The HD3450 is designed as a next generation card supporting all of the newest techlologies and that it does well. This card is not designed for the gaming market and you will not be playing games at those ultra high graphics, but it is great for movie playback and running Vista's features. The HD3450 has a low profile design which makes it ideal for home theater PCs, but keep in mind the heatsink is big and will take up part of the expansion slot below it, keeping you from placing a card in it. The upside to the size of the heatsink is that it is a passive solution, something that makes the most sense for use in an HTPC case.