How to stop spikes?

[hunkeelin]

I uses a desktop and there's always storm near the place i live. Sometimes it causes my house to lose electricity for .1 sec and it screw up my desktop. I know there's something i can buy to stop this from happening. what is that call? my psu is 1200w. (it's actualyl 500w but i will be buying a super computer that require 1200w really soon so yea... future proving.)

[Albatross]

A backup battery?

http://www.google.com/search?q=1200w+battery+backup&hl=en&tbm=shop&aq=f

-Albatross

[helios]

An uninterruptible power supply (UPS)?

i will be buying a super computer that require 1200w really soon

Ooh! One of those nifty Tesla cards from Nvidia? What will you use it for?

[Computergeek01]

UPS are the best, DO NOT SETTLE FOR A POWER STRIP!!!! A good UPS will actually regenerate the sin wave from the power outlet so you won't even need a line conditioner hooked up in series, the power will be as close to as ideal as one can reasonably expect.

Just remember that VA stands for Voltage-Amps, it is another name for wattage and is generally used to designate wattage with AC power (I have no idea why this is). So if you are drawing 1200w peek, then you'll be drawing roughly ~840 Watts constant draw, so a 1800VA UPS will provide a little less then two hours of back up time.

[1yR4jE8b]

i will be buying a super computer that require 1200w really soon

I am also curious.

[1vRz3TCk]

If anyone is interested in such things:

What is the differences between Watts and VA and how are these terms used in specifying power protection equipment?
Introduction

This note helps explain the differences between Watts and VA and explains how the terms are correctly and incorrectly used in specifying power protection equipment. Many people are confused about the distinction between the Watt and Volt-Amp (V-A) measures for UPS load sizing...

http://emea-en.apc.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1503/kw/calculating%20VA/session/L3RpbWUvMTMxNTg0MDg3Ni9zaWQvaGo0c0FWRGs%3D

[Computergeek01]

My comment was directed at the fact that two ways to measure AC power are: Peek-to-Peek which is the maximum draw (+,-), and RMS which is .707 of the maximum draw. Wattage equals Voltage * Amperage, so the label VA implying V*A is misleading to the point of being incorrect. If they would just use the metric that is already established people would have a better understanding of what to expect.

EDIT: Even if it went to explain the peek voltage that the circut could handle (this would be determined by the internal wiring) I would except it. But it doesn't do that, it just tries to reiterate something in an obfuscated manner.