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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 ai & local models PC needs; a screen, keyboard and mouse come on top.

What the PC is for
83Fit for the job

Enthusiast

$2,500 for ai & local models

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

$2,483 for 8 parts, $17 under budget

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and the GeForce RTX 5080 are well matched at 1440p.

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

Highest ai & local models score near $350: 24 cores, boosts to 5.5 GHz.

3 swaps that still fit
97
$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 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6400 CL32

64 GB DDR5 at 6400 MT/s CL32; 64 GB or more is the floor for ai & local models.

4 swaps that still fit
92
$249
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardGeForce RTX 5080

16 GB of video memory, index 77 at 1440p; tuned for video memory first, then card speed, then system memory.

2 swaps that still fit
67
$1,049
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerbe quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5

Rated 270 W for a chip that turbos to 250 W.

4 swaps that still fit
92
$89
Buy on Amazon
Power supplyCorsair RM850x (2024)

850 W, 80 Plus gold; this build draws about 800 W at full tilt, native 12V-2x6 cable.

4 swaps that still fit
90
$139
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
StorageSamsung 9100 Pro

2 TB PCIe 5.0 NVMe, 14,700 MB/s reads, with cache.

4 swaps that still fit
97
$229
Buy on Amazon
Total, typical prices8 parts$2,483

Is another $500 worth it?

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

-$500$1,993 all in, fit 80 -3
  • MotherboardASUS TUF Gaming B860-Plus WiFi instead of ASUS ROG Strix Z890-A Gaming WiFi
  • MemoryG.Skill Ripjaws S5 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 instead of G.Skill Trident Z5 Royal 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6400 CL32
  • Graphics cardRadeon RX 7900 XTX instead of GeForce RTX 5080
  • CPU coolerThermalright Aqua Elite 360 V3 instead of be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5
  • Power supplyNZXT C850 Gold ATX 3.1 instead of Corsair RM850x (2024)
See the step down+$500$2,913 all in, fit 84 +1
  • MemoryG.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 96GB (2x48GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 instead of G.Skill Trident Z5 Royal 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6400 CL32
  • CPU coolerArctic Liquid Freezer III 360 instead of be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5
  • Power supplyCorsair RM1200x Shift instead of Corsair RM850x (2024)
  • CaseLian Li Lancool 216 instead of Lian Li Lancool 207
  • StorageSamsung 9100 Pro instead of Samsung 9100 Pro
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.