Slightly dumb question

[Brax Sisco]

  A friend of mine had been looking for a car, and was looking for
something with "mod potential."  So he just bought a 2000 Sentra SE,
which I just found out was SR20DE.  I had been under the mistaken
impression that the 98 200SX was the last SR20DE car from Nissan...
Duh...  Anyway, I haven't seen his car yet, he lives about 100 miles
away, but I was looking around on the net and found some pictures,
specifically, this:

http://www.nissanperformancemag.com/july02/images/johnson1.jpg

  My question is, why is the valve cover different than my 97 200SX,
with those "bumps" in the front?  It is just a cosmetic change, or is
the top end different in some way?  Can it use the '91 cam upgrade?  How
about other mods? Anything special/different about this engine to know
about?

Thanks,

Brax Sisco
'97 200SX SE-R - HS G4 - UR Ultra SS - JWT POP & ECU