Gigabit (Gb)

ComputingCurrent unit

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

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

1 gigabit = 125,000,000 bytes

About the gigabit

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.

Sources: Wikipedia: Gigabit; Wikipedia: Bit

Gigabit conversion chart

1 gigabit expressed in every other digital storage unit:

Unit1 gigabit
Bytes125,000,000
Kilobytes125,000
Megabytes125
Gigabytes0.125
Terabytes0.000125
Bits1,000,000,000
Petabytes1.25×10⁻⁷
Kibibytes122,070.3125
Mebibytes119.2092896
Gibibytes0.1164153218
Tebibytes0.0001136868377
Kilobits1,000,000
Megabits1,000
Exabytes1.25×10⁻¹⁰
Zettabytes1.25×10⁻¹³
Yottabytes1.25×10⁻¹⁶
Pebibytes1.110223025×10⁻⁷
Exbibytes1.084202172×10⁻¹⁰
Terabits0.001
Kibibits976,562.5
Mebibits953.6743164
Gibibits0.9313225746
Nibbles250,000,000

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