[cooliscool]

its likely true, same with the radeons tho, you can get a 9600 and turn it into a 9800 pro by unlocking the extra pipelines (gotta have the exact model for it to work!) or you can get 9800 Pro's and make them 9800XT's which uses better chip functions, unfortunately theres no guarentee if your 9800Pro will come with the R350 or the R360 chip (need the R360 to do it)

There's no mod for the 9600 for extra pipes.. the RVXXX cores only physically have 4. You're thinking of the 9500>9700.