w/300W 12amp Power Supply
Current Cost: $60 (case + power supply)
The Enlight 7237 ATX case has been in our Value Gaming PC Buyer's Guide for what seems like forever and a day, and with good reason. It offers solid construction, easy internal access, and ample cooling. The case is well laid out, allowing full access to all areas of your motherboard even with the 3.5" drive bays filled.
Don't skimp when it comes to power supplies. Power deficiency can lead to unstable systems, and in the workplace unstable machines lead to decreased efficiency (Program managers, are you listening?). We recommend a 300Watt power supply to increase the likelihood of a stable system. The Enlight 7237 is available from several online vendors, bundled with a 300W power supply for $60, making it a great bargain.
Current Cost: $90
The idea behind having a UPS in your office at work is data loss prevention. A good uninterruptible power supply can prevent the system from an improper shutdown. Even a few minutes of additional power can mean the difference between your boss praising you and browsing through the employment section of the newspaper. When we think of getting a UPS, the first company that comes to mind is American Power Conversion, whose product we are recommending today. They're the 3com of power backup solutions.
For the Value Business system, we recommend APC's Back-UPS Office 500, the largest UPS in APC's Back-UPS line. It features 500VA (325W) of power, six power outlets (three with battery power, three with just protection), one phone line protector, and software that automatically saves files and shuts a machine down when the power goes out. See our review here. It also features "$25,000 Lifetime Connected Equipment Protection," which means that, if equipment hooked up to the machine is ever damaged by an AC power surge, including one from lightning, then APC will replace or reimburse you for the computer equipment, with up to a $25,000 value.
The amount of time the UPS can run a machine without power depends on the power usage of your machine. APC has a calculator you can use to figure out about how much life you can expect. APC's box says that, on the low-power end, a desktop system with a 15" monitor can expect up to 17 minutes of power. On the high-power end, a tower system with a 21" monitor can expect six minutes of protection. With a tower case and a 17" monitor, using APC's chart, our Value Business system would get about eight minutes of protection. That is enough for you to get over momentary power drops without a problem, and with long outages, finish up, print a document, save, and shutdown without any worries of data loss.