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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 an AI & local models 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
97Fit for the job

Flagship

$7,500 for AI & local models

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

$7,484 for 8 parts, $16 under budget

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and the GeForce RTX 5090 are well matched at 1440p.

Lian Li O11 Dynamic EvoRTX 50901200 W

Build order

Eight steps, the way a builder works through the case. $7,484 all in.

  1. ASUS ROG Maximus Z890 Hero on the tray
  2. Core Ultra 7 270K Plus in the socket
  3. Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 on top
  4. 2 sticks of memory
  5. Samsung 9100 Pro 2 TB on the board
  6. RTX 5090 in the x16 slot
  7. 1200 W supply in the basement
  8. Panel on, power on
PartScore for the jobTypical priceBuy
ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus

Highest AI & local models score the budget allows next to this card: 24 cores, boosts to 5.5 GHz.

4 swaps that still fit
97
$324
Buy on Amazon
MotherboardASUS ROG Maximus Z890 Hero

Z890 board for the LGA1851 socket, DDR5, 5 M.2 slots, Wi-Fi.

2 swaps that still fit
98
$429
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.

2 swaps that still fit
88
$1,199
Buy on Amazon
Graphics cardGeForce RTX 5090

32 GB of video memory, index 100 at 1440p; tuned for video memory first, then card speed, then system memory.

2 swaps that still fit
100
$4,830
Buy on Amazon
CPU coolerArctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360

Rated 330 W for a chip that turbos to 250 W.

4 swaps that still fit
96
$70
Buy on Amazon
Power supplyThermaltake Toughpower GF3 1200W

1200 W, 80 Plus gold; this build draws about 1100 W at full tilt, native 12V-2x6 cable.

2 swaps that still fit
92
$159
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
StorageSamsung 9100 Pro

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

4 swaps that still fit
97
$400
Buy on Amazon
Total, typical prices8 parts$7,484

Is another $500 worth it?

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

-$500$6,995 all in, fit 89 -8
  • ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus instead of Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus
  • MotherboardGigabyte B860 Aorus Elite WiFi7 instead of ASUS ROG Maximus Z890 Hero
  • CPU coolerThermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE instead of Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360
  • Power supplyCorsair RM1000x (2024) instead of Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 1200W
  • StorageLexar NM790 instead of Samsung 9100 Pro
See the step down+$500$7,976 all in, fit 98 +1
  • MemoryG.Skill Trident Z5 Royal 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 instead of G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6000 CL30
  • Power supplyCorsair HX1500i (2023) instead of Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 1200W
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.