Gigahertz (GHz)
One billion hertz. Modern processor clocks and Wi-Fi run at gigahertz frequencies.
1 gigahertz = 1,000,000,000 hertz (exactly).
About the gigahertz
On 6 March 2000, AMD demonstrated a processor passing the 1 GHz mark, a few days before Intel shipped 1 GHz systems, according to Wikipedia. After that, clock rates rose more slowly: Intel's 3 GHz Pentium 4 arrived in 2002, and later performance came more from design changes than raw speed, since higher clock rates produce more heat. The highest boost clock on a production processor is listed as 6.2 GHz for the Intel i9-14900KS in 2024.
A gigahertz is a billion hertz, the range known as microwaves. The most familiar example may be the kitchen: consumer microwave ovens typically run at 2.45 GHz, a band that is available for industrial, scientific and medical use worldwide. Percy Spencer of Raytheon discovered the heating effect in 1945 when a radar set melted a candy bar in his pocket, and Raytheon sold the first commercial oven, the Radarange, in 1947.
Sources: Wikipedia: Clock rate; Wikipedia: Microwave oven; Wikipedia: Gigahertz
Gigahertz conversion chart
1 gigahertz expressed in every other frequency unit:
| Unit | 1 gigahertz |
|---|---|
| Hertz | 1,000,000,000 |
| Kilohertz | 1,000,000 |
| Megahertz | 1,000 |
| Revolutions Per Minute | 60,000,000,000 |
| Beats Per Minute | 60,000,000,000 |
| Terahertz | 0.001 |
| Millihertz | 1,000,000,000,000 |
| Radians Per Second | 6,283,185,307 |
| Degrees Per Second | 360,000,000,000 |
More Metric (SI) units
- hertz (frequency)
- kilohertz (frequency)
- megahertz (frequency)
- terahertz (frequency)
- millihertz (frequency)
- revolution per minute (frequency)
- beat per minute (frequency)
- meter (length)
- kilometer (length)
- centimeter (length)
- millimeter (length)
- micrometer (length)
- nanometer (length)
- picometer (length)
- decimeter (length)
- hectometer (length)
Browse all frequency units.