Would a pc100 stick of ram work in a pc133 computer?

Question

I dont think it will but im curious

Answer 1

yes it would cause its backwards compatible. The stick will cause all of the RAM to run at 100mhz. pc1600 or higher wont work because the pins wont line up (wont fit). For future reference if a computer uses pc2700 it can use pc3200. Thats what you were thinking.

Answer 2

It depends.

I'll explain:
PC100 and PC133 are often identical chips. Meaning, they have all the same parts and came off of the exact same assembly line.

After the chips come off the assembly line, the Manufacturer then tests them. Gets rid of defective ones and then "rates" them as operating without error at a certain speed. PC100 - 100Mhz. PC133 - 133Mhz.

This means if a computer takes a PC100 chip, you can usually use a PC133 chip just fine, as it's rated to operate just fine at 133Mhz and so has no trouble operating at a slower speed.

Sometimes manufacturers don't bother to test at higher than 100Mhz speed, just label it PC100 and send it out the door. Quite frequently, they even re-label faster chips as PC100. (Since people tend to buy them more!)

So, if you are sure your Computer operates only at PC133 and above, the technical answer is "the pc100 may not work", but in reality if you have a relatively new Pc100 chip it'll probably be just fine. Of course, if you check out the manufacturer of the chip, you can get a little more information about it.

It's also possible the chip fails at the higher clock speed, and will only operate without error around 100Mhz.

Hypothetical, Manufacturer makes 100 chips.
90% test fine at 100Mhz. They sell 'em for $10
5% test fine at 133Mhz. They sell 'em for $20.
3% test fine at 200Mhz. They sell 'em for $40.
2% test fine at 500Mhz. They sell 'em for $200.

Same chips. But some got lucky in minor defects that prevent operating at extremely high clock speeds.

You don't have to worry about "hurting anything". Failing here doesn't mean "going bad" it just means failing. The only thing that would possibly be damaged is data (that you were manipulating at the time of the failures)

Answer 3

Yes a PC100 will work in a PC133, 2 of my PCs are usuing dual PC100/133.
The speed of it will be downgraded to PC100 level. which is not much a of problem....doesnt slow the PC much ( 1-2 secs).

Answer 4

I think you have to have pc100 for a pc 100 computer. Never worked otherwise for me.

Answer 5

Yes it will in most cases, however it will only run at 100Mhz. I have done this on several HP Brio towers and they work fine, it simply displays a message during boot process indicating that the system performance will be downgraded to 100Mhz.

Answer 6

I believe so.The processor determines bus speed,and the memory card works with-in those tolerances.

Answer 7

Not usually. Most of the times, it won't even boot up. If it appear to work, you can almost be sure it will be unstable.

Answer 8

No. It has to match what's already there.