I'm planning an AM2 build with a Athlon 3200+. The mobo I picked out has a memory standard of DDR 800. I read somewhere (can't remember where) that the Athlon line only supports DDR2 667 whereas the X2 and FX lines can use DDR2 800.

I plan to upgrade to an X2 or FX CPU in the future and want to avoid spending extra dough if I have to. Can I just use DDR2 800 memory with an Athlon? I'm assuming that it'll run at 667 but it should run ok- I just want to make sure.

What bad would happen if you run at lower speed? Of course it will run.
You can also try oc'ing, as you'll have more headroom with them.

Overclocking eh? Yes, that was another interest of mine but I have never done it and it sounds very complicated on an AMD machine. I read this article and I was really impressed by the results.

http://www.virtual-hideout.net/art [...] ndex.shtml

Of course, I would never push it that hard but I'd love to hit ~2.5GHz and I should have the right stuff, similar ASUS mobo and OCZ memory.

The Ahlons support DDR800, it's just the Semprons that only support DDR667.

Cough up a few more bucks and get X2 now. If you really need dual core, you'd want to ditch that single core(losing money) pretty quickly. Do not get FX!!! You just OC to get the same performance for less.

Another option is to get a S939 X2 for under $200 on 7/24, but you gotta make sure that rig last a long time.