The table shows that each form factor has its own unique beauty and the sequence of listing does not reflect a single score of collective merits.  In other words, each design meets a set of specific market requirements and there is not a "one case for all" situations.

The 5U design is from Compucon and not Supermicro.  Owing to its large case size, it uses large 12cm fans for ventilation and is the quietest system of all.  Its price is low.  It can be a tower if necessary.  As its capability and capacity range is wide, it does serve the middle market very well.  Of course the big size of 5U is its biggest disadvantage for data centre environments where hardware density is everything.  Please see this URL for reference:
http://www.compucon.co.nz/content/view/64/29/

At the other end of the spectrum, the 2U chassis housing 4 systems has the highest system density (2 per U) and the highest HDD density (6 per U). Comparing to the 7U for 10 blades arrangement, this option does not require as big an upfront investment.  The compromise is that the RAM and HDD capacities are not as high as a standard 1U system.  This is however a fitness for purpose issue as it still meets a lot of market situations requiring less memory and hard disks.  The price is also the most favourable on a per system basis.  See this: http://www.supermicro.com/products/nfo/2UTwin2.cfm

In the middle of the density scale, we have found 3U to be ideal for storage server use.  Although its hard disk (3.5") density of 16/3U is lower than 24/4U, the number 16 matches the supply and pricing of SAS controller cards. See this: http://www.compucon.co.nz/content/view/448/205/

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Editor