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

What the PC is for
78Fit for the job

Enthusiast

$1,500 for light gaming

Tuned for 1080p frame rates per dollar.

$1,499 for 8 parts, $1 under budget

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and the Radeon RX 9070 are well matched at 1080p.

PartScore for the jobTypical priceBuy
ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus

Highest light gaming score near $300: 24 cores, boosts to 5.5 GHz.

3 swaps that still fit
87
$290
Buy on Amazon
MotherboardMSI PRO B860-P WiFi

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

3 swaps that still fit
66
$169
Buy on Amazon
MemoryG.Skill Flare X5 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30

32 GB DDR5 at 6000 MT/s CL30; 16 GB or more is the floor for light gaming.

4 swaps that still fit
80
$95
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardRadeon RX 9070

16 GB of video memory, index 69 at 1080p; tuned for 1080p frame rates per dollar.

4 swaps that still fit
69
$569
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerbe quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5

Rated 270 W for a chip that turbos to 250 W.

4 swaps that still fit
92
$89
Buy on Amazon
Power supplySeasonic Focus GX-750 ATX 3.0

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

4 swaps that still fit
85
$109
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$1,499

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 64 -14
  • ProcessorAMD Ryzen 5 9600X instead of Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus
  • MotherboardGigabyte B650M DS3H instead of MSI PRO B860-P WiFi
  • Graphics cardRadeon RX 9060 XT 8GB instead of Radeon RX 9070
  • CPU coolerThermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE instead of be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5
  • Power supplyMSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 instead of Seasonic Focus GX-750 ATX 3.0
See the step down+$500$1,973 all in, fit 84 +6
  • MotherboardASUS ROG Strix Z890-A Gaming WiFi instead of MSI PRO B860-P WiFi
  • MemoryG.Skill Trident Z5 Royal 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-8000 CL38 instead of G.Skill Flare X5 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30
  • Graphics cardRadeon RX 9070 XT instead of Radeon RX 9070
  • CPU coolerArctic Liquid Freezer III 360 instead of be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5
  • Power supplyCorsair RM850x (2024) instead of Seasonic Focus GX-750 ATX 3.0
  • 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.