Thanks helipotte for the info! I'm actually going to OC my pi and see how things work out; I'm finding that chain miner has worked way better for me than cgminer but I may try the mod you suggest and give it another try.
One of the things I'm finding that seems to be common about the frying of boards; this may be because of the SPI connector itself and plugging it in the wrong way (i.e.plugging it in the wrong way). Can you take a pic of the 1.8v regulator / where to put the cap you were talking about?