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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
69Fit for the job

Sweet spot

$1,500 for ai & local models

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

$1,500 for 8 parts, $0 under budget

The Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and the Radeon RX 7900 XT are well matched at 1440p.

PartScore for the jobTypical priceBuy
ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus

Highest ai & local models score near $210: 18 cores, boosts to 5.3 GHz.

2 swaps that still fit
78
$210
Buy on Amazon
MotherboardASRock B860M Pro RS WiFi

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

2 swaps that still fit
62
$149
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 7900 XT

20 GB of video memory, index 65 at 1440p; tuned for video memory first, then card speed, then system memory.

4 swaps that still fit
56
$649
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerThermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE

Rated 250 W for a chip that turbos to 159 W.

4 swaps that still fit
84
$36
Buy on Amazon
Power supplyMSI MAG A750GL PCIE5

750 W, 80 Plus gold; this build draws about 700 W at full tilt, native 12V-2x6 cable.

4 swaps that still fit
78
$89
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$1,500

Is another $500 worth it?

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

-$500$999 all in, fit 50 -19
  • ProcessorAMD Ryzen 5 9600 instead of Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus
  • MotherboardGigabyte B650M DS3H instead of ASRock B860M Pro RS WiFi
  • Graphics cardRadeon RX 7600 XT instead of Radeon RX 7900 XT
  • CPU coolerThermalright Assassin X 120 Refined SE instead of Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE
  • Power supplyCorsair CX650 instead of MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5
  • CaseThermaltake Versa H18 instead of Montech XR
  • StorageKingston NV3 instead of Lexar NM790
See the step down+$500$1,993 all in, fit 80 +11
  • ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus instead of Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus
  • MotherboardASUS TUF Gaming B860-Plus WiFi instead of ASRock B860M Pro RS WiFi
  • Graphics cardRadeon RX 7900 XTX instead of Radeon RX 7900 XT
  • CPU coolerThermalright Aqua Elite 360 V3 instead of Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE
  • Power supplyNZXT C850 Gold ATX 3.1 instead of MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5
  • CaseLian Li Lancool 207 instead of Montech XR
  • StorageSamsung 9100 Pro 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.