[Xenon]

ever since my old UPS died a year ago, i didnt bother to replace it. Why? cause ever since our electricity supply got taken over by Torrent, power supplies are not interrupted and no voltage fluctuations.. sheer bliss one may say.

then it happened on a friday afternoon, fireworks happened on a local distribution grid and power went out for 5 good hours, okay i said since all i lost was the email which i was composing. i didnt know then what i was gonna lose..

power back online, i turn the pc on, no responce, check the mains. try again ,nope. then i check the power cords, and notice something black(other than the fan) in the SMPS, looks damaged, open up the case and whoa entire cable's fried to black(all wired look black). get myself a new supply and plug it in. yet no starting. serious problem, and get it checked. turns out the mobo,processor and ram are fried beyond repair. even the data on the HDD is lost, scrambled and cant be recoverd.

so i lose my pc and my information(collections, photos,saaved games) bitter truth to swallow. worse still my 'friend' drops in te next day and sees it all. boasts that he's pc was safe cause he has a voltage stabiliser in series with a UPS. i agree, with anger and shame.

and to top it i dont get a new pc for the next 4 months. a lesson i wont forget ever...

Here are some BASIC steps to safeguard your PC and information.

-even thought your city may have a great electricity board, things can go bad and they will(as in my case). itss best to spend better on safety than a great graphics card or a other lavish hardware(OPINIONS MAY VARY) if you have a limited budget is best to invest in a UPS and a Voltage stabiliser and a good SMPS, and then keep upgrading your pc. Do keep a tab on what you may assemble or buy later on..

-SMPS usually function best at 60-70% load of the stated wattage(manufacturers usually inflate the figures). so if you invest in more than one HDD and a power hungry graphics card, its best to invest in at least a 500W supply or a 650W, even though it may burn a hole in you pocket. a insufficient supply may damage the board and other at worst or a instable pc at best.

-always have a Voltage stabiliser with a high Va rating (i have invested in a 700 Va)
UPS's do have voltage stabilisation,but it may not be sufficient.

- UPS (from apc or others) is necessary, i have only the monitor,cpu,printer connected. dont have speakers or other not-so-important hardware connected to the backup terminals.
not only UPS'es may save your work in blackouts, it gives your PC a clean power supply, have at least a 600 Va UPS.

- Case
a case isnt just a pretty box to own nowadays its the house in which the cpu,gpu,HDD's reside. with the dual cores and huge HDD's with monstrous GPU's, all that heat spewed CAN easily damage the components so its necessary to have a nice big case in which front and side mountable fans can be fitted. good airflow planning and ventilation will keep your PC cool, and you will depend less on air conditioning.
'more on air cooling later on'

- Attachments / Cleaning
accessories can keep your hardware cool, invest in HDD coolers (costs $10 here) or make your own ingenious cooling solutions(if your a experimenting type of person). Also all those heatsinks and the SMPS invite a good load of dust, so monthly cleaning not only keeps things cool, but also makes your pc look new.

remember all it takes to fry your hardware is few milli/microseconds of voltage mayhem. better safe tha sorry.


"note to admin" : ill post on information safeguarding as well later on, im writing what all is necessary, then ill change the post topic to 'safeguarding your pc' then. thanks"

This post has been edited by Xenon: 24 June 2007 - 10:06 PM

[Thorian]

That sucks man sorry to hear about your box getting toasted.
Even a dead battery in a UPS will provide surge protection.

[Xenon]

it happened, well it was my fault to assume that electricity supply can be perfect all the time. seems that the surge was huge, as few other people also reported damaged electical househol items.

[Thorian]

If you have home owners Insurance or the equivilent there you may be able to claim it. I know here that if there is a surge or a power fuctuation for our insureds at school their parents home owners insurance will cover it.

[DilutedImage]

That sucks; I lost four monitors that way. Sorry to hear that.

Another power tip: In the event of an outage, unplug everything. It's not uncommon for a large surge to occur when the power turns back on.

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