Intel X48 - much ado about nothing?

Another kink in the X38 launch process centered on the continuing rumors of the upcoming X48 chipset. Once again, the hype machine or maybe more like the rumor machine got into full gear with claims touting the X48's greatly improved performance. If some of the rumors were true, it would soon wear the performance crown. Of course, a lack of official information from Intel about the chipset only propagated the continuing rumors around the X48 and the apparent demise of the X38 in short order. To complicate the situation, the release schedules for the X48 have bounced around from November to February and even at this point, we are still unsure.