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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 gaming PC needs; a screen, keyboard and mouse come on top.

What the PC is for
97Fit for the job

Flagship

$4,500 for gaming

Tuned for 1440p frame rates, with a CPU that will not hold the card back.

$4,372 for 8 parts, $128 under budget

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and the GeForce RTX 5090 are well matched at 1440p.

PartScore for the jobTypical priceBuy
ProcessorAMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D

Highest gaming score near $810: 16 cores, boosts to 5.7 GHz.

4 swaps that still fit
96
$569
Buy on Amazon
MotherboardASUS ROG Strix X870E-E Gaming WiFi

X870E board for the AM5 socket, DDR5, 5 M.2 slots, Wi-Fi.

4 swaps that still fit
96
$449
Buy on Amazon
MemoryG.Skill Trident Z5 Royal 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6400 CL32

64 GB DDR5 at 6400 MT/s CL32; 32 GB or more is the floor for gaming.

4 swaps that still fit
92
$249
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardGeForce RTX 5090

32 GB of video memory, index 100 at 1440p; tuned for 1440p frame rates, with a CPU that will not hold the card back.

2 swaps that still fit
100
$2,199
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerArctic Liquid Freezer III 360

Rated 330 W for a chip that turbos to 230 W.

4 swaps that still fit
96
$99
Buy on Amazon
Power supplyCorsair HX1500i (2023)

1500 W, 80 Plus platinum; this build draws about 1050 W at full tilt, native 12V-2x6 cable.

4 swaps that still fit
98
$329
Buy on Amazon
CaseLian Li O11 Dynamic Evo XL

Takes EATX/ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 460 mm, 0 fans included.

4 swaps that still fit
93
$249
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$4,372

Is another $500 worth it?

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

-$500$3,992 all in, fit 88 -9
  • MotherboardASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Hero instead of ASUS ROG Strix X870E-E Gaming WiFi
  • Graphics cardGeForce RTX 5080 instead of GeForce RTX 5090
  • CPU coolerCorsair iCUE Link Titan 360 RX LCD instead of Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360
  • Power supplySeasonic Prime TX-1300 instead of Corsair HX1500i (2023)
  • StorageSamsung 9100 Pro instead of Samsung 9100 Pro
See the step down+$500$4,922 all in, fit 98 +1
  • MotherboardASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Hero instead of ASUS ROG Strix X870E-E Gaming WiFi
  • MemoryG.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 96GB (2x48GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 instead of G.Skill Trident Z5 Royal 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6400 CL32
  • 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.