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Why is 1 GB equal to 10^9 bytes instead of 2^30?
Explanation of why a GB is 10^9 bytes
A 2.2 GHz CPU operates at...2.2 × 10 9 cycles per second1 Gbps Ethernet transmits data at...10 9 bits per secondThe 2.4 GHz band which wireless ethernet operates within lies...between 2.4 × 10 9 and 2.5 × 10 9 HzA 200 GB hard drive holds...200 × 10 9 bytes of data But what about RAM? When you're designing a piece of silicon, you want to have N address lines and have every combination of zeroes and ones map to a memory location — to do otherwise would make the logic far more complicated. Finally, even for RAM calling 2 30 bytes "1 GB" isn't really proper; instead, the IEC binary multiplier prefix "Gi-" should be used.
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