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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. $1,500 is the least that buys every part an office & everyday PC needs; past $10,000 the catalogue has nothing faster to add. A screen, keyboard and mouse come on top.

How it should look

Every part black, and everything that can light up does. 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
81Fit for the job

Enthusiast

$2,000 for office & everyday

Tuned for snappy single-core speed, quiet running, and a card that drives two or three screens without fuss.

$1,999 for 8 parts, $1 under budget

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and the Radeon RX 7700 XT are well matched at 1080p.

Montech Air 903 MaxRX 7700 XT750 W

Build order

Eight steps, the way a builder works through the case. $1,999 all in.

  1. Gigabyte B860 Aorus Elite WiFi7 on the tray
  2. Core Ultra 7 270K Plus in the socket
  3. Thermalright Frozen Notte 360 on top
  4. 2 sticks of memory
  5. Crucial T705 1TB on the board
  6. RX 7700 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 7 270K Plus

Highest office & everyday score the budget allows next to this card: 24 cores, boosts to 5.5 GHz.

4 swaps that still fit
97
$324
Buy on Amazon
MotherboardGigabyte B860 Aorus Elite WiFi7

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

1 swap that still fit
76
$170
Buy on Amazon
MemoryG.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30

32 GB DDR5 at 6000 MT/s CL30; 16 GB or more is the floor for office & everyday.

3 swaps that still fit
82
$600
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardRadeon RX 7700 XT

12 GB of video memory, index 51 at 1080p; tuned for snappy single-core speed, quiet running, and a card that drives two or three screens without fuss.

4 swaps that still fit
46
$430
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerThermalright Frozen Notte 360

Rated 300 W for a chip that turbos to 250 W, with lit fans.

2 swaps that still fit
78
$55
Buy on Amazon
Power supplybe quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W

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

3 swaps that still fit
82
$80
Buy on Amazon
CaseMontech Air 903 Max

4 fans in the box, 3 of them lit, 3 is the least 495 W of parts needs behind a mesh front. Takes EATX/ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 400 mm.

3 swaps that still fit
82
$90
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$1,999

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 59 -22
  • ProcessorIntel Core i3-14100F instead of Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus
  • MotherboardGigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite AX instead of Gigabyte B860 Aorus Elite WiFi7
  • MemoryTeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 instead of G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30
  • Graphics cardRadeon RX 6600 instead of Radeon RX 7700 XT
  • CPU coolerThermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB instead of Thermalright Frozen Notte 360
  • Power supplyCorsair CX750 instead of be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W
  • StorageKingston NV3 1TB instead of Crucial T705 1TB
See the step down+$500$2,453 all in, fit 87 +6
  • MemoryG.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 instead of G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30
  • Graphics cardRadeon RX 9070 XT instead of Radeon RX 7700 XT
  • Power supplySuper Flower Leadex VII XG 1000W instead of be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W
  • CaseMontech King 95 Pro instead of Montech Air 903 Max
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.