[brudgers]

Though it clearly isn't a server farm, there would appear to be reasonable use cases in the consumer and small business markets.

Lowest first cost is a significant form of capital efficiency [as opposed to energy]. There are tradeoffs either way, and for a single moderate use computer reaching the break-even point via reduced energy footprint could easily be several years. The raw cost of running the most power hungry P4 [115w] is $151 per 24/7 year @ full load @ $0.15/kwH.

In addition, having the machine pre-loaded with Linux also offers time efficiency versus re-provisioning a new Windows machine with Ubuntu or shopping for components, etc.

None of which to say it's a good deal per FLOP or MIP or anything else. But it's not necessarily bad either.