you can see how often outages hit your PC. With Computer Info Bits Pro, it keeps a year of history and points out repeat problems.
