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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 a light gaming PC needs; past $8,500 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
79Fit for the job

Enthusiast

$2,000 for light gaming

Tuned for 1080p frame rates per dollar.

$1,969 for 8 parts, $31 under budget

The Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and the Radeon RX 9070 XT are well matched at 1080p.

Lian Li Lancool 216RX 9070 XT750 W

Build order

Eight steps, the way a builder works through the case. $1,969 all in.

  1. MSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk WiFi on the tray
  2. Core Ultra 5 250K Plus in the socket
  3. Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE on top
  4. 2 sticks of memory
  5. Crucial T705 1TB on the board
  6. RX 9070 XT in the x16 slot
  7. 750 W supply in the basement
  8. Panel on, power on
PartScore for the jobTypical priceBuy
ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus

Highest light gaming score the budget allows next to this card: 18 cores, boosts to 5.3 GHz.

2 swaps that still fit
79
$220
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
$244
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 light gaming.

2 swaps that still fit
57
$290
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardRadeon RX 9070 XT

16 GB of video memory, index 77 at 1080p; tuned for 1080p frame rates per dollar.

4 swaps that still fit
77
$750
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerThermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE

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

3 swaps that still fit
88
$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
$80
Buy on Amazon
CaseLian Li Lancool 216

3 fans in the box, 3 is the least 463 W of parts needs behind a mesh front. Takes EATX/ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 392 mm.

4 swaps that still fit
90
$99
Buy on Amazon
StorageCrucial T705 1TB

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

4 swaps that still fit
92
$250
Buy on Amazon
Total, typical prices8 parts$1,969

Is another $500 worth it?

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

-$500$1,492 all in, fit 68 -11
  • ProcessorIntel Core i5-14600KF 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
  • Graphics cardRadeon RX 9070 instead of Radeon RX 9070 XT
  • Power supplyCorsair CX750 instead of be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W
  • CaseMontech XR instead of Lian Li Lancool 216
  • StorageKingston NV3 1TB instead of Crucial T705 1TB
See the step down+$500$2,493 all in, fit 85 +6
  • ProcessorAMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D instead of Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus
  • MotherboardMSI MAG B850 Tomahawk Max WiFi instead of MSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk WiFi
  • MemoryCorsair Vengeance 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
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.