The 130nm low-k process afforded 9600 XT a 25% core clock speed hike over 9600 PRO, which saw few complain about, however the memory speed of ATI's reference 9600 XT specification was stuck at 300MHz DDR (600MHz effective) and many did query this part of the 9600 XT's specification. Numerous AIB's, including Sapphire, took ATI to task over the memory speed specification for Radeon 9600 XT and evidently it appears that ATI have relented, a little, and allowed them to ship with a slightly boosted memory specification than that suggested from ATI's initial reference boards.