ltsp hardware again

["nigel barker" <tech@hiroshima-is.ac.jp>]

Dear All,
I have a hardware question. (Remember I have been having bad luck with
performance of ltsp servers, and Jose suggested the NIC is the bottleneck)

I need an LTSPserver for a room of 20 thin clients.

I can get a dual core xeon for the same price as a core 2 quad/phenomII x4
(same RAM, pcie x16 slot, Gbps onboard). Is it better to get the xeon, or
better to get more cores?

Alternatively, I can get core 2 duo or athlon 64 x2 for half the price. Is
that a bargain or false economy? Or would you get two of these instead of
one of the above?

Then what NIC do I need? is x1 too slow? I have a 24 port Gbps switch.

I am thinking 4G of RAM is enough. Do you agree?

thanks!

nigel