Server config, value of CPU / Dual / Quad and Ram with DOlphin

Im looking at new servers for Dolphin at the moment and am wandering what are the actual requirements for Dolphin... 

Some hosts seem to offer relatively low spec servers for the same price as others with high spec!

Does anyone have any info on Dolphins use of things like dual core cpu, quad core, multiple core etc...

Also, what with Dolphin would be pushing the need for large amounts of RAM?

I have a dual core Intel E6600 running 2.4ghz, 4GB DDR2, dedicated server which seems to do a good enough job at the moment, not sure how it would handle a site with 20k+ members as yet!

With a site that is NOT running chat rooms, cams, video uploads, but focuses more on forums for members interaction, is there a need for much higher spec than this?

Would Dolphin when used in this way actually need multiple CPU's?

Would the membership increase push the database to utilize high power CPUs and 8GB RAM or is this OTT?

i think its enough for just lite text based work, but you will need a big and powerful mysql database.

What sort of spec would be needed to run a site with up to 50k members!

you will need a very high bandwidth server with more big database :)

and if you want more then text, upgrade the processor because its a 2 core, 2 thread  processor and i think it can't take that much load of 50k

:)

You will be in performance overhead even if you have high specs. With dolphin, you need to analyze your traffic and resource usage and tweak your server for that. This will ensure you have stable and good website.