What is a MosFET?

[FireFox]

I have really crap internet and can't load anything, luckily I had this open but I'm wondering what a MosFET is and what does it do in a computer.

 

Sometimes listening to Linus I hear him saying it.

 

I don't know if I'm right but I thought it was a type of transistor but I'm unsure.

[ZombifiedPyro]

I can't explain it but here is what it means: metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor

[Conelton]

As ZombifiedPyro said, it's a Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor. They are indeed a type of transistor and they are used in power delivery/voltage regulation. That's all I can remember off the top of my head.

 

Here's a picture from Wikipedia with a match for scale:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/D2PAK.JPG/220px-D2PAK.JPG

 

If you can't see the picture then they're the small black cubes with 3 pins sticking out of one side that are found usually around the CPU area on the motherboard.

 

You probably heard Linus refer to it in the context of "MOSFET cooling" or "The MOSFET area" or something like that. In those cases they're the transistors around the CPU area that are part of the power delivery to the CPU. They need cooling because they can get very hot, especially with overclocked CPUs.

 

Sorry I can't remember anything else but I hope this helped a little :)

[loganryan99]

A MOSFET is generally used for controlling voltages that are different from the microcontroller's (or any other device) logic voltage. They're also used to separate the logic power-rail and the power (So you don't use up a lot of power on your logic pins and screw up your MCU).

 

For example, I could have an LED that takes 20v to drive, but my Microcontroller only outputs 5V. I could connect 20v to the MOSFET's power line, and the output to the LED. Then, I connect the MCU to the control line and when I put in 5v, the MOSFET will switch on and power the LEDs.

 

Essentially, it's an automatic switch.

[FireFox]

Helps massively, thanks guys.

[ofr057]

So what do they mean by solid caps?, or that something differant

[FireFox]

So what do they mean by solid caps?, or that something differant

 

Those are solid capacitors instead of the old ones with a electrolyte type liquid, I think those are prone to bloating/leaking.

[Glenwing]

Solid caps are in reference to capacitors.  On lower quality motherboards like some Dells or whatever OEM motherboards or older boards they have electrolytic capacitors which can be prone to leaks, causing unstable power delivery which can cause all sorts of odd problems depending on what position the capacitors are at along the circuit, including random shut downs, blue screens, etc.  Solid capacitors (or "caps) have no fluid components and don't leak, and can have much better tolerance at high temperatures (when overclocking, for example).