Dell Vostro 270s from deal as HTPC

[msmy300z]

So have been lurking and researching for a SFF PC to build into my home theater. I had priced up parts and weighed the pros/cons of various options. I found the Vostro 270s deal from Dell for BF and it went straight to my head with an impulse buy..... so my question are..

1. Has anyone used one of these for HTPC duty? How does it do?
I know the i5 is generally overkill but I can't buy the parts separately for what Dell was offering.

2. So it came with an i5-3450s with the HD 2500 for graphics . I don't intend to play hardcore 3d games but would like the occasional 2d game like Braid, Limbo, Shank, Super Meat Boy, and old school SNES Genisis etc. emulators. (addicted to steam sales)
Will the 2500 HD provide enough acceleration to play these directx non-3d games but with potential shaders?

3. If the 2500 HD is HORRIBLE, would the Radeon HD 6350 provide any tangible improvement? This is a mini pcie accelerator and seems to decelerate 3d graphics from what I have been able to find.

 

[Zap]

It should be fine for most HTPC duties. You can upgrade it with a single slot low profile graphics card. Highest end right now is Radeon 7750. It has two slots for upgrades, but the top slot is a PCIe x1 while bottom is the x16, hence single slot. Looks as if the motherboard/case/PSU are proprietary. Motherboard actually is reminiscent of the boards Shuttle uses. Case holds one HDD, one ODD. Motherboard has two SATA ports, one of which is 6Gb/s.

 

[msmy300z]

Thanks for the info. All of the pictures on Dell's site makes the x16 slot appear mid board and not aligned with an external slot (which obviously made no sense). The only decent single slot and narrow board i have seen is a SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6670 1GB (100326LP) on Newegg.
This case is only ~4 inches wide so have you seen a 7750 that would fit?
The sapphire card has multiple reviews of early death. This SFF PC would be pretty killer with even a moderate GFX card!

 

[SMOGZINN]

I'm pretty sure the i5-3450's on board graphics will be sufficient for the games you listed.

 

[Zap]

Thanks for the info. All of the pictures on Dell's site makes the x16 slot appear mid board and not aligned with an external slot (which obviously made no sense). The only decent single slot and narrow board i have seen is a SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6670 1GB (100326LP) on Newegg.
This case is only ~4 inches wide so have you seen a 7750 that would fit?
The sapphire card has multiple reviews of early death. This SFF PC would be pretty killer with even a moderate GFX card!

I have that 6670 for my LAN box. The only thing that died on me was that Zotac motherboard.

I got my slot info from Dell's service manual for the system. It shows the case having two low profile expansion slots at the back. The "top" slot is only x1, "bottom" is x16 thus can only hold a single slot card. That means this card will not work.

I do see four Radeon 7750 low profile single slot cards on Newegg right now that will work in this system.

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four

I bought #four for my LAN rig but haven't used it yet.