Is my build alright?

[all1d0isw1n]

I was wondering if you guys could check out my new build. I was also wondering if I should keep the 2x4gb RAM cards or should I switch to 1x8gb card. The reason I'm asking is becuase I am planning on using 3d animation software like Maya and Poser. Would I need to upgrade to 16gb in the future, and if I do I would like to not have 4 RAM cards installed. Also how would I overclock my RAM cards to the max amount of speed possible while still being safe and stable? http://pcpartpicker.com/p/WRKtK8
Thank You!

 

[geofelt]

If you get one stick, you will operate in single channel mode which is slower.
My suggestion is to buy your 16gb kit up front.
No need for more than 1600 really.
Real app performance does not increase with ram speed, perhaps 1-2%.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7364/memory-scaling-on-haswell
If you add ram later, you will not be guaranteed operation of disparate sticks.

 

[Tradesman1]

With apps like Maya and Poser would go 1866/9 as minimum and prob just get 16GB, since a lot of the processing is done in DRAM it will be much better than the entry level 1600 DRAM and Haswell likes fast DRAM and scales well to it

 

[all1d0isw1n]

With apps like Maya and Poser would go 1866/9 as minimum and prob just get 16GB, since a lot of the processing is done in DRAM it will be much better than the entry level 1600 DRAM and Haswell likes fast DRAM and scales well to it

Would it be possible to overclock the 16gb RAM DDR3-1600 cards to reach 1866mhz?

 

[geofelt]

Most faster DDR3 ram is 1333 1.5v ram that has been binned for quality and can run at higher speeds via overclocking or adding voltage. Yes, if you get a good 1600 kit, it may well go faster.
But ram vendors are wise to this and will have used their better chips in 1866 ram.

And... what does it gain you?
The modern intel ram controllers are very good at anticipating what the cpu will need.
That makes ram speed of less importance to performance.
If you were to be using the integrated graphics, or were using a AMD CPU, then ram speed will be of more importance.
Faster ram will come with higher cas latency numbers.
1600 might be 9, 1866 might be 10.
If you divide the speed by the cas#, you will get approximately the same performance.

The net is that ram benchmarks will show impressive gains while actual app performance will not change by very much.

If you want good value, find the ram with the best speed to cas ratio per dollar.
If you want 1866, buy 1866.

 

[Tradesman1]

Depends on the sticks, most good sticks will OC up a step, here say 1600 to 1866 with slight timing and voltage changes, it's always worth a try....and yes faster DRAM will show increases if you use your system, i.e. multi task, imaging, video, CAD, VMs, anything memory centric or using large data sets