68 kΩ resistor colour code
Four bands: Blue · Grey · Orange · Gold. The first two give the digits, the third multiplies, the fourth states how far off the real part may be.
Nominal
68 kΩ
68,000 ohms
Real range at ±5%
64.6 kΩ – 71.4 kΩ
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 | Orange | Multiplier — ×1,000 |
| 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 µA | 160 µW | 1/8 W |
| 5 V | 73.5 µA | 368 µW | 1/8 W |
| 12 V | 176 µA | 2.12 mW | 1/8 W |
| 24 V | 353 µA | 8.47 mW | 1/8 W |
What you can actually get
Parts made
200
34th most of 1,465 values
In stock
36,419
across 5 of them
Cheapest at 100
$0.0029
each
Tolerances sold
±0.1% to ±5%
7 grades in all
Packages: 0603, 0805, 1206, 0402, 1210, 2512, 2010, 0201. Ratings: 30mW to 5W.
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
$0.13
$0.013 each · Cut Tape (CT) · minimum order 1
The reel price
$0.00127
each, but only from 100,000 pieces up
Sitting in stock
4,010,008
across 49 part numbers
Per piece, ten costs 10.2× the reel price. That gap is why a handful of resistors never costs what the headline price suggests.
Stocked in ±0.1% and ±0.5% and ±1% and ±5%, rated 1/20 W to 1/2 W.
Cheapest part you can buy ten of: RT0603FRE0768KL by YAGEO — 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
BlueGreyBlackOrangeBrown
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 kΩ — which is why measuring beats reading when it matters.
- 62 kΩ58.9 kΩ–65.1 kΩ
- 64.9 kΩ64.251 kΩ–65.549 kΩ
- 66.5 kΩ65.835 kΩ–67.165 kΩ
- 68.1 kΩ67.419 kΩ–68.781 kΩ
- 69.8 kΩ69.102 kΩ–70.498 kΩ
- 71.5 kΩ70.785 kΩ–72.215 kΩ
- 75 kΩ71.25 kΩ–78.75 kΩ
If you do not have one
Standard values that land within 1% of 68 kΩ when combined.