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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 Amazon US readings from ScoutPrices where one exists, typical where not: the Amazon page decides.

Budget, in US dollars

Steps of $500. $3,000 is the least that buys every part an AI & local models PC needs in black without rgb; past $7,000 the catalogue has nothing faster to add. A screen, keyboard and mouse come on top.

What the PC is for
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.

Checked for fit before it reaches you.

Start from a build people pick

Live from the catalogue
  1. Office & everyday for $1,000Intel Core i3-14100FASRock Intel Arc B580 Challenger 12GB OC$1,000 all in, 8 parts, fit 56 of 10056fitOpen this build
  2. Gaming for $1,500Intel Core i3-14100FSapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB$1,497 all in, 8 parts, fit 62 of 10062fitOpen this build
  3. Content creation for $3,000Intel Core Ultra 7 270K PlusGeForce RTX 5070 Ti$2,979 all in, 8 parts, fit 82 of 10082fitOpen this build

Every row is worked out from today's catalogue. Open one, then change anything.

72Fit for the job

Sweet spot

$3,000 for AI & local models

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

Language and image models on your own card. Judged by video memory first: 16 GB is the floor, and the card's creator index decides the rest.

This build

$3,150

Budget

$3,000

Over budget

$150

Parts

8

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X and the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB are well matched at 1440p.

A part marked Amazon US shows ScoutPrices' reading of the listing its button opens, with the day it was read; a part with no reading shows its typical price. The parts were chosen on typical prices, so a total can land a little over the budget when the shops move. Not a checkout total: an operating system, shipping and tax are not in it, and neither are a screen, a keyboard and a mouse.

PartScore for the jobPriceBuy
ProcessorAMD Ryzen 9 9950X

Highest AI & local models score the budget allows next to this card: 16 cores, boosts to 5.7 GHz.

3 swaps that still fit
96
$539Amazon US, Oct 24
Buy on Amazon
MotherboardASRock B650M Pro RS WiFi

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

60
$110Amazon US, Oct 24
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.

88
$1,114Amazon US, Oct 24
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardSapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB

16 GB of video memory, index 70 at 1440p; tuned for video memory first, then card speed, then system memory.

54
$900Amazon US, Oct 24
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerThermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE

Rated 260 W for a chip that turbos to 230 W.

1 swap that still fit
88
$40Amazon US, Oct 24
Buy on Amazon
Power supplybe quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W

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

3 swaps that still fit
82
$80Amazon US, Oct 24
Buy on Amazon
CaseFractal Design Pop Air

3 fans in the box, 3 is the least 534 W of parts needs behind a mesh front. Takes ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 405 mm.

1 swap that still fit
76
$90Amazon US, Oct 24
Buy on Amazon
StorageKingston NV3 2TB

2 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe, 6,000 MB/s reads.

60
$278Amazon US, Oct 24
Buy on Amazon
Total8 parts, every price read on Amazon US$3,150

Is another $500 worth it?

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

+$500$3,378 all in, fit 78 +6
  • ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus instead of AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
  • MotherboardMSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk WiFi instead of ASRock B650M Pro RS WiFi
  • CPU coolerArctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 instead of Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE
  • Power supplySuper Flower Leadex VII XG 1000W instead of be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W
  • CaseFractal Design Torrent instead of Fractal Design Pop Air
  • StorageSamsung 9100 Pro 2TB instead of Kingston NV3 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.

Every ready build

The list this page works out, at every step of every job, each on a page of its own. Nothing here is a suggestion from a magazine: the parts are checked against each other and priced.

Office PC

Browsing, documents, video calls, streaming films.

PC for programming

IDEs, compilers, containers, a few virtual machines.

Budget gaming PC

Esports and indie titles at 1080p, high frame rates.

Gaming PC

Big titles at 1440p, high settings.

4K gaming PC

4K, ray tracing, or 240 Hz at 1440p.

Video editing PC

Video editing, photo work, motion graphics.

PC for 3D and rendering

Blender, CAD, simulation, long renders.

Streaming PC

Playing at 1440p while encoding a live stream.

PC for local AI models

Running language and image models on your own card.