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

What the PC is for
54Fit for the job

Capable

$1,000 for heavy gaming

Tuned for the strongest graphics card the budget allows.

$999 for 8 parts, $1 under budget

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600 has headroom to spare. The Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB sets the frame rate at 4K, so a faster card is the upgrade that shows.

PartScore for the jobTypical priceBuy
ProcessorAMD Ryzen 5 9600

Highest heavy gaming score near $160: 6 cores, boosts to 5.2 GHz.

4 swaps that still fit
70
$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 heavy gaming.

4 swaps that still fit
80
$95
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardRadeon RX 9060 XT 16GB

16 GB of video memory, index 32 at 4K; tuned for the strongest graphics card the budget allows.

3 swaps that still fit
32
$369
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 A650BN

650 W, 80 Plus bronze; this build draws about 400 W at full tilt.

3 swaps that still fit
50
$59
Buy on Amazon
CaseMontech XR

Takes ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 400 mm, 3 fans included.

3 swaps that still fit
72
$69
Buy on Amazon
StorageLexar NM790

2 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe, 7,400 MB/s reads.

4 swaps that still fit
76
$119
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 70 +16
  • ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus instead of AMD Ryzen 5 9600
  • MotherboardASRock B860M Pro RS 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 9060 XT 16GB
  • CPU coolerThermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE instead of Thermalright Assassin X 120 Refined SE
  • Power supplyMSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 instead of MSI MAG A650BN
  • CaseLian Li Lancool 207 instead of Montech XR
  • StorageWD Black SN850X instead of Lexar NM790
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.