> the Lite version is actually affordable.

...but offers only one free PCIe slot after plugging a graphics card.

>> In terms of MorphOS, will a virtualized X5000 have any advantage
>> over a virtualized Sam460?

> SAM460 emulation versus X5000 emulation? The latter might be more capable

How so?

> and as you pointed out, it could support little endian applications.

...which would require a little-endian PPC OS to run in between. MorphOS and OS4 are strictly big-endian, and a potential little-endian AROS/PPC wouldn't make sense running trapped inside the virtualization of another platform when it can run on POWER9 natively.
Besides, I think that all Book III-E CPUs (which includes PPC4xx) can run in little-endian mode.