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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 $1,000AMD Ryzen 5 5500Radeon RX 6600$993 all in, 8 parts, fit 53 of 10053fitOpen this build
  2. Gaming for $1,500Intel Core i5-14600KFRadeon RX 7700 XT$1,498 all in, 8 parts, fit 62 of 10062fitOpen this build
  3. Content creation for $3,000Intel Core Ultra 7 270K PlusGeForce RTX 5070 Ti$2,989 all in, 8 parts, fit 82 of 10082fitOpen this build

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

  1. 1Pick a budget from the rail, in steps of $500
  2. 2Say how it should look: black or white, with RGB or without
  3. 3Say what the PC is for; a processor or graphics brand is optional
  4. 4A whole PC appears, the case with its fans; open the swaps or buy each part

A demonstration with example parts. Hover to pause.

Budget, in US dollars

Steps of $500. $1,000 is the least that buys every part an office & everyday PC needs; past $10,000 the catalogue has nothing faster to add. A screen, keyboard and mouse come on top.

How it should look

Every part black, and nothing in the box lights up. The case, the cooler, the board, the card, the supply and the memory follow the colour; the case's fans, the cooler, the board and the memory follow the lighting. A drive has no colour and a supply does not glow, so neither is asked to match. A look costs money, so the budget rail moves with it.

What the PC is for
71Fit for the job

Sweet spot

$1,500 for office & everyday

Tuned for snappy single-core speed, quiet running, and a card that drives two or three screens without fuss.

$1,490 for 8 parts, $10 under budget

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus has headroom to spare. The Radeon RX 6600 sets the frame rate at 1080p, so a faster card is the upgrade that shows.

Montech XRRX 6600750 W

Build order

Eight steps, the way a builder works through the case. $1,490 all in.

  1. MSI PRO B860-P WiFi on the tray
  2. Core Ultra 7 270K Plus in the socket
  3. Arctic Liquid Freezer III 240 on top
  4. 2 sticks of memory
  5. WD Black SN850X 1TB on the board
  6. RX 6600 in the x16 slot
  7. 750 W supply in the basement
  8. Panel on, power on
PartScore for the jobTypical priceBuy
ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus

Highest office & everyday score the budget allows next to this card: 24 cores, boosts to 5.5 GHz.

4 swaps that still fit
97
$324
Buy on Amazon
MotherboardMSI PRO B860-P WiFi

B860 board for the LGA1851 socket, DDR5, 3 M.2 slots, Wi-Fi.

2 swaps that still fit
66
$200
Buy on Amazon
MemoryCorsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR5-6000 CL36

16 GB DDR5 at 6000 MT/s CL36; 16 GB or more is the floor for office & everyday.

2 swaps that still fit
57
$290
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardRadeon RX 6600

8 GB of video memory, index 26 at 1080p; tuned for snappy single-core speed, quiet running, and a card that drives two or three screens without fuss.

2 swaps that still fit
24
$275
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerArctic Liquid Freezer III 240

Rated 280 W for a chip that turbos to 250 W.

2 swaps that still fit
88
$51
Buy on Amazon
Power supplyCorsair CX750

750 W, 80 Plus bronze; this build draws about 550 W at full tilt.

3 swaps that still fit
58
$60
Buy on Amazon
CaseMontech XR

3 fans in the box, 3 is the least 382 W of parts needs behind a mesh front. Takes ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 400 mm.

2 swaps that still fit
72
$70
Buy on Amazon
StorageWD Black SN850X 1TB

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

4 swaps that still fit
86
$220
Buy on Amazon
Total, typical prices8 parts$1,490

Is another $500 worth it?

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

-$500$993 all in, fit 53 -18
  • ProcessorAMD Ryzen 5 5500 instead of Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus
  • MotherboardASUS TUF Gaming B550-Plus WiFi II instead of MSI PRO B860-P WiFi
  • MemoryG.Skill Ripjaws V 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 instead of Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR5-6000 CL36
  • CPU coolerThermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE instead of Arctic Liquid Freezer III 240
  • Power supplybe quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W instead of Corsair CX750
  • CaseNZXT H5 Flow (2024) instead of Montech XR
See the step down+$500$1,987 all in, fit 81 +10
  • MotherboardMSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk WiFi instead of MSI PRO B860-P WiFi
  • MemoryCorsair Vengeance 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 instead of Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR5-6000 CL36
  • Graphics cardIntel Arc B580 instead of Radeon RX 6600
  • CPU coolerArctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 instead of Arctic Liquid Freezer III 240
  • Power supplybe quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W instead of Corsair CX750
  • CaseLian Li Lancool 216 instead of Montech XR
  • StorageCrucial T705 1TB instead of WD Black SN850X 1TB
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.