Difference gigahash and gigahertz

[BlackJacky]

Hi all, I would like to know if 1 gigahash is the same as 1 gigahertz? Thanks in advance for an answer

[shorena]

Hi all, I would like to know if 1 gigahash is the same as 1 gigahertz? Thanks in advance for an answer

1 kilohash is the caluclation of 1000 hashes. Typcially this is given as hash per second. Giga is just a prefix of higher order, thus 1 gigahash per second is 1000³ hashes per second.

Hertz is a SI unit for frequency and 1 Hertz = 1 per second. It is typically used to refer to the "speed" of a CPU[1]. Speed as in number of cycles per second. A 1 Ghz is capable of 1000³ operations per second. What an operation is depends on the CPU. Modern CPUs can do most basic math calculations in a single cycle.

Should you find a CPU that can calculate a SHA256 hash in a single cycle 1Ghz = 1Ghash/s. Most CPUs dont implement SHA256 directly on the chip.


[1] Note: when refering to CPU I talk about a general purpose CPU. Something you would get in a computer you buy at a store.

[BlackJacky]

Thanks very much for the fast reply.

If I understand it correct, there is only a difference regarding the operation but the speed is the same (1 per second).

[shorena]

Thanks very much for the fast reply.

If I understand it correct, there is only a difference regarding the operation but the speed is the same (1 per second).

That is correct, but keep in mind that your regular computer CPU will need several cycles (probably a few thousand) to calculate a single SHA256 hash. Thus when we are talking about bitcoin mining a Gigahash/s is faster than a GHz CPU. On the other hand your CPU can do many different things (run your browser, play games, etc.) while modern mining equipment (ASICs) can only hash SHA256.

[Rmcdermott927]

Hi all, I would like to know if 1 gigahash is the same as 1 gigahertz? Thanks in advance for an answer

They are unrelated units of measurement.   Hertz is a way to measure frequency or cycles per second.   Hash per second is exactly that, how many hashes are created in a second.

So, to review, Gigahertz= 1 billion clock cycles per second(when relating to computing power)
Gigahash per second= 1 billion hashes of the given algorithm per second.

[odolvlobo]

Gigahash and gigahertz are unrelated.

Gigahash is 1 billion hashes, just like gigajoule is 1 billion joules, gigagram is 1 billion grams, and gigameter is 1 billion meters.

Hertz is a measure of frequency. 1 hertz is 1 cycle per second, so gigahertz is 1 billion cycles per second.

When measuring mining capacity, people use hashes per second. 1 gigahash per second is 1 billion hashes per second. Sometimes for convenience, people will write "gigahash" when they mean "gigahash per second".

[countryfree]

Note that you may remove "giga". There's the same difference between hash and hertz.