Dell C610 laptop memory - PC133 vs PC100

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@dale8fan wrote:

You can run pc100 memory in a pc133 machine, but not the other way around. Of course the memory will only be running at 100mhz speeds and not the full 133mhz of the bus. This is usually not a major deal.  Was this machine purchased from Dell? I would wonder why it has pc100 memory. 

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Completely wrong.

You MAY be able to run PC133 RAM on a PC that normally take PC100 RAM but you can NEVER use PC100 RAM on a PC that natively requires PC133 RAM.

In any event a C610 NEEDS PC133 RAM.

I'm pretty sure it is a C610, as that is what the BIOS says during the bootup -
The external service tags and internal service tag ID have been wiped clear.
Is there any other way of visually telling the difference between a C600 vs C610.
Like I mentioned, it has an IBM 256meg module labelled for PC100,
and it has the internal mini-pci wireless card.   It all runs great -

I have owned quite a few C610s and a couple of C600s, although I have never tried a C610 with PC100 RAM, all the C610s I've had used PC133 RAM. If it works ok, but if you are planing on buying more RAM get PC133.

Are you sure you have a C610 and NOT a C600??? I once bought a refurbished notebook from Dell that was supposed to be a C610 and it had a service tag of a C610 BUT it was a C600 motherboard.

Never in my life have I ever heard of ANY computer running correctly, or at all, with RAM that was of a lower/slower speed then what the specs call for.

FYI - here are the stats from the Bios - A16 -

Dell C610 - PIII - 1.20Ghz
Level 2 cache = 512k
Video = ATI Mobility Radeon 16MB
30GB drive

OK i think the first few replys to this thread is wrong.
I have a desktop pc that can run pc100 ram at pc133 speeds, because if i were to run it at pc100 speed then the Front Side Bus will be lower thus the cpu would be at a different mhz than it was rated for. (e.g. rated 1200mhz but ran at ~1000mhz due to ram ran running at pc100).

Anyways, it is very likely your pc100 ram is running at pc133 speed. Come to think about it, lets say your pc100 ram is running at pc100 speed, then maybe your computer is running at a lower mhz than it was rated for. I may be surprised if you put in a pc133 ram and notice your cpu now running at 1.2mhz

:) enjoy.

Well yea.... it is still very likely he is running his pc100 ram at pc133 speeds, since he has a c610 (good ram can easily run at higher speed than it was rated for as long as it isn't too great of an increase). I too have a c610 w/ pc133 ram installed.

Anyways I suggest the author of this thread to download this handy tool http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html it will tell you your system bus speed e.g. 133mhz, along w/ other things.