In the context of this board, lots of upvotes on a single post probably means a piece of homebrew or a handbook that is well recieved and frequently viewed (Garryl has +9 on the first post of the handbook index, for example) while lots of individual upvotes is more likely to be from things like advice or worthwhile comments in discussions (or from many smaller handbooks/homebrew.)
Personally, I wouldn't rank either higher than the other, so I don't see a need to track most upvotes from a single post seperately.