higher speed memory?

Hey,
I have a MSI 645E Max motherboard, intel p4 socket 478, and in the manual it says it can take up to PC2700 333mHz RAM, but my uncle has said that he has had customers computers run even when they are on one speed higher memory? (eg, PC2100 instead of PC1600), I was wondering if anyone knows if I can run PC3200 on my mainboard? (As PC3200 is much cheaper than PC2700, at the computer store closest to me, PC2700 is 4 times as expensive as PC3200!)

Jono

 

you can use pc3200 in place of pc2700.

 

okay. i was just worried that if i buy pc3200, it wouldnt work, and i wouldve wsted another $50. just confirming, so it is possible? are there any instances it wouldnt work? and what is the differece between the two?

 

also, can i run two speeds of memory on the one mainboard? (ie. 256MB of PC2700, and 512MB of PC3200?)

 

Most of the time, Yes.
The memory will run at the speed of the slowest chip installed.
It is usually best to run the same brand & speed, sometimes different brand's and or different speeds of memory will have conflicts or compatibility issues.
You may have to manually set the memory timings.

last, your memory speed can only run as fast your mobo supports & at the speed of the slowest chip.