When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
The best UPS, or uninterruptible power supply, will safeguard your PC from unexpected power loss and surges. plug n play battery
Whether that's a blackout, brownout, or power surge, the best UPS battery backup will give you the time to save what you're doing and turn off your machine safely. Power surges and interruptions can be bad news for PC components, so what you're buying is peace of mind more than anything else.
If you have a high-end gaming PC, pairing it with an uninterrupted power supply as a backup is wise. This protects your precious system from fluctuations in outlet power and acts as a surge protector. A UPS utilizes internal batteries to deliver a steady flow of energy, and a good one will give you plenty of time to save your work or get to a safe point before shutting down your PC safely. Our current favorite is the CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD. It's a bit pricey, but it'll provide plenty of juice for even the most power-hungry gaming PCs going for about 10-20 minutes after you lose power.
The time a UPS gives you to save your game or work will vary, depending on its power draw, and there are other things to consider, too. These aren't personal generators, so you're looking at up to 10-15 minutes max battery runtimes on average. The more devices plugged in, the shorter the runtime. Again it's meant to give you enough time to save your work and shut down your PC safely.
We tested and found each UPS below to deliver precisely what we needed out of what should be an otherwise unremarkable-looking black box. So you can get a better read on which is best for you and your budget.
PC Gamer's got your back Our experienced team dedicates many hours to every review, to really get to the heart of what matters most to you. Find out more about how we evaluate games and hardware.
The CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD 1500VA is one of the best UPS on the market. Several factors contribute to it being our top pick for most gamers. First, it has enough juice to handle most gaming machines, even if you're running the beefiest of GPUs and an overclocked CPU. Unless you've got systems with ten hard drives, quad-way GPUs, and other accessories, the CP1500PFCLCD should have enough juice to last 10–20 minutes (longer if you have a more moderate rig) if a power failure occurs.
One of the most critical features of the CP1500PFCLCD is its true sine-wave output. Most UPS backups in their price range only provide sine-wave simulated production, a stepped sine-wave that approximates what you get out of your wall outlet. Some electronics are sensitive to simulated sine waves and will behave abnormally. At $214, having true sine-wave output is unheard of, so kudos to CyberPower for delivering such a quality output.
For smaller accessories and network equipment, the CyberPower EC650LCD is the best pick for most. Coming in at $88 for 390W/650VA, the EC650LCD has enough power reserves to keep the average home network alive for well over 15 minutes, which is enough time to exit your game/applications, save all your work through the network, and shut everything off gracefully during a power outage.
The EC650LCD is small enough to hide away, taking up very little desktop room for a 390W unit. One of my favorite features of the EC650LCD is its array of ECO ports. Depending on your schedule or use case, these ports can be managed and timed to turn on or off. The ECO ports will also power down accessories like speakers and display if your PC is asleep or powered down.
inverter battery for home Best gaming PC | Best gaming laptop| Best gaming motherboards | Best SSD for gaming | Best DDR4 RAM | Best PC cases