Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications in millimeter wave (mmW) systems are described. A mmW wireless device may identify a plurality of subsets of antennas from available antennas. The wireless device may compare effective array gain values for each subset in the plurality of subsets of antennas. An effective array gain value may be determined based on a realized array gain for each subset normalized or penalized by a radio frequency (RF) power consumption for antennas corresponding to each subset in the plurality of subsets of antennas. Based on the comparison, the wireless device may select one or more subsets of the plurality of subsets of antennas, the selected one or more subsets may correspond to antenna combinations of one or more antenna subarray units. The mmW wireless device may then communicate using the selected one or more subsets.