VA rating of Uninterruptible Power Supply

[srams123]

Hi,
I am a new member and have a Gen 3 XPS. I am looking at getting a UPS for my new rig and am wondering how much should the rating be for my baby to live for at least 20-25 [at avg power consumption] mins during a power outage ...
Some folks ask me to go by wattage rating and yet others inform me going by VA [Volts * Amps] is the best approach !!!

Pls help me out here ... also I am looking at "standby" ups types ... not "online" ...

[devnull]

Uhm, thats going to cost you a truckload of cash. I know that it really has to do with how many hard drives you have and the size of your monitor. What are the specs of your system?

[srams123]

Hi devnull,

Here are my specs ...

P4 550 3.4 G / 2 GB RAM / 74 GB 10K / 160 GB 7.2K / 256 MB ATI X800 XT / AUDIGY ZS / DVD-ROM / DVDRW / 2005 FPW ...

I can keep the monitor out of the connections ... can run a surge protector to it I guess ...