I think that's the point. What the thread is saying is that ISO 640 actually produces significantly more noise on both the 5D and 1DMkIII than ISO 800 does. In the case of ISO 500, it just has the edge over ISO 800. Above this, then the in-between ISO's seem to work OK - below and they are significantly worse then the next native ISO.
I don't know how this translates to other cameras in Canon's range, or even if it's noticable in real-life images, but it's certainly an interesting effect.