Monster Hunter Budget Gaming PC Build Project

Objective

Objective 1: Running MH4G on the 3DS emulator Citra (I actually own the software).
Objective 2: Monster Hunter: World - Iceborne (PC version).
Objective 3: Hopefully, getting Monster Hunter Wilds (scheduled for release in fiscal 2025) to run as well.
Objective 4: Pure excitement. Tinkering with a PC for the first time in 20 years. This will be my first time handling a graphics card. I want to get my hands on products from NVIDIA, a company currently seeing soaring demand and skyrocketing stock prices due to AI.

I've collected and nearly completed the Monster Hunter series, but I actually play them using smartphone emulators. It looks better and is easier to control. Monster Hunter Portable 1st, 2G, and 3 were on the PSP, so they run effortlessly on Android smartphones. The graphics turn out significantly better than the original PSP. However, MH4G on the 3DS is unbearably laggy, and the graphics can't be improved. Both the PC and Android versions run sluggishly... Though even on the 3DS, MH-XX runs smoothly. Is it an issue with how it was developed? I know—let's put a graphics card in a PC! And while I'm at it, I'll play the PC version of Monster Hunter: World - Iceborne, my main game. Plus, it would be nice if Wilds, coming out next year, runs too.

Goals

The build-on-a-budget challenge.
In terms of performance, I want to start at the PS4 class, and eventually build a PS5-class machine with Wilds in mind.
I want a slim PC that isn't bulky, roughly the same size as a PS4. In the future, I want to take on the challenge of building it as small as possible.

Buying a PS4 or PS5 would be cheaper—or at least an easy way to play Monster Hunter without much hassle—but the PC (Steam) version has the massive advantage of no online subscription fees. That's huge. PlayStation network fees cost around 10,000 yen a year. Having to pay for two people would hurt quite a bit.

Project Overview

Plan 1: The Base Unit

Acquire a cheap corporate lease PC on Yahoo! Auctions. You can find them anywhere starting from 5,000 yen (excluding tax). Large quantities are dumped at once, making them dirt cheap. Demand doesn't quite keep up, so there are fewer bidding rivals.
Candidates: Brand-name slim PCs like the Fujitsu ESPRIMO or NEC Mate. The ESPRIMO, in particular, has caught my eye because it uses a riser card to bend the PCIe slot at a right angle, meaning a full-sized graphics card might actually fit despite it being a slim PC. Advantage of brand-name PCs: The Windows license is tied to the motherboard, so Windows comes included for free. This is the secret to keeping costs down.

Plan 2: A Build Capable of Running MH4G via Citra and Current-Gen Monster Hunter World

I'll need some kind of graphics card for now. I've done a lot of research, and NVIDIA is the way to go. The GTX 1050 is the bare minimum, and since it doesn't require auxiliary power, it seems easy to handle. The next generation GTX 1650 would also be fine, but the price goes up. There are supposedly LP (Low Profile) versions available that can fit into narrow slim PCs as well. Fujitsu's recent ESPRIMO models seem to offer this as an option. It's likely intended for CAD design or medical use. After that, I'm thinking of the GTX 1660, which seems to require auxiliary power. Ultimately, I fantasize about stepping up to the 1080 class.

Summary of NVIDIA GeForce Model Number Meanings

These are the model numbers for the GPU chips provided by NVIDIA. When you look into it, it's actually quite simple. Several companies manufacture graphics cards using these chips, but the chip's model number is always used in the board's product name.

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/NVIDIA_GeForce

Example model number: GTX 1050Ti

The last two digits, "50," indicate the performance class. Higher numbers like 50, 60, 70, and 80 mean better performance.
Suffixes like "Base," "Super," or "Ti" follow, representing subtle improvements within each class, or conversely, cost-reduced versions of better models.
The leading digits like "10" generally represent the generation. There is also "16," which is a mid-range "GTX 16" series released after the "RTX 20" generation as a lower-tier alternative.
As of 2024, we have the 10xx, 16xx, 20xx, 30xx, and 40xx series. The ultimate beast is the 4090—its power consumption is higher than an entire PC, and it costs hundreds of thousands of yen, several times the price of a PC!
There are two prefixes: "GTX" and "RTX." The RTX series is the newest and supports ray tracing. Ray tracing... my friends used to talk about that passionately 25 years ago when we were students.

Plan 3: Adding a Dedicated Graphics Card Power Supply to a Mini-Tower

Graphics cards consume a significant amount of power. The 75W supplied by the PCIe bus is usually not enough, so additional power is drawn from separate ATX power supply lines via a 6-pin (+75W) or 8-pin (+150W) connector, requiring a larger power supply. Normally, you'd put a massive power supply into a massive PC case, but since my goal is to build a cheap brand-name slim PC, I'll shove an extra SFX power supply or another brand-name power supply into it. Removing the DVD drive will probably make this a breeze. Nobody uses DVD drives these days anyway. At first, I wondered if adding a secondary power supply was even possible, but it seems you can sync them up without much trouble. Not many people seem to do it, though.

https://note.com/solabou/n/n4ac721cf30aa

An ATX power supply reportedly turns on by shorting the green wire (POW_ON) to a black wire (COM: Ground), so you don't even need to buy a connector; you can just wire the green wire of the secondary power supply to the primary one. I'll connect the COM as well just to be safe. And I'll solder the AC 100V connection too.

If I can pull this off, it adds an extra 250W even with a small unit. Running a power supply at half its rated capacity is apparently better for its lifespan, giving me 125W of delivered power. With a 300W power supply, factoring in an 8-pin (+150W) connector, it should be able to run most things power-wise.

Considering the size of a mini-tower PC, I'm aiming for the 1660 series. I saw them selling at Janpara for around 13,000 to 15,000 yen.

Plan 4: OCuLink External GPU for ThinkPad X280 (Build #2)

I own a ThinkPad X280, and I love it because it's stylish. I'm exploring ways to somehow hook up a graphics card to it. This takes a different direction from everything discussed so far. A second build that can even utilize high-end graphics cards. I want to play Monster Hunter with my son. Since it has a Thunderbolt 3 port, an external GPU via that route is an option, but it costs around 100,000 yen and involves signal conversion, making it slow. OCuLink supposedly routes the PCIe x4 bus directly from the M.2 slot with zero signal conversion, making it fast and cheap! Plus, full x16 speed isn't strictly necessary anyway. The catch is I'll have to cut a hole in the back of the ThinkPad. We're entering the realm of extreme modding.

If I can place an OCuLink-adapter PCIe x16 slot on top of a slender 250-300W power supply, mount a GTX 1080 (costs around 10,000-ish yen?), and custom-build a cool-looking frame and cover, that would be awesome.