[CobaltFire]

Hey all, I have been lurking for a while, and enjoy this forum, so I though that I would add my .02 on the PM issue. Apple has always played the updating game conservatively, and that may be the case with the new PM's as well. The way I see it, it isn't the processors they are waiting on, but the subsystems. The next major revision will probably use the PCI-E standard, which is VERY different than what they are currently using. This would also require redesigning of the mainboards, as PCI-E allows them to do things differently. Also, Apple may be waiting for the next-gen video cards to switch to PCI-E for greater product differentiation. Here is an example comp:

PowerMac Dual 2.0GHz
512MB RAM
Gbit Ethernet (onboard, tied to PCI-E or Chipset)
BT 2.0
Radeon X800XL Mac Edition (128MB, PCI-E x8 or x16)
SATA II w/Hardware RAID (onboard, tied to PCI-E or Chipset)
16x SuperDrive

The big thing to realize is that they may see big gains in all types of performance moving to this architecture w/out increasing processor speeds, IF DONE RIGHT. Now, another thing they may consider doing (doubtful, but I can hope) is to incorperate the next-gen SB Audigy, seeing as that would allow them to run better sound with a native PCI-E interface. Alternately (and more likely) is that they will revamp their sound subsystem to use PCI-E, allowing for better quality sound. The video cards may use today's midrange cards as base (X800XL is a good example, seeing as it supports Dual-DVI natively), and have ATi's or nVidia's next-gen cards as upper range. All this is just conjecture, but coming from the PC world, and being an early adopter of PCI-E (bought an intel PCI-E board back in October) I can see the problems they are facing. Also, thinking logically, the wait for next-gen vid cards may be a reason, as would teething problems with the PCI-E architecture. Hopefully they are taking a page from nVidia's book and looking at the 2200/2050 chipset combo for Opteron's, as that would be PERFECT for a PM (besides the 40 PCI-E lanes, which is a bit excessive). Anyhow, take what you will from this, and I hope to get some good feedback.