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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 3d & rendering PC needs; a screen, keyboard and mouse come on top.

What the PC is for
77Fit for the job

Enthusiast

$2,000 for 3d & rendering

Tuned for all-core throughput and render speed.

$1,992 for 8 parts, $8 under budget

The Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and the Radeon RX 9070 XT are well matched at 1440p.

PartScore for the jobTypical priceBuy
ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 9 285K

Highest 3d & rendering score near $560: 24 cores, boosts to 5.7 GHz.

2 swaps that still fit
97
$499
Buy on Amazon
MotherboardGigabyte B860 Aorus Elite WiFi7

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

4 swaps that still fit
76
$219
Buy on Amazon
MemoryG.Skill Ripjaws S5 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6000 CL30

64 GB DDR5 at 6000 MT/s CL30; 64 GB or more is the floor for 3d & rendering.

2 swaps that still fit
88
$179
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardRadeon RX 9070 XT

16 GB of video memory, index 70 at 1440p; tuned for all-core throughput and render speed.

3 swaps that still fit
56
$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 supplySeasonic Focus GX-750 ATX 3.0

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

4 swaps that still fit
85
$109
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
StorageWD Black SN850X

2 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe, 7,300 MB/s reads, with cache.

4 swaps that still fit
88
$149
Buy on Amazon
Total, typical prices8 parts$1,992

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 70 -7
  • ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus instead of Intel Core Ultra 9 285K
  • MotherboardASRock B860M Pro RS WiFi instead of Gigabyte B860 Aorus Elite WiFi7
  • Graphics cardGeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB instead of Radeon RX 9070 XT
  • CPU coolerbe quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 instead of Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360
  • Power supplybe quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W instead of Seasonic Focus GX-750 ATX 3.0
See the step down+$500$2,492 all in, fit 83 +6
  • MotherboardASUS ROG Strix Z890-A Gaming WiFi instead of Gigabyte B860 Aorus Elite WiFi7
  • MemoryG.Skill Trident Z5 Royal 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 instead of G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6000 CL30
  • Graphics cardGeForce RTX 5070 Ti instead of Radeon RX 9070 XT
  • Power supplySeasonic Vertex GX-1000 instead of Seasonic Focus GX-750 ATX 3.0
  • CaseLian Li Lancool 216 instead of Lian Li Lancool 207
  • StorageSamsung 9100 Pro instead of WD Black SN850X
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.