is my ram bottle-necking my gpu?

Probably its your CPU, what games are you playing ?
Download MSI Overburner and monitor how your CPU TEMP/Usage is, also in the same time you could monitor GPU and RAM usage too.
That would help you define what the bottle neck is.
Whats your HDD ?

The 2600 is a fine CPU and remains a perfectly viable gaming platform. While GPU performance gains have been as much as 50+% faster then the previous generation, CPU gains generation to generation have been single digits, never exceeding 5%. We have a 2600k here in the building w/ a 1080 and multiple monitors and it runs just fine, tho it's an OC'd 2600k.

As far as RAM goes, I could argue both sides of the argument and "prove it".

I could argue that RAM amount makes no difference above 8 GB and then "prove it by showing you several games that show no performance difference whatsoever. I could argue that RAM amount makes a difference above 8 GB and then "prove it by showing you several games that show significant performance difference going from 8 to 16GB.

I could argue that RAM speed makes no difference above 1600 and then "prove it by showing you several games that show no performance difference whatsoever. I could argue that RAM makes a difference above 1600 and then "prove it by showing you several games that show significant performance differences going from 1600 to 2400. Here we see Metro gaining nothing from faster RAM ... and in the next comparison, F1 gains 11%.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/32-gb-ddr3-ram,3790-10.html

1. I would love this to be a 2600k as it's a very overclockable CPU.

2. Before spending money, I would do 2 things:

a. Download RoG Real Bench, Furmark and HWiNFO... run RoG RB for the 8 minute benchmark test, record max core voltages and temps from HWiNFO. Run Furmark till the temp file flattens, record GPU temps.

b. Install MSI Afterburner and try these settings

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_980_ti_g1_gaming_soc_review,35.html

With AfterBurner we applied the following settings:

Temp Target 85 Degrees C
CPU clock +150 MHz (from default 1152 MHz)
Mem clock +400 MHz (double datarate is 2x 400 MHz effective)
Voltage + 50Mv
FAN RPM 55% (recommended but a little more is noisy)

Should give you

Core Clock 1302 MHz
Boost Clock: 1452~1477MHz
Memory Clock: 7818 MHz

Click to expand...

If it gets up near 82C, I'd increase the fan speed.

3. I am assuming that you didn't wipe drivers in between swapping out the old and new cards.

a. Uninstall all things nVidia from Control Panel - Add / Remove programs
b. Use a registry cleaner (i.e. Ccleaner) to remove all references to nVidia ... and NOTHING else. There are about 15 boxes on the left hand side... check the 1st one and hit "Scan for Issues". Uncheck all the boxes and then check the boxes for any line w/ the word "nVidia" in it. Then select "Fix selected issues'. Now uncheck the 1st box and check the second and repeat. "Rinse and repeat" for all boxes in left panel till done and reboot.
c. Reinstalll all nVidia drivers and programs.

4. If that brings a solution, you can stop there. If ya still want to try the
Without knowing ya MoBo, it's hard to make component recommendations. But this is what we are putting in new builds.... not specifically those brands and models but the speed / CAS is at the point just before getting faster really starts to increase proces ... they were just the cheapest on PCPP today at those specs.... and I prefer low profile RAM.

DDR3 ($118) - https://pcpartpicker.com/product/wxzv6h/gskill-memory-f32400c10d16gtx
DDR4 ($136) - https://pcpartpicker.com/product/sykwrH/gskill-memory-f43200c16d16gtzb

5. The 1st would fit your MoBo assuming the RAM slot layout allowed no interference between the slot layout and an aftermarket cooler. If you don't have a k series CPU, you wouldn't need one.

6. One way to detect whether CPU is bottlenecking is that there will be large performance gap between playing the same game in single versus multiplayer. There is always a gap, but if it is surprisingly large, then the CPU should be on ta list of "probable causes".

The 2600 is a fine CPU and remains a perfectly viable gaming platform. While GPU performance gains have been as much as 50+% faster then the previous generation, CPU gains generation to generation have been single digits, never exceeding 5%. We have a 2600k here in the building w/ a 1080 and multiple monitors and it runs just fine, tho it's an OC'd 2600k.

As far as RAM goes, I could argue both sides of the argument and "prove it".

I could argue that RAM amount makes no difference above 8 GB and then "prove it by showing you several games that show no performance difference whatsoever. I could argue that RAM amount makes a difference above 8 GB and then "prove it by showing you several games that show significant performance difference going from 8 to 16GB.

I could argue that RAM speed makes no difference above 1600 and then "prove it by showing you several games that show no performance difference whatsoever. I could argue that RAM makes a difference above 1600 and then "prove it by showing you several games that show significant performance differences going from 1600 to 2400. Here we see Metro gaining nothing from faster RAM ... and in the next comparison, F1 gains 11%.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/32-gb-ddr3-ram,3790-10.html

1. I would love this to be a 2600k as it's a very overclockable CPU.

2. Before spending money, I would do 2 things:

a. Download RoG Real Bench, Furmark and HWiNFO... run RoG RB for the 8 minute benchmark test, record max core voltages and temps from HWiNFO. Run Furmark till the temp file flattens, record GPU temps.

b. Install MSI Afterburner and try these settings

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_980_ti_g1_gaming_soc_review,35.html

With AfterBurner we applied the following settings:

Temp Target 85 Degrees C
CPU clock +150 MHz (from default 1152 MHz)
Mem clock +400 MHz (double datarate is 2x 400 MHz effective)
Voltage + 50Mv
FAN RPM 55% (recommended but a little more is noisy)

Should give you

Core Clock 1302 MHz
Boost Clock: 1452~1477MHz
Memory Clock: 7818 MHz

Click to expand...

If it gets up near 82C, I'd increase the fan speed.

3. I am assuming that you didn't wipe drivers in between swapping out the old and new cards.

a. Uninstall all things nVidia from Control Panel - Add / Remove programs
b. Use a registry cleaner (i.e. Ccleaner) to remove all references to nVidia ... and NOTHING else. There are about 15 boxes on the left hand side... check the 1st one and hit "Scan for Issues". Uncheck all the boxes and then check the boxes for any line w/ the word "nVidia" in it. Then select "Fix selected issues'. Now uncheck the 1st box and check the second and repeat. "Rinse and repeat" for all boxes in left panel till done and reboot.
c. Reinstalll all nVidia drivers and programs.

4. If that brings a solution, you can stop there. If ya still want to try the
Without knowing ya MoBo, it's hard to make component recommendations. But this is what we are putting in new builds.... not specifically those brands and models but the speed / CAS is at the point just before getting faster really starts to increase proces ... they were just the cheapest on PCPP today at those specs.... and I prefer low profile RAM.

DDR3 ($118) - https://pcpartpicker.com/product/wxzv6h/gskill-memory-f32400c10d16gtx
DDR4 ($136) - https://pcpartpicker.com/product/sykwrH/gskill-memory-f43200c16d16gtzb

5. The 1st would fit your MoBo assuming the RAM slot layout allowed no interference between the slot layout and an aftermarket cooler. If you don't have a k series CPU, you wouldn't need one.

6. One way to detect whether CPU is bottlenecking is that there will be large performance gap between playing the same game in single versus multiplayer. There is always a gap, but if it is surprisingly large, then the CPU should be on ta list of "probable causes".