Help with ram on toshiba satellite L300

Hi guys,I have a satellite L300 toshiba laptop.its running on the T3200 intel processor and intel 4 series chipset. toshiba makes it clear that this laptop can ACCEPT PC6400 ram but does not say if it actually runs it at 800mhz or downclocks the DDR2 ram to PC-5300 to run at 667.

I need to know if this machine can support 800mhz ram or not so I can finally know if i should buy 800 or 667 mhz ram.

Of course I dont want to waste money on 800mhz ram only to get it downclocked if its not supported.

It seems intel sats the 4 series chipset (GL140 here) supports 800mhz ram yet my FSP on this processor is only 667mhz.

So im very confused and need help on this,thanks.

heres a link to my model

http://web1.toshiba.ca/support/techsupport/center/main.asp?displaytype=productcontents

 

Even if you purchase 800mhz RAM, and it doesn't support it, it will downclock it to 667. The price difference isn't more than a couple of dollars between the 2 speeds, take these Kingston kits for example, they're the same price:

4GB PC2-5300: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134578

4GB PC2-6400: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134831

I checked Intel's site for the GL40 chipset here: http://www.intel.com/Products/Notebook/Chipsets/GL40/GL40-overview.htm , it shows the FSB at 667 as well as the memory, so worst case scenario is that it just downclocks it.

 

thanks so much for the reply. I think now its not even a question anymore as its very clear that it will downclock 800Mhz ram to only 667mhz.

I actually just checked the online manual and it says there also that specifically on the GL140/GL965 intel chipsets PC2-6400 ram will only run at the speed of PC2-5300 ram.

What would be the point then of me spending even a few extra cents on the PC2-6400 ram?

My other question now is why would toshiba put PC2-6400 ram in my laptop (2GB of it) when it doesnt even support that speed? Arent they losing money by putting in more expensive ram for no reason???

 

If that is the case they bought at a lower price in quantity. I have seen other manufacturers do that with other components. It's all about purchasing and the bottom line.

 

I wasn't able to read your machine specs in the link you provided, for some reason. But I assume your current memory is PC6400 (400MHz) and that's why your question?

But anyway, you can download CPU-Z

Then select the memory tab.

This will tell you the actual speed your current memory is running at.