Actually Metr0, after thinking about it more and reading some
more bits and pieces from other sites...
...I honestly think it wasn't a hardware or patent problem for hardware
of patent problems sake...
...I just have this strong hunch that AMD for some reason let RS690
slip, slip, slip, and slip some more on purpose so nVidia could either
make more $$$ with nForce 61x0, clear out their nForce 61x0 inventory,
or most likely both.
I think just really taking a step back and thinking about it, and
knowing that the Leadership people at AMD who manage getting a chipset
like RS690 out the door would never let it slip by this much if it was
really wanted internally by them to be out, one cannot arrive at another
position.
The ATI (now AMD) X1250 chipset for Intel systems is exactly the same as
RS690, except it's obviously for Intel chips (thus needs a memory
controller, etc.), and it's been out - although not used except by NEC
PC's in Japan - for a while now. All AMD had to do was make the Intel
version work with AM2 CPU's, that's it.
Given that, and also how RS690 is supposed to be a near drop in solution for the current ATI RS48x motherboards, I just cannot see rationally how this chipset could be so late. There's no way AMD couldn't make a patent problem go away, especially if it's just getting the product HDCP certification.
Something else is going on here other than hardware/software issues or patent problems...those may be the cover story, or what was allowed to happen, but no way is that purely the reason for this thing to have been delayed for so long.
<Putting flamesuit on>
Chuck