Upgrading a Dell Optiplex 7010 SFF

[clbmrls]

My little brother got an Optiplex 7010 sff at my college surplus sale and he was wondering if I could help him upgrade it. I'm not looking to bring it to the latest specs, just to play games like Skyrim on medium or handle some Minecraft mods that he likes.
The computer has an i5 3.4Ghz processor, a Radeon HD6450 graphics card, power supply is 250W. Any help would be appreciated, I'm not that familiar with this stuff, especially since this is an SFF and doesn't fit as much stuff.

 

[Barty1884]

A low profile card should still fit - but keeping within the 250W ability of the PSU is going to be tough.
It's going to be a few years old, so has degraded some.... and without knowing specifics it's a little tough to judge.

I'd guess that CPU is likely an i5-3570 ? So 77W, add say 30W for the balance (excluding a GPU) and I'd say you have probably a max 75W you could likely add to it (although that depends on the quality of the PSU).

A low profile 750TI is a 60W card and a huge improvement over a 6450.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Low Profile Video Card ($121.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $121.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-25 12:29 EDT-0400

A GTX 1030 is a solid, newer option (and only 30W), but it's not really much of a "gaming" card. It should handle Minecraft with no problem..... SKyrim would be on the lowest settings though.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Low Profile Video Card ($121.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $121.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-25 12:29 EDT-0400

 

[clbmrls]

Thanks for the speedy reply! I think I would be more inclined to use a GTX 1030, since one of the biggest problems I've had is that the slot for the graphics card is really narrow, and the 750ti wouldn't fit. Honestly I'm not 100% sure the 1030 will fit either.

 

[k1114]

It has 2 expansion slots so will fit a dual slot gpu. But the 750ti hasn't been relevant for almost a year now since the 1050 came out at a similar price offering better performance. The lp version is actually cheaper. https://pcpartpicker.com/product/9jCrxr/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-1050-2gb-oc-low-profile-video-card-gv-n1050oc-2gl

 

[Barty1884]

It has 2 expansion slots so will fit a dual slot gpu. But the 750ti hasn't been relevant for almost a year now since the 1050 came out at a similar price offering better performance. The lp version is actually cheaper. https://pcpartpicker.com/product/9jCrxr/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-1050-2gb-oc-low-profile-video-card-gv-n1050oc-2gl

Sorry, should've phrased my suggested 750TI a little better - I'd only suggested that based on the slightly lower TDP @ 60W vs 75W from the 1050.

Relatively comparable in performance, but if a 1050 is cheaper (I'd look to a used LP 750TI rather than new) and the PSU would hold up to it, the 1050 would be the better option.

 

[drtweak]

Agreed with Barty1884

The 7010 does have 2 PCIe Slots and it should fit a LP video card where the fan/heatsink takes up the bottom slot.