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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 Amazon US readings from ScoutPrices where one exists, typical where not: the Amazon page decides.

Budget, in US dollars

Steps of $500. $1,000 is the least that buys every part an office & everyday PC needs in black without rgb; past $10,000 the catalogue has nothing faster to add. A screen, keyboard and mouse come on top.

What the PC is for
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.

Checked for fit before it reaches you.

Start from a build people pick

Live from the catalogue
  1. Office & everyday for $1,000Intel Core i3-14100FASRock Intel Arc B580 Challenger 12GB OC$1,000 all in, 8 parts, fit 56 of 10056fitOpen this build
  2. Gaming for $1,500Intel Core i3-14100FSapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB$1,497 all in, 8 parts, fit 62 of 10062fitOpen this build
  3. Content creation for $3,000Intel Core Ultra 7 270K PlusGeForce RTX 5070 Ti$2,979 all in, 8 parts, fit 82 of 10082fitOpen this build

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

72Fit 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.

A desk that never stutters: browser, documents, calls and 1080p video, on two or three screens. Judged by the processor's single-thread index, with a card only for the screens; no frame-rate target.

This build

$1,604

Budget

$1,500

Over budget

$104

Parts

8

The Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus has headroom to spare. The ASRock Intel Arc B580 Challenger 12GB OC sets the frame rate at 1080p, so a faster card is the upgrade that shows.

A part marked Amazon US shows ScoutPrices' reading of the listing its button opens, with the day it was read; a part with no reading shows its typical price. The parts were chosen on typical prices, so a total can land a little over the budget when the shops move. Not a checkout total: an operating system, shipping and tax are not in it, and neither are a screen, a keyboard and a mouse.

PartScore for the jobPriceBuy
ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus

Highest office & everyday score the budget allows next to this card: 18 cores, boosts to 5.3 GHz.

2 swaps that still fit
85
$217Amazon US, Oct 24
Buy on Amazon
MotherboardMSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk WiFi

Z890 board for the LGA1851 socket, DDR5, 4 M.2 slots, Wi-Fi.

2 swaps that still fit
86
$250Amazon US, Oct 24
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.

57
$309Amazon US, Oct 24
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardASRock Intel Arc B580 Challenger 12GB OC

12 GB of video memory, index 35 at 1080p; tuned for snappy single-core speed, quiet running, and a card that drives two or three screens without fuss.

34
$330Amazon US, Oct 24
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerThermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE

Rated 260 W for a chip that turbos to 159 W.

1 swap that still fit
88
$40Amazon US, Oct 24
Buy on Amazon
Power supplybe quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W

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

2 swaps that still fit
82
$80Amazon US, Oct 24
Buy on Amazon
CaseLian Li Lancool 216

3 fans in the box, 3 is the least 349 W of parts needs behind a mesh front. Takes EATX/ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 392 mm.

2 swaps that still fit
90
$99Amazon US, Oct 24
Buy on Amazon
StorageCrucial T705 1TB

1 TB PCIe 5.0 NVMe, 13,600 MB/s reads, with cache.

2 swaps that still fit
92
$280Amazon US, Oct 24
Buy on Amazon
Total8 parts, every price read on Amazon US$1,604

Is another $500 worth it?

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

-$500$1,000 all in, fit 55 -17
  • ProcessorIntel Core i3-14100F instead of Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus
  • MotherboardMSI PRO B760-P WiFi DDR4 instead of MSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk WiFi
  • MemoryG.Skill Ripjaws V 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 instead of Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR5-6000 CL36
  • CPU coolerThermalright Assassin X 120 Refined SE instead of Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE
  • Power supplyCorsair CX750 instead of be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W
  • CaseMontech XR instead of Lian Li Lancool 216
  • StorageWD Black SN850X 1TB instead of Crucial T705 1TB
See the step down+$500$1,984 all in, fit 81 +9
  • ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus instead of Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus
  • MemoryG.Skill Flare X5 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 instead of Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR5-6000 CL36
  • CPU coolerArctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 instead of Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE
  • CaseNZXT H9 Flow instead of Lian Li Lancool 216
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.

Every ready build

The list this page works out, at every step of every job, each on a page of its own. Nothing here is a suggestion from a magazine: the parts are checked against each other and priced.

Office PC

Browsing, documents, video calls, streaming films.

PC for programming

IDEs, compilers, containers, a few virtual machines.

Budget gaming PC

Esports and indie titles at 1080p, high frame rates.

Gaming PC

Big titles at 1440p, high settings.

4K gaming PC

4K, ray tracing, or 240 Hz at 1440p.

Video editing PC

Video editing, photo work, motion graphics.

PC for 3D and rendering

Blender, CAD, simulation, long renders.

Streaming PC

Playing at 1440p while encoding a live stream.

PC for local AI models

Running language and image models on your own card.