CL3 PC133 SODIMM into CL2 PC100 specified notebook

[mshan]

I've got an old Pentium III notebook and it's manual says it memory upgrades should be PC100 CL2 SO-DIMM.

Can I put CL3 PC133 into the system?

Will it boot correctly, or do I risk permanently messing up the current Windows installation on the hard drive?

And are there any subtle incompatibilities or system instabilities that would arise from CL3 in a CL2 specified system?

 

[RebateMonger]

Maybe. Maybe not. While most notebooks of that era didn't care, SOME DID. There were notebook PCs that specified PC100 memory and would fail with PC133 memory.

Backup anything of importance and give it a try. Run a memory test program overnight after adding the memory. Memory problems CAN mess up the Windows Registry. Test first.

 

[SpeedEng66]

I thought it depends on the density of the chip
and not on the speed (pc133) because ram is backward compatible ?

Thats what I was told a while back..

 

[Arcanedeath]

That is correct chip density is what is important, older intel chips did not like high density memory so depending on your laptops chipset will det. if the PC133 will work or not or if it will only rec. 1/2 the capasity or nothing at all, downclocking the PC133 to PC100 won't be an issue it will run just fine slower.
edit: assuming your bios will play nice and downclock the memory correctly some laptops of that era actualy required pc100 or they wouldn't post.