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

What the PC is for
76Fit for the job

Enthusiast

$2,000 for heavy gaming

Tuned for the strongest graphics card the budget allows.

$1,993 for 8 parts, $7 under budget

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and the Radeon RX 7900 XTX are well matched at 4K.

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

Highest heavy gaming score near $320: 24 cores, boosts to 5.5 GHz.

3 swaps that still fit
83
$290
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 heavy gaming.

4 swaps that still fit
85
$129
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardRadeon RX 7900 XTX

24 GB of video memory, index 64 at 4K; tuned for the strongest graphics card the budget allows.

3 swaps that still fit
64
$849
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerArctic Liquid Freezer III 240

Rated 280 W for a chip that turbos to 250 W.

4 swaps that still fit
88
$79
Buy on Amazon
Power supplyCorsair RM850x (2024)

850 W, 80 Plus gold; this build draws about 800 W at full tilt, native 12V-2x6 cable.

4 swaps that still fit
90
$139
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
StorageSamsung 9100 Pro

2 TB PCIe 5.0 NVMe, 14,700 MB/s reads, with cache.

4 swaps that still fit
97
$229
Buy on Amazon
Total, typical prices8 parts$1,993

Is another $500 worth it?

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

-$500$1,500 all in, fit 70 -6
  • ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus instead of Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus
  • MotherboardASRock B860M Pro RS WiFi instead of ASUS TUF Gaming B860-Plus WiFi
  • Graphics cardRadeon RX 9070 XT instead of Radeon RX 7900 XTX
  • CPU coolerThermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE instead of Arctic Liquid Freezer III 240
  • Power supplyMSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 instead of Corsair RM850x (2024)
  • StorageWD Black SN850X instead of Samsung 9100 Pro
See the step down+$500$2,497 all in, fit 83 +7
  • ProcessorAMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D instead of Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus
  • MotherboardMSI MAG B850 Tomahawk Max WiFi instead of ASUS TUF Gaming B860-Plus WiFi
  • MemoryG.Skill Trident Z5 Royal 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-8000 CL38 instead of G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6400 CL32
  • Graphics cardGeForce RTX 5080 instead of Radeon RX 7900 XTX
  • CPU coolerArctic Liquid Freezer III 360 instead of Arctic Liquid Freezer III 240
  • Power supplySeasonic Focus GX-750 ATX 3.0 instead of Corsair RM850x (2024)
  • CaseLian Li Lancool 216 instead of Lian Li Lancool 207
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.