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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
76Fit for the job

Enthusiast

$1,500 for gaming

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

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

The Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and the Radeon RX 9070 XT are well matched at 1440p.

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

Highest gaming score near $270: 18 cores, boosts to 5.3 GHz.

2 swaps that still fit
77
$210
Buy on Amazon
MotherboardASUS TUF Gaming B860-Plus WiFi

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

4 swaps that still fit
72
$189
Buy on Amazon
MemoryG.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6400 CL32

32 GB DDR5 at 6400 MT/s CL32; 32 GB or more is the floor for gaming.

4 swaps that still fit
85
$129
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardRadeon RX 9070 XT

16 GB of video memory, index 70 at 1440p; tuned for 1440p frame rates, with a CPU that will not hold the card back.

4 swaps that still fit
70
$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 supplybe quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W

750 W, 80 Plus gold; this build draws about 650 W at full tilt, native 12V-2x6 cable.

4 swaps that still fit
82
$99
Buy on Amazon
CaseLian Li Lancool 207

Takes ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 395 mm, 4 fans included.

4 swaps that still fit
88
$89
Buy on Amazon
StorageWD Black SN850X

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

4 swaps that still fit
86
$89
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$999 all in, fit 59 -17
  • ProcessorAMD Ryzen 5 9600 instead of Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus
  • MotherboardGigabyte B650M DS3H instead of ASUS TUF Gaming B860-Plus WiFi
  • MemoryG.Skill Flare X5 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 instead of G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6400 CL32
  • Graphics cardRadeon RX 7700 XT instead of Radeon RX 9070 XT
  • CPU coolerThermalright Assassin X 120 Refined SE instead of Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE
  • Power supplyMSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 instead of be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W
  • CaseThermaltake Versa H18 instead of Lian Li Lancool 207
  • StorageCrucial T500 instead of WD Black SN850X
See the step down+$500$1,973 all in, fit 80 +4
  • ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus instead of Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus
  • MotherboardGigabyte B860 Aorus Elite WiFi7 instead of ASUS TUF Gaming B860-Plus WiFi
  • Graphics cardRadeon RX 7900 XTX instead of Radeon RX 9070 XT
  • CPU coolerArctic Liquid Freezer III 360 instead of Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE
  • Power supplyCorsair RM850x (2024) instead of be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W
  • CaseLian Li Lancool 216 instead of Lian Li Lancool 207
  • StorageCrucial T705 instead of WD Black SN850X
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.