Can I use pc2700 instead of pc 3200?

Question

my laptop uses 256MB, 200-pin SODIMM, DDR PC3200. It seem's easier to find PC2700 on ebay I want to upgrade to 512 Can i go with a pc2700 whats the difference.

Answer 1

It depends on your motherboard. Most of the time motherboards that use PC3200 (400MHz) standard will also be setup to accept PC2700 (333MHz) as well. If you add a PC2700 (333MHz) DIMM of memory for an upgrade into a system that already has PC3200 (400MHz) in it, it will cause the PC3200 (400MHz) to down clock to PC2700 (333MHz). This will cause the speed of the original chip to decrease slightly, but you will still see a performance increase from the increase in memory. Your best bet is to use a PC memory configurator to tell you for sure which speeds of memory will work for your system. Here are some links to memory configurators:
http://www2.pny.com/configurator/index.aspx?manufacturer=
http://www.crucial.com/store/listmfgr.asp?cat=RAM

Answer 2

its probably not a good idea to buy the slower RAM
PC2700 is slower than PC3200 - so if your laptop is running at a speed set for PC3200 you will experience system crashes and instability.
PC3200 runs at a 400MHz clock whereas PC2700 runs at 333MHz - quite a difference.

Answer 3

pc2700 is slower memory. Its often available when people upgrade to bigger , faster memory cards. It should run fine with your system , but all memory will run at the lower speed and there may be a specific slot it needs to be in to set the memory speed automatically , otherwise set it in bios . .

If you are just changing a card over it should be fine.

Answer 4

The difference is the speed of the memory. The CPU intends to access the memory at a particular speed (the 3200 number). If you install 2700 speed memory there will be an instant failure. The faster 3200 memory cost more but that's what you need. There are no substitutions.