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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 a heavy gaming PC needs; past $9,000 the catalogue has nothing faster to add. A screen, keyboard and mouse come on top.

How it should look

Every part black, and everything that can light up does. 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
75Fit for the job

Enthusiast

$2,500 for heavy gaming

Tuned for the strongest graphics card the budget allows.

$2,494 for 8 parts, $6 under budget

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and the Radeon RX 9070 XT are well matched at 4K.

Montech Air 903 MaxRX 9070 XT750 W

Build order

Eight steps, the way a builder works through the case. $2,494 all in.

  1. ASUS ROG Strix B850-F Gaming WiFi on the tray
  2. Ryzen 7 9800X3D in the socket
  3. Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB on top
  4. 2 sticks of memory
  5. Lexar NM790 2TB on the board
  6. RX 9070 XT in the x16 slot
  7. 750 W supply in the basement
  8. Panel on, power on
PartScore for the jobTypical priceBuy
ProcessorAMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

Highest heavy gaming score the budget allows next to this card: 8 cores, boosts to 5.2 GHz.

4 swaps that still fit
91
$449
Buy on Amazon
MotherboardASUS ROG Strix B850-F Gaming WiFi

B850 board for the AM5 socket, DDR5, 3 M.2 slots, Wi-Fi.

2 swaps that still fit
82
$210
Buy on Amazon
MemoryTeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30

32 GB DDR5 at 6000 MT/s CL30; 32 GB or more is the floor for heavy gaming.

2 swaps that still fit
80
$560
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardRadeon RX 9070 XT

16 GB of video memory, index 59 at 4K; tuned for the strongest graphics card the budget allows.

3 swaps that still fit
59
$750
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerThermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB

Rated 250 W for a chip that turbos to 162 W, with lit fans.

3 swaps that still fit
84
$55
Buy on Amazon
Power supplybe quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W

750 W, 80 Plus gold; this build draws about 650 W at full tilt, native 12V-2x6 cable.

4 swaps that still fit
82
$80
Buy on Amazon
CaseMontech Air 903 Max

4 fans in the box, 3 of them lit, 3 is the least 466 W of parts needs behind a mesh front. Takes EATX/ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 400 mm.

3 swaps that still fit
82
$90
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$2,494

Is another $500 worth it?

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

+$500$2,984 all in, fit 79 +4
  • ProcessorAMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D instead of AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
  • MotherboardASUS ROG Strix X870E-E Gaming WiFi instead of ASUS ROG Strix B850-F Gaming WiFi
  • MemoryG.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 instead of TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30
  • Power supplySuper Flower Leadex VII XG 1000W instead of be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W
  • CaseMontech King 95 Pro instead of Montech Air 903 Max
  • StorageSamsung 9100 Pro 2TB instead of Lexar NM790 2TB
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.