uh oh not the 3200? thought i saw on the crucial scan said 3200 was ok?

They show 512MB @ PC3200 but 1GB @ PC2700

Often when you go to the board max in size you must reduce speed. But this can be deceptive as you have a lot more RAM running so performance will improve.

I doubt you can overclock a board like that. If you could the settings would be in the BIOS Setup.

so 2 stix of 1gig pc2700 should do the trick?

Should make a difference; yes.

and as a final note...the 2 stix of pc3200 is a no go? at all? just looking for any advantage i can get

Well I just looked at your Newegg scan for the first time.

I didn't see it before.

All your other scans were throwing up 2 x 1GB @ PC2700

However Newegg is saying 2 x 1GB @ PC3200

As I mentioned it would not surprise me at all if a "maxed out" board would require "slower" RAM.

However now Newegg is suggesting otherwise.

I am not a judge of the various scanners but I would trust the RAM makers more.

However if you can get another confirming scan that you can run 2 x 1GB @ PC3200 then I would go with that.

Standard Memory: 128 MB (Removable) or
256 MB (Removable)
maximum Memory: 1 GB
Expansion: 2 Sockets
CPU & ChipSet: AMD Athlon 1.4 GHz
AMD Athlon 1.73 GHz
Bus Architecture: (N/A)
Mfgr's System P/N's: 470027-223; 470028-779; 470028-780; 470030-268; 470030-846
Comments This system supports both DDR266 (KTC-PR266/xx) and DDR333 (KTC-D320/xx) memory. Regardless of what is installed, the memory will only run at DDR266 (PC2100).

this was kingstons scan....its also says that max memory is only 1 gig....? or is that max per slot?

1GB per slot is correct.

After comparing the Compaq specs regarding the FSB & the RAM spec the above appears correct.

In other words:

This system supports both DDR266 (KTC-PR266/xx) and DDR333 (KTC-D320/xx) memory. Regardless of what is installed, the memory will only run at DDR266 (PC2100).