I know, I know. Another crossfire question (XFX 6850 Black and Powercolor 7870)

[ookami1]

Hello everyone, joined the community to ask this question.

Little background info first: Over the last few years I've been scraping together computer
parts to make a few different low end gaming computers for anticipation that I would like
a LAN room once we bought our first home. Well the home is bought, the room is built
and I have regular monthly LAN parties with my friends. Usually casual, not graphically
demanding games (League, Hearthstone, Contagion, etc etc). But we have recently
gotten into Battlefield 4.
One of my computers keeps getting hung up when there is big explosions, super heavy gunfire, etc. I know the system is old so go easy on me.

Windows 7 64 bit
Asus PK5-E mobo
Intel Core 2 Quad 8800 (2.66ghz)
4gb DDR2
500w PSU
XFX HD6850 Black edition (got at auction when 38 Studios went bottom up in my state)
23" 1920 x 1080 monitor

Question: Would getting a 2nd HD6850 and run crossfire to help get over that fps spike hump?
That would be about a $50 - $70 cost via ebay.
Or is the memory or processor causing the hang up.
Cost of memory $???
______________________________________________________

2nd Computer question (my personal gaming pc)

Windows 8.1
GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3P
AMD FX-8350 Black Edition 8 core (4.0 ghz)
8GB DDR3 (another 8gb should be arriving today, love black friday)
800w PSU
PowerColor AX7870 2GBD5-M2DH
(2) Monitors: Main - NEC 40" Multisync 4020 1920x1080 Secondary: 24" Dell Monitor 1920x1080

Question: I run BF4 fine, but when I stream things start getting sluggish. Should that
extra 8gb coming in fix it?
Should I look into a 2nd 7870 due to running such a large monitor?

The cheaper solutions the better. Trying to keep under wife radar!

Sorry for the lengthly post!

 

[Nikola Aslanov-1338074]

I'd keep the old computer as it is, for smoother game-play - reduce resolution and quality settings.
6850 works very well in xfire but... 500+w PSU is recommended for single 6850, 8800 is also power hungry, so for 2nd 6850 you'll definitely have to upgrade the PSU also.

What app are you using for streaming? And what content? Some DLNA streaming apps are unreasonably heavy on the CPU. You can check this by opening Task Manager while streaming - if the CPU is near 40-50% while only streaming, this will definitely affect the gaming.
I do not think that adding additional video card will help here. The cheapest solution is: do not stream while playing

 

[ookami1]

I'd keep the old computer as it is, for smoother game-play - reduce resolution and quality settings.
6850 works very well in xfire but... 500+w PSU is recommended for single 6850, 8800 is also power hungry, so for 2nd 6850 you'll definitely have to upgrade the PSU also.

What app are you using for streaming? And what content? Some DLNA streaming apps are unreasonably heavy on the CPU. You can check this by opening Task Manager while streaming - if the CPU is near 40-50% while only streaming, this will definitely affect the gaming.
I do not think that adding additional video card will help here. The cheapest solution is: do not stream while playing

That old computer is already bottomed out on settings.
If I put on a 1600x900 monitor would that help out?

I use OBS for streaming on twitch. Haven't had any issues with other games I stream yet.
I'll have to check what the % is once I get home. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Nikola Aslanov-1338074]

You can keep the current monitor and reduce the resolution from the game settings to 1600x900 or 1280x720. Monitors work best in their native resolution (1920x1080) but WILL work on lower resolutions also. The picture will be slightly worse, but FPS will be 1.5-2 times more.