Yes, you have the right idea. Assuming your motherboard supports DDR the ram
will work at a lower speed per your motherboard. For instance if your
motherboard uses DDR266 you can put in DDR400 and it will run fine at 266.
Then later if you upgrade the motherboard you'll still have the DDR400 ram
to use. If you think you might be using dual-channel DDR in the future, buy
2 identical sticks so you'll have a matched pair.
Just keep in mind if you mix ram of different speeds on the motherboard, it
will all run at the lower speed.

steve

----- Original Message -----

> Hi there, I'm looking to upgrade the memory on my motherboard but I'm also
> looking (in the slightly more distant future) to upgrade my motherboard as
> well. If I buy a ram chip with a faster speed than my motherboard can
handle
> will I damage either? Or will the ram just be operate at the lower clock
speed
> with no problems?

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