Gigabytes per second to Kilobytes per second conversion

How to convert gigabytes per second to kilobytes per second?

To convert 1 gigabyte per second (GB/s) to kilobytes per second (KB/s), we need to consider the differences between the base-10 (decimal) and base-2 (binary) systems. Both conversions are common, but they yield different numbers.

Base-10 (Decimal) System

In the decimal system, 1 gigabyte (GB) is equal to $10^9$ bytes, and 1 kilobyte (KB) is equal to $10^3$ bytes.

1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes 1 KB = 1,000 bytes

To convert from GB/s to KB/s:

$\text{1 GB/s} = 1,000,000,000 \text{ bytes/second}$

$\text{1 KB} = 1,000 \text{ bytes}$

$\text{KB/s} = \frac{\text{bytes/second}}{\text{KB}}$

$\text{KB/s} = \frac{1,000,000,000 \text{ bytes/second}}{1,000 \text{ bytes}}$

$\text{KB/s} = 1,000,000 \text{ KB/s}$

Base-2 (Binary) System

In the binary system, 1 gibibyte (GiB) is equal to $2^{30}$ bytes, and 1 kibibyte (KiB) is equal to $2^{10}$ bytes.

1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes 1 KiB = 1,024 bytes

To convert from GiB/s to KiB/s:

$\text{1 GiB/s} = 1,073,741,824 \text{ bytes/second}$

$\text{1 KiB} = 1,024 \text{ bytes}$

$\text{KiB/s} = \frac{\text{bytes/second}}{\text{KiB}}$

$\text{KiB/s} = \frac{1,073,741,824 \text{ bytes/second}}{1,024 \text{ bytes}}$

$\text{KiB/s} = 1,048,576 \text{ KiB/s}$

Summary

• In the base-10 (decimal) system, 1 GB/s is equal to 1,000,000 KB/s.
• In the base-2 (binary) system, 1 GiB/s is equal to 1,048,576 KiB/s.

Real World Examples

Here are some real-world examples of data transfer rates in different quantities of gigabytes per second:

1. Network Speeds:

   • 10 Gbps Ethernet: 10 Gigabits per second translates to 1.25 gigabytes per second (GB/s) in base-10 terms. This is approximately 1,250,000 KB/s in base-10 or around 1,310,720 KiB/s in base-2.

2. PCIe 4.0 Interface:

   • The data transfer rate of a single PCIe 4.0 lane is around 16 GT/s (Giga-transfers per second). For 16 lanes (x16), this yields around 31.5 GB/s in base-10 or roughly 33.6 GiB/s in base-2.

3. USB 3.2 Gen 2x2:

   • This standard offers 20 Gbps speeds, which equals 2.5 GB/s in base-10 or approximately 2.62 GiB/s in base-2.

4. SSD (Solid-State Drives):

   • High-end NVMe SSDs might have read/write speeds around 5 GB/s, which equals 5,000,000 KB/s in base-10 or approximately 5,242,880 KiB/s in base-2.

These examples illustrate the considerable bandwidth available with modern networking and storage technologies.