4.9 vs 5.2 with consideration of support for SMP, hyperthread, and 3ware

[Brent Wiese]

I know I've seen the 4.9 vs 5.2 debate go on a lot, but usually without
discussing the exact usage and maturity of certain drivers.

I am building a server that has 2 XEON hyperthreaded CPUs. It will have 2
3Ware 7500-series controllers and disks most likely in RAID10 (still
debating that choice, but its for another thread).

While this server will be used in production, it is understood by the client
that we're not offering "5 nines" (due to the nature of the situation, not
the o/s). With that being said, I'm not looking for the "run 4.9 because
it's the latest stable branch".

I also do not want to be on the bleeding edge as far as 5.2 would be
concerned. I'd probably pick the latest production release and stick to
that. I don't want to spend all my time cvsup'ing sources and buildworld'ing
(especially given the probability I'll be duplicating this config another 3
times).

What I'm looking for is experience and/or opinion on 4.9/5.2 in regards to
better support, speed (where applicable), and stability in regards to
HyperThreading (it won't pain me to not use hyperthreading, but if I can,
might as well), 3ware controllers, and SMP.

Also, if anyone has experience or opinion about benefits of one or the other
on Apache and PHP, that is also welcome. Anything special someone has done
to get better use of multi-cpu in regards to those programs, etc.

Thanks in advance!

Brent