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

What the PC is for
81Fit for the job

Enthusiast

$2,000 for gaming & streaming

Tuned for frame rates with headroom for the encoder and the chat.

$1,983 for 8 parts, $17 under budget

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti are well matched at 1440p.

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

Highest gaming & streaming score near $440: 24 cores, boosts to 5.5 GHz.

3 swaps that still fit
89
$290
Buy on Amazon
MotherboardMSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk WiFi

Z890 board for the LGA1851 socket, DDR5, 4 M.2 slots, Wi-Fi.

4 swaps that still fit
86
$299
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 gaming & streaming.

4 swaps that still fit
85
$129
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardGeForce RTX 5070 Ti

16 GB of video memory, index 70 at 1440p; tuned for frame rates with headroom for the encoder and the chat.

4 swaps that still fit
69
$779
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$1,983

Is another $500 worth it?

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

-$500$1,493 all in, fit 74 -7
  • MotherboardASUS TUF Gaming B860-Plus WiFi instead of MSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk WiFi
  • Graphics cardGeForce RTX 5070 instead of GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
  • CPU coolerThermalright Aqua Elite 360 V3 instead of Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360
  • Power supplybe quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W 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$2,493 all in, fit 85 +4
  • MotherboardASUS ROG Strix Z890-A Gaming WiFi instead of MSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk 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 GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
  • Power supplySeasonic Vertex GX-1000 instead of Corsair RM850x (2024)
  • CaseLian Li Lancool 207 instead of Lian Li Lancool 216
  • 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.