990 with DVI didn't pan out? I'm thinking it did/does as intended. DVI or non-audio HDMI, why fuss over the choice? If an earlier form of audio/video HDMI had been included in the 990, that included HDMI audio standard would now be lacking some desired capabilities, wouldn't it? So Outlaw saved their 990 buyers a few bucks by not including a less-than-a-working 1.3 HDMI standard in the 990. I don't have a problem with that.

It seems you are saying that any about-to-be-sold processor that isn't also a media server is already obsolete. In some ways we're back to the 'all-in-one' versus 'separates' issue. That's part of the choice, isn't it? - including whether or not there is some kind of coordinated, interfacing control. If you really want the kind of integrated-control-of-everything you allude to, you're going to replace all the non-network components of a separate system or wait for an 'all-in-one'. Personally, I see such networking like sprinkles on a cupcake - not a deal-breaker. Additionally, like HDMI was a couple years ago, still needing broader/better cross-platform implementation before it becomes something more than ‘sprinkles’.