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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
84Fit for the job

Enthusiast

$2,000 for light gaming

Tuned for 1080p frame rates per dollar.

$1,973 for 8 parts, $27 under budget

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

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

Highest light gaming score near $400: 24 cores, boosts to 5.5 GHz.

3 swaps that still fit
87
$290
Buy on Amazon
MotherboardASUS ROG Strix Z890-A Gaming WiFi

Z890 board for the LGA1851 socket, DDR5, 5 M.2 slots, Wi-Fi.

3 swaps that still fit
92
$349
Buy on Amazon
MemoryG.Skill Trident Z5 Royal 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-8000 CL38

32 GB DDR5 at 8000 MT/s CL38; 16 GB or more is the floor for light gaming.

4 swaps that still fit
90
$199
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
$649
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerArctic Liquid Freezer III 360

Rated 330 W for a chip that turbos to 250 W.

4 swaps that still fit
96
$99
Buy on Amazon
Power supplyCorsair RM850x (2024)

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

4 swaps that still fit
90
$139
Buy on Amazon
CaseLian Li Lancool 216

Takes EATX/ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 392 mm, 3 fans included.

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

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

4 swaps that still fit
92
$149
Buy on Amazon
Total, typical prices8 parts$1,973

Is another $500 worth it?

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

-$500$1,499 all in, fit 78 -6
  • MotherboardMSI PRO B860-P WiFi instead of ASUS ROG Strix Z890-A Gaming WiFi
  • MemoryG.Skill Flare X5 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 instead of G.Skill Trident Z5 Royal 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-8000 CL38
  • Graphics cardRadeon RX 9070 instead of Radeon RX 9070 XT
  • CPU coolerbe quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 instead of Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360
  • Power supplySeasonic Focus GX-750 ATX 3.0 instead of Corsair RM850x (2024)
  • CaseLian Li Lancool 207 instead of Lian Li Lancool 216
  • StorageWD Black SN850X instead of Crucial T705
See the step down+$500$2,492 all in, fit 87 +3
  • ProcessorAMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D instead of Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus
  • MotherboardGigabyte X870 Aorus Elite WiFi7 instead of ASUS ROG Strix Z890-A Gaming WiFi
  • Graphics cardRadeon RX 7900 XTX instead of Radeon RX 9070 XT
  • Power supplySeasonic Vertex GX-1000 instead of Corsair RM850x (2024)
  • StorageSamsung 9100 Pro instead of Crucial T705
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.