Hi
I am planning to build a budget PC to use mainly for basic work use like surfing the web, word processing,etc but also plan to dual boot kali linux since i am trying to get into penetration testing too. I don't do any gaming but will probably need a seperate GPU too for the penetration testing. What do you think of the build below? Are there any obvious glaring compatibility issues or things i could improve upon? Thanks in advance

PCPartPicker Part List: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/G8tfK4

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3300X 3.8 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($265.00 @ Amazon Australia)
Motherboard: MSI B450M PRO-M2 MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($167.13 @ Amazon Australia)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($114.00 @ Amazon Australia)
Storage: Kingston A2000 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($159.00 @ Amazon Australia)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 580 8 GB PULSE Video Card ($347.40 @ Amazon Australia)
Case: Deepcool MATREXX 30 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($58.79 @ Amazon Australia)
Power Supply: Cooler Master MWE White V2 230V 550 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply
Monitor: Dell S2721DGF 27.0" 2560x1440 165 Hz Monitor
Monitor: Dell S2721DGF 27.0" 2560x1440 165 Hz Monitor

Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-20 12:00 AEST+1000

Double the RAM

Cables for GPU to monitors?

But tbh, penetration testing, unless you're breaking encryption, you do not need that much horsepower. The bottleneck will be the network that it's connected to. 10/100? 1GB, 10GB, 40GB, ... ??? Walking in with a $70 pocketchip and being able to turn their lights on and off is probably more impressive than a $2K dell. Plus you can destroy the pocketchip and walk away when they play the we'll sue you card. Doing that to a machine like that will likely bring tears, many, many, tears. But I don't know, I don't do that type of stuff.

Never had a machine I couldn't get Linux to work on - some latest-and-greatest chips required me to be on Linus absolute current tree. Doesn't look like an issue with that kit.
As an aside, last time I was going to build my own I went to umart and they offered general (not Linux specific) advice that was very good. I gave them the business - for an extra $100 or so they built it and did a burn-in test. Well worth it. Maybe your local bits-and-pieces shop can do likewise.

65W CPU
225W GPU

So the PSU is adequate. Might double check the connectors and what not. And caution to a higher spec'd PSU if you're planning on doubling your GPUs. Although that much power draw where I live will blow the fuse on the power pole. Assuming fridge, microwave, washing machine, A/C, and stuff all activates at the same time, or a storm. A lot of times it doesn't even take that much.

Although for web browsing and word processing, my pinebook pro ($200) does that just fine. For that matter my $300 HP 15" laptops OTS from office depot circa 2017 do that just fine. But my highest resolution screens are 1080p. And my games are more strategy / skilling than FPS. But my internet options in the country don't exactly allow for competitive FPS anyway. And with bad enough latency, that I've had to road trip at least a couple of times to complete certain quests and timing sensitive things. Throw in a VPN and other modern necessities and that latency only gets worse.

I would not do an entry-level Cooler Master PSU - they do not have a great reputation for quality/reliability (some will not even deliver claimed wattage). I'd also probably drop the GPU entirely and go for a Ryzen G unless you have a clear-cut use-case that uses the dGPU (and specifically will play with an AMD GPU - there is no CUDA, NVenc, etc on AMD). You could also drop those monitors (assuming you don't already have them) - there is no point in high refresh displays like that if you aren't gaming or doing stereo 3D or somesuch. With the cash saved on dropping the monitors and dGPU, you can get more RAM (if you think you'll need it - honestly I am pretty bad at estimating 'how much RAM does a machine really need' though so do your own research on that or hope someone else is better - 16GB 'looks good to me' but like I said...), and a better PSU.

Ok, thanks for the replies. I'll increase the RAM, upgrade the PSU and drop the GPU. Appreciate the help

Just make sure if you're going to dump the gamer dGPU, you need something to replace it - so either a Ryzen with built-in graphics (not all of them have this - I believe the ones that do have 'G' as their suffix, as opposed to 'X'), or a lesser dGPU card, otherwise you will have no video output.

rama3122,

I agree with obobskivich regarding the PSU.

Find a decent quality one such as BeQuiet! or Corsair etc.

I can strongly recommend the Ryzen 5-3400G with built-in Radeon RX Vega 11 Graphics:
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...og.php?b=38257

A 400W+ PSU is more than adequate for the above:
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...su-4175680083/

I chose this one:
Be Quiet! 400W System Power 9 Power Supply, 80 Plus Bronze:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/QUIET-Syste.../dp/B079KG3TZ5

If that's what you call a budget PC, I'd hate to see what you'd call expensive! I'd call your design a games machine.

I bought a new desktop in January for under £250:
AMD A6-9500
4 GB memory
No video card (Radeon 5 is in the processor)

Remember it's in down under dollars not pound sterling. Also Aussies have inflated prices on things. 3300x is around £120, $140USD, but is inflated to $265 for them. So everything is overpriced for what you'd think is fair.

Since you've already went up to 16GB ram, I'd echo some earlier statements about going to a lower class of dGPU. You can get a RX550 4GB for $155AU that will be perfectly adequate for a non-gamer. Also lower the amount of power required and amount of heat generated by a large amount (I have a RX580, it produces a lot of heat).

I personally would definitely go 3300x over a 3400G. The newer Zen2 cores of the 3300x give a significant speed and IPC advantage over the older Zen+ of the 3400G.

I just realised the new Ryzen series is being released so i think i'm going to wait until they drop and then see if i can pick up a 3400G for cheap. Hence, can easily upgrade to a corsair PSU with the savings. Probably going to hold off on the dGPU for now but i can always add one in the future

Glad i consulted the forum before committing to my build!

That's not a bad point - I remember reading something about a new AMD launch for the 4000 series coming in October. I would just caution you against 'always waiting for the next thing' - there is always 'something' coming from AMD/Intel/Nvidia so after a point you just have to plant your feet and buy hardware if you need a machine. Also bear in mind, and this is probably less dramatic for CPUs on AM4, that 'newest' may not always be 'best' - early adoption has costs and benefits. So if you're looking into that route, either be prepared for things to not always work out of the box, or to potentially have a bumpy ride as you sort things out.