[ckilmer]

Can someone help me to understand the significance of this advance if it works—both in terms of current technology and what kind of work this speed up will enable. (presumably this does not enable quantum computer speeds.)

for example to understand the meaning of 500 GHz ....correct me if I’m wrong — are we talking about typical desktops operating at about 4-5 GHz?
.....................
according to this article

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/157337-the-haswell-paradox-the-best-cpu-in-the-world-unless-youre-a-pc-enthusiast

As our hardware analyst mentioned in his Haswell review, Intel’s new parts struggle to get past 4.5GHz on air, while Ivy Bridge could reliably hit 4.7GHz, with some parts reaching 4.9GHz. In reality, the picture is even muddier than that: Early reports suggest that some Haswell chips can only reach 4.3GHz, while others can get to 4.7GHz or higher (again, on air).

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Well,.... cycle time on current CMOS circuitry ...tops out pretty much above 5 Mz.

IBM has a Powerserver that has the top cycle time.

This would do damage to all of the ...enthusiasts doing overclocking.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

See my uodates...links.

[InterceptPoint]

Someone can correct me if I’m wrong but I think the Intel limitation is thermal. Faster clock rates increase dissipation so there is a natural practical limit to the clock speed.