RAM: 1gig or 2gig - size vs. performance?

I'm in the market for some new RAM so that I can get a healthy overclock out of my computer. I've been considering some OCZ Platinum 1gig(2x512Mb) DDR3200EL rev2 (up to ~275Mhz FSB and 2-2-2-5) for a while now but having 2gigs of RAM is just too tempting. So some questions:

1. Does a pair of 512Mb sticks perform better than a pair of 1Gb sticks?

2. Would a better solution be just to upgrade again later by adding another pair of 512Mb sticks with the ones im considering?

3. Would I be able to get a decent overclock out of my computer anyway with 2x1Gb sticks or will the higher latencies (CAS 3 or something I think) effect overall performance?

1. in theory, no. YMMV based on your particular hardware

2. you are not going to *need* 2 gigs of ram for awhile. You'll be hard pressed to find a useful PC program that uses more than 500mb ram. A gig should be plenty. If you just WANT 2 gigs, go for it.

3. Depends on your particular ram and your particular processor. I don't mean the model numbers and such, either. Each processor and each stick of ram reacts slightly differently in an overclocking situation. You'll have to experiment and see what kind of configuration gets you the best results. Use some benchmarking programs and system stability testers.

Your latencies do affect performance noticeably. If you have a bottleneck in your ram timing, it won't matter how high your FSB is. Your throughput will be choked at the bottleneck. To get maximum performance you just experiment to see how low your timings can go and how high your FSB/clockspeed can get before it impacts system stability. You'll probably never find a home computer that really works to its optimum ability; even component manufacturers make their recommended operating ranges based on trian and error testing.

Thanks for you comment. Based on what you've said I'll go for just the 2x512Mb for now and upgrade that later. The lowest CAS latency I can find for 1gig sticks is like 3.

That aside, it seems that more recent games like Battlefield 2 almost need 2gigs of ram to facilitate smooth gameplay. The maps on there are heug so I'd hate to think what system requirments we're going to need in the next couple of years. Cheers again!