Will SO-DIMM PC3200 work in place of SO-DIMM PC2100?

[stockhausen]

I want to upgrade a Toshiba Satellite L10 Laptop from 1 x 256Mb to 2 x 512Mb RAM. This laptop requires PC2100 RAM. I seem to have a number of options:
- 512MB DDR SO-DIMM PC2100 (266) CAS 2.5-3-3-6
- 512MB DDR SO-DIMM PC2700 (333) CAS 2.5-3-3-7
- 512MB DDR SO-DIMM PC3200 (400) CAS 3-3-3-8
- 512MB DDR2 SO-DIMM PC4200 (533) CAS 4-4-4-12
- 512MB DDR2 SO-DIMM PC5300 (667) CAS 5-5-5-15
Is there any reason why I shouldn't use PC3200 RAM, it is cheaper that PC2100 -or- even use PC5300 which is cheapest of all?

As an aside, if I were to use 1Gb sticks, would they work, only providing 512Mb each, obviously?

Thanks for any advice

 

[Cob]

The PC5300 (and PC4200) is DDR2, and won't be compatable with your system.

In theory you should be able to use the PC3200. If the laptop can't run it at 400mhz (and it probably won't), then it will usually happily downclock it to whatever speeds it can run the memory at.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Your PC2100 is DDR1 so you cannot use a DDR2 based SODIMM in that system. 533 and 667 SODIMMs are DDR2. You might be able to use the 3200 in that laptop but, it will depend on the ability of the RAM to run at a greatly reduced speed AND for the bios to set the speeds properly. You should check with Toshiba or, with the RAM maker of your choice to choose memory that has been tested with that notebook. Most RAM companies have databases or configurators to help you with this.

Example: http://www.corsairmemory.com/#

 

[Yellowbeard]

Cob beat me to it as usual. Home field advantage I guess.

 

[stockhausen]

Your PC2100 is DDR1 so you cannot use a DDR2 based SODIMM in that system. 533 and 667 SODIMMs are DDR2. You might be able to use the 3200 in that laptop but, it will depend on the ability of the RAM to run at a greatly reduced speed AND for the bios to set the speeds properly. You should check with Toshiba or, with the RAM maker of your choice to choose memory that has been tested with that notebook. Most RAM companies have databases or configurators to help you with this.

Example: http://www.corsairmemory.com/#

Thanks for that. I had already checked the Corsair memory configurator and that does only mention PC2100. However, I do know that one can usually run 'over spec' RAM in desktop systems and wondered if the same was true of laptops.

I figure that the question is "Do I feel lucky?"

 

[Yellowbeard]

I figure that the question is "Do I feel lucky?"

Yeah, that is the real question. My best guess is, it will "probably work but it depends on how that bios handles the SPD. Also keep in mind, due to the age of that notebook and the newer ICs, the chipset "might" have an issue with the RAM IC density in addition to the speed.