That is exatly what I was trying to explain.
What must restrict a power surge? Power supply. In fact, a surge too tiny to damage a supply can often damage those grossly undersized plug-in protectors.
A surge incoming to a power strip protector is, at the same time, outgoing into an adjacent computer. Then much later, that near zero power strip fails. It disconnects protector parts as fast as possible to avert a fire (as indicated by the protector good light). Meanwhile that same surge is left connected to a computer's PSU.
A surge that overwhelms joules in that protector is often also converted by the PSU into rock solid and cleanest, low voltage DC - to safely power computer semiconductors.
How many recommended with numbers? A recommended Belkin was 238 joules. That means it uses 80 joules and never more than 160 joules in protection. A surge that exceeds that energy by hundreds of joules is simply absorbed as electricity by a computer's PSU. But if the protector is destroyed, then the naive will recommend it and buy more.
First indication of a bogus recommendations is ignored spec numbers. Informed consumers spend many times less money to earth a 'whole house' protector. Because effective protection says you know where hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground. How many protectors were recommended without any low impedance (ie less than 3 meter) connection to earth? All.
Those are near zero joule protectors. Popular because so many only recite advertising recommendations - not science and numbers.
Expensive though.