RAM and GPU question

[DrPop]

I'm *slowly* getting things ready to build up the two 3930K mobo/cpu combos I got from Bryan. I just bought the two SSDs today. I still need to get RAM and PSUs and one more GPU.

RAM question: will I lose any speed if I just buy 2 sticks of 8GB DDR3 and call it good, or is there any crunching advantage to using all 4 channels and doing the 4x4GB setup that I'm running in Lynx and Cheetah now?

GPU question: Any good mid-range GPUs come out recently? Maybe something around the GTX 980 performance wise and of course more GFLOPs per Watt is always helpful.
EDIT: Only AMD GPU that looks tempting is the R9 Nano. 8,192 GFLOPs / 175 Watts. Not too bad... ~ $350 on ebay.
Nvidia side: GTX 1070 looks like the price/performance sweet spot. 5,780 GFLOPs / 150 Watts. ~ $380-ish.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[John P. Myers]

The R9 Nano is last gen and won't be nearly as efficient as the RX 490 coming out next month or so. On the Nvidia side the 1070 is good as long as you stay away from the founder's edition.

Using only 2 RAM modules on a 3930K will cut your bandwidth in half. Best to go with 4 x 4GB if you can get them for about the same price as 2 x 8GB. of course the performance loss varies by project since some are more memory intensive than others.
https://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16820231537

[DrPop]

Thanks, Cap'n. ;) Sounds like I better stick with 4x4GB RAM for sure then. Probably should wait until the new GPUs hit to shake things up a little in the market too, I suppose.

[John P. Myers]

Thanks, Cap'n. ;) Sounds like I better stick with 4x4GB RAM for sure then. Probably should wait until the new GPUs hit to shake things up a little in the market too, I suppose.

Not sure if you noticed, but in the RAM i linked above, you get a $13 discount for getting 2 or more kits (thinking you need 2?) :) It also has the best timings you can get on 1600MHz DDR3 while staying at 1.5v :-bd

[DrPop]

Not sure if you noticed, but in the RAM i linked above, you get a $13 discount for getting 2 or more kits (thinking you need 2?) :) It also has the best timings you can get on 1600MHz DDR3 while staying at 1.5v :-bd I didn't pay attention to that, but I will get that RAM then if you think it's the best for the Socket 2011 ... I'm not going to argue with Cap'n JPM when it comes to hardware! :)) :D

[DrPop]

OK, got the RAM and PSUs in the cart. Last thing is cooling. Should I do an AIO water cooler on them? I have the Kraken 41 (I think) on Cheetah and it's nice, worked great until fan went out recently, but replaced it and looks like it's working again. Anyway, so many different brands of AIO, not even sure what's best for a 3930K anymore...would like to hit a good price / performance point if possible.

[FourOh]

I'm a fan of both the Kraken X41 and X61. Some cases fit the X41 and some fit the X61, a few fit either. What have you got?

[DrPop]

The cases I have are the Thor V2. I think I could fit the larger radiator if I removed the top fan and put it up there. Not sure, have to check. I have the X41 in the back 140mm fan slot of the one, and it fits nice, seems to work good setup as an exhaust direction.