Gibibytes to Gigabits (GiB to Gb)

1 gibibyte equals 8.589934592 gigabits exactly.

How to convert gibibytes to gigabits

To convert gibibytes to gigabits, multiply the number of gibibytes by 8.589934592. This factor is exact. To go the other way, multiply gigabits by 0.1164153218 (rounded).

gigabits = gibibytes × 8.589934592

Example: 10 gibibytes = 85.89934592 gigabits.

Decimal prefixes (kB, MB, GB) are powers of 1,000; binary prefixes (KiB, MiB, GiB) are powers of 1,024. Storage makers use decimal; Windows reports binary but labels it GB.

About these units

Gibibyte (GiB)

ComputingCurrent unit

Exactly 1,073,741,824 bytes (2³⁰), about 7.4% larger than a gigabyte. Windows displays this as 'GB', which is why a 500 GB drive appears as about 465 GB.

Gibibyte is the unit that explains why a new drive looks smaller than its box says. It is the IEC name, from December 1998, for 2 to the thirtieth bytes, or 1,073,741,824 bytes, chosen to denote powers of 1,024 unambiguously. A GiB is about 7.4 percent larger than a decimal gigabyte, so a drive advertised as 500 GB holds 500 billion bytes, which is about 465.7 GiB.

Windows reports that number with the label GB, so users see a shortfall. RAM is still counted in the binary sense, while hard drives, SSDs, flash media and optical discs are usually labeled in decimal units. Courts have held that the legal definition of GB is the decimal one. The symbol GiB is formed by adding an i to GB, and apart from KDE and Qt-based applications it is rarely used in practice.

1 gibibyte = 1,073,741,824 bytes (exactly).

Sources: Wikipedia: Gibibyte; NIST: Prefixes for binary multiples

Gigabit (Gb)

ComputingCurrent unit

1,000,000,000 bits (125 MB).

Gigabit is one billion bits, or 125 million bytes. In the IEC notation it is written Gbit, while IEEE 1541-2002 recommends Gb, which may be confused with GB for gigabyte. The binary counterpart, the gibibit, is 2 to the thirtieth bits. Network links and fiber are usually rated in gigabits per second, because data transfer rates are measured in decimal SI multiples.

Memory is where gigabits and binary habits collide. Chip capacity is often given in binary multiples using the ambiguous G prefix rather than the IEC Gi, so a DRAM chip advertised as 1 GB has 2 to the thirtieth bytes. The Wikipedia article on the bit says this was still causing difficulty for software designers as of 2022. When you see a gigabit rate, divide by eight for gigabytes per second.

1 gigabit = 125,000,000 bytes (exactly).

Sources: Wikipedia: Gigabit; Wikipedia: Bit

Related conversions

See all digital storage units.