Gigabytes to Kilobits (GB to kb)
1 gigabyte equals 8,000,000 kilobits exactly.
How to convert gigabytes to kilobits
To convert gigabytes to kilobits, multiply the number of gigabytes by 8,000,000. This factor is exact. To go the other way, multiply kilobits by 1.25×10⁻⁷.
kilobits = gigabytes × 8,000,000
Example: 10 gigabytes = 80,000,000 kilobits.
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
Gigabyte (GB)
1,000,000,000 bytes (decimal). Storage manufacturers and phone makers use this definition.
The gigabyte is where the decimal-versus-binary dispute turned into lawsuits. Drive makers advertise capacity in decimal units, so a 500 GB drive holds 500 billion bytes, but Windows reports sizes in binary units and shows about 465.7 of what it labels GB for the same drive. Early challenges against Western Digital and Seagate were settled, with Western Digital adding disclaimers that usable capacity may differ from the advertised figure.
A 2019 lawsuit was decided in the manufacturers' favor, with the court relying on the decimal definition. For scale, one gigabyte holds roughly an hour of standard-definition video at 2.2 Mbit/s. A single-layer DVD+R holds about 4.7 GB and a single-layer Blu-ray about 25 GB. RAM is still often sized in binary gigabytes, which the IEC would call gibibytes.
1 gigabyte = 1,000,000,000 bytes (exactly).
Sources: Wikipedia: Gigabyte; Wikipedia: Binary prefix; Wikipedia: Gibibyte
Kilobit (kb)
1,000 bits (125 bytes). Used for data rates and sizes in telecommunications.
Kilobit means a thousand bits, and in telecommunications data rates are usually measured in decimal SI multiples. The article on the bit gives a handy example: a channel capacity of 8 kbit/s is 1 kB/s, so dividing kilobits by eight gives kilobytes. The binary counterpart, the kibibit, is 1,024 bits, but it is seldom used.
Symbols cause trouble. The IEC standard says to write kbit, while IEEE 1541-2002 recommends a lowercase b, giving kb, and the lowercase b may be confused with capital B for byte. On this site a kilobit is 125 bytes. The history behind it is that of the bit itself: Ralph Hartley proposed a logarithmic information measure in 1928, and Claude Shannon first used the word in 1948, crediting John W. Tukey.
1 kilobit = 125 bytes (exactly).
Sources: Wikipedia: Bit; Wikipedia: Kilobit
Related conversions
- Kilobits to gigabytes (reverse)
- Gigabytes to bytes
- Gigabytes to kilobytes
- Gigabytes to megabytes
- Gigabytes to terabytes
- Gigabytes to bits
- Gigabytes to petabytes
- Gigabytes to kibibytes
- Gigabytes to mebibytes
- Gigabytes to gibibytes
- Gigabytes to tebibytes
- Gigabytes to megabits
- Gigabytes to gigabits
- Bytes to kilobits
- Kilobytes to kilobits
- Megabytes to kilobits
- Terabytes to kilobits
- Bits to kilobits
- Petabytes to kilobits
- Kibibytes to kilobits
- Mebibytes to kilobits
- Gibibytes to kilobits
- Tebibytes to kilobits
- Megabits to kilobits
- Gigabits to kilobits
See all digital storage units.