FreeBSD Release Question

[Balakumar Velmurugan]

Hi,
     We are starting development on a new project that would go 
production in the fall of 2005. I have been evaluating Release 4.x and 
5.x branches for the suitability. Our target platform is AMD64 and AMD32 
uni-processor systems. We like most of 5.x features except for its 
performance and conerns about the availability of a STABLE version in 
our time window,  and I would like your opinion to choose the right 
FreeBSD version tree to start the development right now. BTW,  we dont 
have any plans to run on SMP architecture, our target platform will 
always be uni-processor based. Questions are,

1. By Sep 2005, do you think 5.x performance will be optimized and be 
comparable to today's 4.x stable versions ?
2. By Sep 2005, do you think 5.x will be as stable as today's 4.x 
released versions ?
3.  What is the most architecturally optimized FreeBSD version if he 
primary application is network services, IP forwarding and various 
TCP/UDP services ?
4.  What is the most architecturally optimized FreeBSD version if he 
primary application is network services, IP forwarding and various 
TCP/UDP services ?

Thanks in advance.
Bala