Most modern computers, those built past 1985, have a switch mode power supply. These power supplies switch on and off to pick up pieces of the AC sine wave voltage. They are generally not on for the entire sine wave cycle because they are designed to provide all the power their computer needs from only a small portion of the sine wave. They have logic built in to determine how long they must be on to generate the proper amount of power no matter what the voltage supplied to them is, within limits. Most switch mode power supplies will provide the correct power to their computer between 85v and 140v of incoming voltage. In effect, they are voltage regulators.
A voltage regulator with a switch mode power supply can introduce its own problems. First of all, regulators are very complex and therefore reduce the reliability of your overall system by introducing many more points of potential failure. Secondly, with both the regulator correcting the voltage and the switch mode power supply correctly the voltage, the two must be very carefully balanced or else there is a very real chance for the system to start oscillating causing failure.
Therefore, unless your power problems are more severe than 85v-140v, you do not need an external voltage regulator. You do need an external power conditioner. A power conditioner cleans the power line of harmful noise pulses. If your voltage is bouncing between the wide extremes discussed, the chances are high that it is also full of noise. An Oneac power conditioner is specifically designed to provide the proper power for switch mode power supplies.
The action of a switch mode power supply, rapidly changing the amount of the sine wave it uses, requires an external power source that can also rapidly adjust. Many products that purport to clean the incoming voltage of noise pulses cannot rapidly adjust and thus starve the switch mode power supply of voltage. A starved power supply will not maintain its proper output levels. Only the technology used by Oneac in its power conditioners will supply the power when and as needed to the rapidly changing needs of the power supply.
A UPS will also supply the power needed by a switch mode power supply. UPS systems are very complex and therefore reduce the reliability of your overall system by introducing many more points of potential failure. Why pay for all the extra equipment in a UPS and take on the added risk of a UPS failure if you are not in a critical position demanding that your computer keep running when all the rest of the power in the building is gone? Also, many UPS systems do not contain a power conditioner to clean up the power during the 97% of the time that the system is not running off of the batteries. Even full time on-line UPS systems may provide a path for noise to reach your computer.
Therefore, for the most economical solution to clean power choose a power conditioner from Oneac.
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