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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 i3-14100FRadeon RX 6600$999 all in, 8 parts, fit 52 of 10052fitOpen this build
  2. Gaming for $1,500Intel Core i5-14600KFRadeon RX 7700 XT$1,482 all in, 8 parts, fit 61 of 10061fitOpen this build
  3. Content creation for $3,000Intel Core Ultra 7 270K PlusGeForce RTX 5070 Ti$2,994 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
  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. $1,500 is the least that buys every part a gaming PC needs; past $10,000 the catalogue has nothing faster to add. A screen, keyboard and mouse come on top.

What the PC is for
93Fit for the job

Flagship

$6,500 for gaming

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

$6,500 for 8 parts, $0 under budget

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and the GeForce RTX 5090 are well matched at 1440p.

Lian Li O11 Dynamic EvoRTX 50901000 W

Build order

Eight steps, the way a builder works through the case. $6,500 all in.

  1. ASRock B650M Pro RS WiFi on the tray
  2. Ryzen 7 9850X3D in the socket
  3. Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE on top
  4. 2 sticks of memory
  5. Crucial T705 1 TB on the board
  6. RTX 5090 in the x16 slot
  7. 1000 W supply in the basement
  8. Panel on, power on
PartScore for the jobTypical priceBuy
ProcessorAMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D

Highest gaming score the budget allows next to this card: 8 cores, boosts to 5.6 GHz.

3 swaps that still fit
94
$484
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
MemoryCorsair Vengeance 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30

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

3 swaps that still fit
80
$550
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
$4,830
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerThermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE

Rated 260 W for a chip that turbos to 162 W.

3 swaps that still fit
88
$36
Buy on Amazon
Power supplyCorsair RM1000x (2024)

1000 W, 80 Plus gold; this build draws about 1000 W at full tilt, native 12V-2x6 cable.

4 swaps that still fit
93
$167
Buy on Amazon
CaseLian Li O11 Dynamic Evo

Takes EATX/ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 422 mm, 0 fans included.

4 swaps that still fit
90
$73
Buy on Amazon
StorageCrucial T705

1 TB PCIe 5.0 NVMe, 13,600 MB/s reads, with cache.

4 swaps that still fit
92
$250
Buy on Amazon
Total, typical prices8 parts$6,500

Is another $500 worth it?

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

-$500$5,808 all in, fit 88 -5
  • ProcessorAMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D instead of AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D
  • MotherboardASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Hero instead of ASRock B650M Pro RS WiFi
  • MemoryG.Skill Trident Z5 Royal 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 instead of Corsair Vengeance 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30
  • Graphics cardGeForce RTX 5080 instead of GeForce RTX 5090
  • CPU coolerCorsair iCUE Link Titan 360 RX LCD instead of Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE
  • Power supplySeasonic Vertex GX-1000 instead of Corsair RM1000x (2024)
  • CaseLian Li O11 Dynamic Evo XL instead of Lian Li O11 Dynamic Evo
  • StorageWD Black SN8100 instead of Crucial T705
See the step down+$500$6,880 all in, fit 96 +3
  • MotherboardASUS ROG Strix X870E-E Gaming WiFi instead of ASRock B650M Pro RS WiFi
  • MemoryG.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 instead of Corsair Vengeance 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30
  • CPU coolerArctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 instead of Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE
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.