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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. $2,500 is the least that buys every part an AI & local models PC needs; past $8,500 the catalogue has nothing faster to add. A screen, keyboard and mouse come on top.

How it should look

Every part black, and nothing in the box lights up. 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
58Fit for the job

Capable

$2,500 for AI & local models

Tuned for video memory first, then card speed, then system memory.

$2,500 for 8 parts, $0 under budget

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X has headroom to spare. The Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB sets the frame rate at 1440p, so a faster card is the upgrade that shows.

NZXT H5 Flow (2024)RX 9060 XT 16GB750 W

Build order

Eight steps, the way a builder works through the case. $2,500 all in.

  1. ASRock B650M Pro RS WiFi on the tray
  2. Ryzen 5 9600X in the socket
  3. Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE on top
  4. 2 sticks of memory
  5. Lexar NM790 2TB on the board
  6. RX 9060 XT 16GB in the x16 slot
  7. 750 W supply in the basement
  8. Panel on, power on
PartScore for the jobTypical priceBuy
ProcessorAMD Ryzen 5 9600X

Highest AI & local models score the budget allows next to this card: 6 cores, boosts to 5.4 GHz.

4 swaps that still fit
59
$175
Buy on Amazon
MotherboardASRock B650M Pro RS WiFi

B650 board for the AM5 socket, DDR5, 3 M.2 slots, Wi-Fi.

2 swaps that still fit
60
$110
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 AI & local models.

2 swaps that still fit
88
$1,199
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardRadeon RX 9060 XT 16GB

16 GB of video memory, index 40 at 1440p; tuned for video memory first, then card speed, then system memory.

40
$530
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerThermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE

Rated 260 W for a chip that turbos to 88 W.

3 swaps that still fit
88
$36
Buy on Amazon
Power supplybe quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W

750 W, 80 Plus gold; this build draws about 400 W at full tilt, native 12V-2x6 cable.

4 swaps that still fit
82
$80
Buy on Amazon
CaseNZXT H5 Flow (2024)

2 fans in the box, 2 is the least 248 W of parts needs behind a mesh front. Takes ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 410 mm.

3 swaps that still fit
78
$70
Buy on Amazon
StorageLexar NM790 2TB

2 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe, 7,400 MB/s reads.

2 swaps that still fit
76
$300
Buy on Amazon
Total, typical prices8 parts$2,500

Is another $500 worth it?

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

+$500$2,997 all in, fit 75 +17
  • ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus instead of AMD Ryzen 5 9600X
  • MotherboardMSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk WiFi instead of ASRock B650M Pro RS WiFi
  • Graphics cardRadeon RX 9070 instead of Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB
  • CPU coolerArctic Liquid Freezer III 240 instead of Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE
  • CaseLian Li Lancool 216 instead of NZXT H5 Flow (2024)
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.