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ScoutSpecs

Build a PC

A budget and a purpose. Every part is chosen for the job, checked against every other part for fit, and explained. Prices are typical, not live: the Amazon page decides.

Start from a build people pick

Live from the catalogue
  1. Office & everyday for $1,000Intel Core Ultra 5 250K PlusGeForce RTX 5050$996 all in, 8 parts, fit 61 of 10061fitOpen this build
  2. Gaming for $1,500Intel Core Ultra 5 250K PlusRadeon RX 9070 XT$1,490 all in, 8 parts, fit 76 of 10076fitOpen this build
  3. Content creation for $3,000AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3DGeForce RTX 5080$2,932 all in, 8 parts, fit 87 of 10087fitOpen this build

Every row is worked out from today's catalogue. Open one, then change anything.

  1. 1Pick a budget from the rail
  2. 2Pick what the PC is for
  3. 3Every part appears, checked for fit
  4. 4Buy each part, or pay less through ScoutPrices

A demonstration with example parts. Hover to pause.

Budget, in US dollars

Steps of $500. $1,000 is the least that buys every part a ai & local models PC needs; a screen, keyboard and mouse come on top.

What the PC is for
50Fit for the job

Capable

$1,000 for ai & local models

Tuned for video memory first, then card speed, then system memory.

$999 for 8 parts, $1 under budget

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F has headroom to spare. The Radeon RX 7600 XT sets the frame rate at 1440p, so a faster card is the upgrade that shows.

PartScore for the jobTypical priceBuy
ProcessorAMD Ryzen 5 9600

Highest ai & local models score near $140: 6 cores, boosts to 5.2 GHz.

4 swaps that still fit
57
$159
Buy on Amazon
MotherboardGigabyte B650M DS3H

B650 board for the AM5 socket, DDR5, 2 M.2 slots.

2 swaps that still fit
52
$109
Buy on Amazon
MemoryG.Skill Ripjaws S5 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6000 CL30

64 GB DDR5 at 6000 MT/s CL30; 64 GB or more is the floor for ai & local models.

2 swaps that still fit
88
$179
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardRadeon RX 7600 XT

16 GB of video memory, index 30 at 1440p; tuned for video memory first, then card speed, then system memory.

2 swaps that still fit
34
$319
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerThermalright Assassin X 120 Refined SE

Rated 180 W for a chip that turbos to 88 W.

2 swaps that still fit
62
$20
Buy on Amazon
Power supplyCorsair CX650

650 W, 80 Plus bronze; this build draws about 450 W at full tilt.

4 swaps that still fit
55
$69
Buy on Amazon
CaseThermaltake Versa H18

Takes MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 350 mm, 1 fans included.

2 swaps that still fit
50
$49
Buy on Amazon
StorageKingston NV3

2 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe, 6,000 MB/s reads.

2 swaps that still fit
60
$95
Buy on Amazon
Total, typical prices8 parts$999

Is another $500 worth it?

Same job, same brand choices, only the budget moves one step. These are the parts that change.

+$500$1,500 all in, fit 69 +19
  • ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus instead of AMD Ryzen 5 9600
  • MotherboardASRock B860M Pro RS WiFi instead of Gigabyte B650M DS3H
  • Graphics cardRadeon RX 7900 XT instead of Radeon RX 7600 XT
  • CPU coolerThermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE instead of Thermalright Assassin X 120 Refined SE
  • Power supplyMSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 instead of Corsair CX650
  • CaseMontech XR instead of Thermaltake Versa H18
  • StorageLexar NM790 instead of Kingston NV3
See what the step up buys
Already own some of these?Take this build's processor and board into the matcher and fill only the gaps.Upgrading instead of starting over?Check the PC you have first; the one part holding it back may be the only one worth buying.