[tinhat]

The CPU bus speed to the RAM is the limiting factor (in this case). Any capability above that is unused.

If your spec is accurate your CPU fsb is 166MHz. Because it uses DDR it accesses RAM on both edges of the clock, meaning that effectively the bus runs at 333MHz. A 333MHz bus uses PC2700 to its peak capability but although PC3200 likely will still work it runs at the same data rate as a PC2700. (fsb * 2 * 8B ~= 2656MB/s, a.k.a "pc2700"; solving for 3200 gives a fsb speed of 200MHz).

If your CPU spec is correct the tech guy is right.

Mike

PS Don't confuse "capacity" with "capability". More RAM capacity is almost always better and can speed up a system suffering from too little. If you're not sufferring from too little RAM no extra amount can speed your system up.

PPS Also understand we're talking about switching cycles on the order of billionths of a second. The difference between the two RAMs you ask about honestly is entirely imperceptible to a human being even if you could make use of pc3200.