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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. $2,500 is the least that buys every part a 3D & rendering 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
88Fit for the job

Enthusiast

$6,500 for 3D & rendering

Tuned for all-core throughput and render speed.

$6,496 for 8 parts, $4 under budget

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and the GeForce RTX 5080 are well matched at 1440p.

Corsair 9000D RGB AirflowRTX 50801000 W

Build order

Eight steps, the way a builder works through the case. $6,496 all in.

  1. MSI MEG X870E Godlike on the tray
  2. Ryzen 9 9950X3D in the socket
  3. Noctua NH-D15 G2 on top
  4. 2 sticks of memory
  5. WD Black SN8100 4 TB on the board
  6. RTX 5080 in the x16 slot
  7. 1000 W supply in the basement
  8. Panel on, power on
PartScore for the jobTypical priceBuy
ProcessorAMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D

Highest 3D & rendering score the budget allows next to this card: 16 cores, boosts to 5.7 GHz.

2 swaps that still fit
98
$669
Buy on Amazon
MotherboardMSI MEG X870E Godlike

X870E board for the AM5 socket, DDR5, 6 M.2 slots, Wi-Fi.

2 swaps that still fit
100
$1,051
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 3D & rendering.

3 swaps that still fit
92
$1,500
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardGeForce RTX 5080

16 GB of video memory, index 77 at 1440p; tuned for all-core throughput and render speed.

2 swaps that still fit
75
$1,600
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerNoctua NH-D15 G2

Rated 280 W for a chip that turbos to 230 W.

4 swaps that still fit
96
$160
Buy on Amazon
Power supplySeasonic Vertex GX-1000

1000 W, 80 Plus gold; this build draws about 800 W at full tilt, native 12V-2x6 cable.

4 swaps that still fit
94
$337
Buy on Amazon
CaseCorsair 9000D RGB Airflow

Takes EATX/ATX/MATX/ITX boards and cards up to 500 mm, 6 fans included.

3 swaps that still fit
95
$519
Buy on Amazon
StorageWD Black SN8100

4 TB PCIe 5.0 NVMe, 14,900 MB/s reads, with cache.

4 swaps that still fit
99
$660
Buy on Amazon
Total, typical prices8 parts$6,496

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 same
  • MotherboardASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Hero instead of MSI MEG X870E Godlike
  • CPU coolerCorsair iCUE Link Titan 360 RX LCD instead of Noctua NH-D15 G2
  • CaseLian Li O11 Dynamic Evo XL instead of Corsair 9000D RGB Airflow
See the step down+$500$6,995 all in, fit 88 same
  • ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus instead of AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
  • MotherboardGigabyte B860 Aorus Elite WiFi7 instead of MSI MEG X870E Godlike
  • MemoryG.Skill Ripjaws S5 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 instead of G.Skill Trident Z5 Royal 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6400 CL32
  • Graphics cardGeForce RTX 5090 instead of GeForce RTX 5080
  • CPU coolerThermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE instead of Noctua NH-D15 G2
  • Power supplyCorsair RM1000x (2024) instead of Seasonic Vertex GX-1000
  • CaseLian Li O11 Dynamic Evo instead of Corsair 9000D RGB Airflow
  • StorageLexar NM790 instead of WD Black SN8100
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.