Just coming back to post more specific info on my config (I'm usually much better about that):

OS: Debian 6.0 "Squeeze" with dotdeb repository (http://www.dotdeb.org/)
nginx: 1.2.4
PHP & php-fpm: 5.4.7

nginx.conf:
user www-data;
worker_processes 4;
pid /var/run/nginx.pid;

events {
worker_connections 768;
# multi_accept on;
}

http {

##
# Basic Settings
##

sendfile on;
tcp_nopush on;
tcp_nodelay on;
keepalive_timeout 65;
types_hash_max_size 2048;
# server_tokens off;

# server_names_hash_bucket_size 64;
# server_name_in_redirect off;

include /etc/nginx/mime.types;
default_type application/octet-stream;

##
# Logging Settings
##

access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log;
error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log;

##
# Gzip Settings
##

gzip on;
gzip_disable "msie6";

# gzip_vary on;
# gzip_proxied any;
# gzip_comp_level 6;
# gzip_buffers 16 8k;
# gzip_http_version 1.1;
# gzip_types text/plain text/css application/json application/x-javascript text/xml application/xml application/xml+rss text/javascript;

##
# nginx-naxsi config
##
# Uncomment it if you installed nginx-naxsi
##

#include /etc/nginx/naxsi_core.rules;

##
# nginx-passenger config
##
# Uncomment it if you installed nginx-passenger
##

#passenger_root /usr;
#passenger_ruby /usr/bin/ruby;

##
# Virtual Host Configs
##

include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf;
include /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/*;
}



php-fpm.conf:
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
; FPM Configuration ;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

; All relative paths in this configuration file are relative to PHP's install
; prefix (/usr). This prefix can be dynamicaly changed by using the
; '-p' argument from the command line.

; Include one or more files. If glob(3) exists, it is used to include a bunch of
; files from a glob(3) pattern. This directive can be used everywhere in the
; file.
; Relative path can also be used. They will be prefixed by:
; - the global prefix if it's been set (-p arguement)
; - /usr otherwise
;include=/etc/php5/fpm/*.conf

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
; Global Options ;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

[global]
; Pid file
; Note: the default prefix is /var
; Default Value: none
pid = /var/run/php5-fpm.pid

; Error log file
; If it's set to "syslog", log is sent to syslogd instead of being written
; in a local file.
; Note: the default prefix is /var
; Default Value: log/php-fpm.log
error_log = /var/log/php5-fpm.log

; syslog_facility is used to specify what type of program is logging the
; message. This lets syslogd specify that messages from different facilities
; will be handled differently.
; See syslog(3) for possible values (ex daemon equiv LOG_DAEMON)
; Default Value: daemon
;syslog.facility = daemon

; syslog_ident is prepended to every message. If you have multiple FPM
; instances running on the same server, you can change the default value
; which must suit common needs.
; Default Value: php-fpm
;syslog.ident = php-fpm

; Log level
; Possible Values: alert, error, warning, notice, debug
; Default Value: notice
;log_level = notice

; If this number of child processes exit with SIGSEGV or SIGBUS within the time
; interval set by emergency_restart_interval then FPM will restart. A value
; of '0' means 'Off'.
; Default Value: 0
;emergency_restart_threshold = 0

; Interval of time used by emergency_restart_interval to determine when
; a graceful restart will be initiated. This can be useful to work around
; accidental corruptions in an accelerator's shared memory.
; Available Units: s(econds), m(inutes), h(ours), or d(ays)
; Default Unit: seconds
; Default Value: 0
;emergency_restart_interval = 0

; Time limit for child processes to wait for a reaction on signals from master.
; Available units: s(econds), m(inutes), h(ours), or d(ays)
; Default Unit: seconds
; Default Value: 0
;process_control_timeout = 0

; The maximum number of processes FPM will fork. This has been design to control
; the global number of processes when using dynamic PM within a lot of pools.
; Use it with caution.
; Note: A value of 0 indicates no limit
; Default Value: 0
process.max = 4

; Specify the nice(2) priority to apply to the master process (only if set)
; The value can vary from -19 (highest priority) to 20 (lower priority)
; Note: - It will only work if the FPM master process is launched as root
; - The pool process will inherit the master process priority
; unless it specified otherwise
; Default Value: no set
; process.priority = -19

; Send FPM to background. Set to 'no' to keep FPM in foreground for debugging.
; Default Value: yes
daemonize = yes

; Set open file descriptor rlimit for the master process.
; Default Value: system defined value
;rlimit_files = 1024

; Set max core size rlimit for the master process.
; Possible Values: 'unlimited' or an integer greater or equal to 0
; Default Value: system defined value
;rlimit_core = 0

; Specify the event mechanism FPM will use. The following is available:
; - select (any POSIX os)
; - poll (any POSIX os)
; - epoll (linux >= 2.5.44)
; - kqueue (FreeBSD >= 4.1, OpenBSD >= 2.9, NetBSD >= 2.0)
; - /dev/poll (Solaris >= 7)
; - port (Solaris >= 10)
; Default Value: not set (auto detection)
; events.mechanism = epoll

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
; Pool Definitions ;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

; Multiple pools of child processes may be started with different listening
; ports and different management options. The name of the pool will be
; used in logs and stats. There is no limitation on the number of pools which
; FPM can handle. Your system will tell you anyway :)

; To configure the pools it is recommended to have one .conf file per
; pool in the following directory:
include=/etc/php5/fpm/pool.d/*.conf

--
Piki