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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 gaming PC needs; a screen, keyboard and mouse come on top.

What the PC is for
59Fit for the job

Capable

$1,000 for gaming

Tuned for 1440p frame rates, with a CPU that will not hold the card back.

$999 for 8 parts, $1 under budget

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and the Radeon RX 7700 XT are well matched at 1440p.

PartScore for the jobTypical priceBuy
ProcessorAMD Ryzen 5 9600

Highest gaming score near $180: 6 cores, boosts to 5.2 GHz.

4 swaps that still fit
71
$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 Flare X5 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30

32 GB DDR5 at 6000 MT/s CL30; 32 GB or more is the floor for gaming.

4 swaps that still fit
80
$95
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardRadeon RX 7700 XT

12 GB of video memory, index 43 at 1440p; tuned for 1440p frame rates, with a CPU that will not hold the card back.

4 swaps that still fit
43
$399
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 supplyMSI MAG A750GL PCIE5

750 W, 80 Plus gold; this build draws about 500 W at full tilt, native 12V-2x6 cable.

4 swaps that still fit
78
$89
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
StorageCrucial T500

1 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe, 7,300 MB/s reads, with cache.

4 swaps that still fit
82
$79
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$1,490 all in, fit 76 +17
  • ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus instead of AMD Ryzen 5 9600
  • MotherboardASUS TUF Gaming B860-Plus WiFi instead of Gigabyte B650M DS3H
  • MemoryG.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 instead of G.Skill Flare X5 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30
  • Graphics cardRadeon RX 9070 XT instead of Radeon RX 7700 XT
  • CPU coolerThermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE instead of Thermalright Assassin X 120 Refined SE
  • Power supplybe quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W instead of MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5
  • CaseLian Li Lancool 207 instead of Thermaltake Versa H18
  • StorageWD Black SN850X instead of Crucial T500
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.