68 Ω resistor colour code
Four bands: Blue · Grey · Black · Gold. The first two give the digits, the third multiplies, the fourth states how far off the real part may be.
Nominal
68 Ω
68 ohms
Real range at ±5%
64.6 Ω – 71.4 Ω
A gold band allows this much drift.
Series
E6
Held in almost every parts drawer.
Band by band
| Band | Colour | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blue | 1st digit — 6 |
| 2 | Grey | 2nd digit — 8 |
| 3 | Black | Multiplier — ×1 |
| 4 | Gold | Tolerance — ±5% |
How much it can take
Current and dissipation across the resistor, and the package you need. The suggested rating keeps a factor of two in hand, which is what anyone building a board actually does.
| Across it | Current | Dissipated | Package to pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.3 V | 48.5 mA | 160 mW | 1/2 W |
| 5 V | 73.5 mA | 368 mW | 1 W |
| 12 V | 176 mA | 2.12 W | 5 W |
| 24 V | 353 mA | 8.47 W | no standard part — needs a power resistor or a heatsink |
What you can actually get
Parts made
183
68th most of 1,465 values
In stock
14,952
across 5 of them
Cheapest at 100
$0.0026
each
Tolerances sold
±0.01% to ±20%
9 grades in all
Packages: 0805, 0603, 1206, 0402, 1210, 2512, 0612, 0207. Ratings: 30mW to 10W.
What ten of them actually cost
The price everyone quotes is the reel price. If you want ten, you cannot buy the reel — and the real figure is usually several times higher per piece.
Ten pieces
$0.15
$0.015 each · Cut Tape (CT) · minimum order 1
The reel price
$0.00127
each, but only from 100,000 pieces up
Sitting in stock
3,379,880
across 25 part numbers
Per piece, ten costs 11.8× the reel price. That gap is why a handful of resistors never costs what the headline price suggests.
Stocked in ±1% and ±5%, rated 1/20 W to 1/2 W.
Cheapest part you can buy ten of: CR0402-FX-68R0GLF by Bourns Inc. — see it at Digi-Key.
Assembly stock from the JLCPCB library, read 2026-09-24. Retail prices and stock from Digi-Key, read 2026-09-24. Prices move — check the product page before ordering. That is what a board house will place for you — not everything a distributor sells.
The same value, marked differently
Five bands
BlueGreyBlackBlackBrown
Three significant digits and a ±1% band.
Values that can overlap this one
At ±5% the tolerance bands of neighbouring values run into each other. A part sold as one of these could measure the same as a 68 Ω — which is why measuring beats reading when it matters.
- 62 Ω58.9 Ω–65.1 Ω
- 64.9 Ω64.251 Ω–65.549 Ω
- 66.5 Ω65.835 Ω–67.165 Ω
- 68.1 Ω67.419 Ω–68.781 Ω
- 69.8 Ω69.102 Ω–70.498 Ω
- 71.5 Ω70.785 Ω–72.215 Ω
- 75 Ω71.25 Ω–78.75 Ω
If you do not have one
Standard values that land within 1% of 68 Ω when combined.