Confused about Athlon MPs

[Clevor]

Are the MP chips actually unlocked or do you have to connect the bridges?

I took a look at a couple of MPs and yes, I don't see the trenches burnt in between the bridges, but I don't see the bridges connected either, unless it is in the PCB matrix, or whatever.

So can you stick in an MB and start changing multipliers right off the bat or do you have to do the pencil trick on them?

Also the MP 1600 (1.4) is $184 and the XP 1800 (1.53) is $194, so why not just buy an MP 1600 and clock it to 1.53, and it's even cheaper, rather than bother with all this XP unlocking mess?

And it's not like unlocking the XP 1800 has a lot more potential because from that VR-Zone unlocking article, it implies all the chips might be capable of XP 2000 speeds?

So does that mean any ordinary MP, since already unlocked, can hit XP 2000 speed?

Sorry if I'm missing something here.

[Placid]

So can you stick in an MB and start changing multipliers right off the bat or do you have to do the pencil trick on them?

Just change the multipliers no pencil trick or whatever needed.

Also the MP 1600 (1.4) is $184 and the XP 1800 (1.53) is $194, so why not just buy an MP 1600 and clock it to 1.53, and it's even cheaper, rather than bother with all this XP unlocking mess?

And it's not like unlocking the XP 1800 has a lot more potential because from that VR-Zone unlocking article, it implies all the chips might be capable of XP 2000 speeds?

So does that mean any ordinary MP, since already unlocked, can hit XP 2000 speed?

All 3 of the questions above are about the same, overclocking the cpu's is luck of the draw. It might hit xp 2000 it might not.
In my opinion the higher rating you start with the better the chance it might.