What are those rumours? The first one was that Intel is having problems ramping the 45/High-K/Metal process to volume so there is going to be a second 45nm non-High-K/non-Metal process to run the lower end volume chips. The problem with this one is that changing the process like that would basically need a complete relayout of the chip. Unless this was planned from day one, the effort involved would be huge, expensive, and very unlikely to happen. The next bit is sort of related, word is trickling out that Intel scrapped a whole run of Harpertowns. What a 'run' is defined as is beyond me, but it gets ads up to the same point as the 45nm volume problems. This one has been neither second sourced or denied, but then again, Intel tends not to talk about such things. This leads us to problem, availability, or lack thereof, of Harpertowns. They are nowhere, and you can't order a system from a major vendor for love nor money. A month after launch of mainstream parts, this is not what Intel usually wants, or is it?

Update: As reported, Intel decided to postpone the commercial launch of its microprocessors made using 45nm process technology recently due to issues with processor system bus (PSB). According to a news-report from PC Watch web-site, the issues with quad-core code-named Yorkfield processors occur on affordable mainboards that utilize 4-layer print-circuit boards (PCBs) and do not affect expensive platforms that are based on 6-layer PCBs. As a consequence, the world's largest producer of x86 processors decided to create a new version of its chips to retain compatibility with mainstream motherboards.