So HP is getting in on the high density compute node game. And looking at http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/01/hp_redstone_calxeda_servers/ they are doing it with a twist : use ARM chips. That being beside the point, I think these would make for fantastic machines where individual thread performance isnt that much of a deal, but being able to get lots of threads going is. PostGres-XC as an example. Rails apps are another great example where a cluster-in-a-box can be an attractive option.
Might be worth noting that while its getting most of its attention based on the ARM buzzword, they seem to be saying that Intel as well as AMD cpus might make it into these machines as well. So while OS options might be somewhat limited at the moment, that problem should solve itself fairly easily.
On the other hand, getting 128 cores into a 2U AMD machine these days isnt that hard - its a slightly different set of mechanics to this cluster-in-a-box solution, but in many cases solves similar problems - and you get the advantage of a single hyper visor, should one need it. Then there are also near-commodity like specialist kit which goto 512 Cores in a 2U machine ( x86 example: http://www.qsscit.com/en/01_product/02_detail.php?mid=27&sid=95&id=135&qs=56 )
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