well I don't think all the chips are the same. and the reason you don't go straight to the top is because you could be an unlucky person, and have a bad chip. It'll fry so fast. Like my old rig ; /
Obviously there wasn't enough cooling and temps weren't watched becuase I haven't heard of anyone who bought parts good for overclocking fry a new chip at all.
the 512mb version of the X1950PRO is more than the standard. Plus the 7900GS comes in a 512mb version as well.
Yea lmao make sure you get reliable sources such as overclock.net which is where I learned and still learn today.
EDIT: The Intel's have a price drop. The E6600 is the main one that will be cut down but its going from 310-220 which is still out of that budget. The E4300 will be 113 bucks but motherboards are cheaper on AMD and the X2 3600 is fast enough. The AM2 board will allow an easy upgrade later on to the new AMD chips, the Kuma, Agena, and Barcelona.
