How PartForge decides what it can safely claim.
Every buyer-facing result is classified as current source data, modeled data, or unavailable. Missing facts remain unknown; they are never converted into a pass, a zero-dollar cost, or an invented benchmark.
Exact product identity
PartForge attempts exact GTIN first, then brand plus manufacturer part number. Regional aliases can map only through a reviewed rule. Title similarity generates candidates but cannot complete a match by itself.
- Contradictory capacity, timing, wattage, revision, or model facts quarantine the match.
- GPU families remain separate from board-partner cards.
- PSU revisions and RAM kit configurations remain separate exact SKUs.
Price observations
Offers are stored separately from products. Each accepted refresh records the canonical SKU, source listing, seller, condition, item price, shipping when known, eligibility, observation time, and match method.
- Exact MPN/GTIN matches receive the strongest identity classification.
- When identifiers are absent, category-specific title and description rules must confirm brand, model, capacity, and variant without contradictory or accessory-only language.
- New, open-box, refurbished, and used histories are never mixed.
- Unknown shipping does not erase the known item subtotal.
- At least five observations spanning 24 hours are required before a median is published.
- Active asking prices are not described as completed sales.
Compatibility rules
Rules have five practical outcomes: pass, warning, fail, unknown, and not applicable. A pass requires the facts used by that rule; a family-level claim cannot silently substitute for an exact BIOS or revision requirement.
- Every live-build result includes a rule version, input facts, source links, retrieval dates, and confidence.
- Configuration-dependent limits, such as radiator-reduced GPU clearance, use the selected configuration.
- Unknown critical checks keep the overall build status incomplete.
Used-part safety
A used listing must prove exact identity and working condition while meeting seller-protection and category-specific evidence rules. Rejected listings do not leak into the public recommendation payload.
- Used storage requires current SMART evidence.
- Used GPUs require functional evidence beyond a stock photo.
- Used PSUs face the strictest revision, cable, age, and protection gates.
Source priority depends on the fact.
- 1Manufacturer or standards organization for compatibility-critical facts
- 2Official retailer or marketplace API/feed for that source's own price and inventory
- 3Licensed commercial catalog or authorized affiliate feed
- 4Permitted structured-page extraction with parser-version tracking
- 5Open/community data or reviewed manual entry as a clearly identified fallback
A retailer is authoritative for its own current price and stock, not for motherboard BIOS compatibility. Manufacturer documentation controls technical facts unless a newer, equally authoritative revision supersedes it.
Manufacturer sources used by the live reference build
Retrieved August 6, 2026. The Thermalright page covers a related BLACK family variant; PartForge keeps the selected cooler-to-variant GTIN mapping unresolved rather than transferring the dimension silently.
Modeled is not measured.
Performance Lab checks stored exact-system observations first, then may calibrate a clearly labeled projection from public Linux Game Bench community measurements. Projections target the saved build's exact CPU, GPU, and memory selection, use versioned GPU and resolution-aware CPU corrections, and widen their range when the source does not report RAM. The visible game set is restricted to recent, demanding titles with usable runs. Every result retains its source URL, source hardware, source settings, run count, retrieval time, classification, and model version. PartForge never labels a calibrated projection as a measurement of the selected PC.