chungenhung

Need this to act as a switch to turn a computer on/off. The wires will be connected to the motherboard on/off headers. These headers simply need to be shorted momentarily, and the PC would then turn on.

Right now, I am using a relay switch to do this, but I believe an IC or transistor would be able to do it too. Actual relay switches are expensive compared it transistor.

The current flowing through the transistor would be very small, and thus an actual relay switch is simply a waste.

How would I go about using transistors? I have 8 computers that I want to be able to control using Netduino, would it better to get an IC chip instead?

I don't think I need resistors, as I am simply completing the circuit (just like there is no resister in a PC on/off switch on the case).

Since the transistor should normally be OFF, I believe I need a NPN type. The transistor needs to be OFF when there is no current.

How would I connect the wires? Would appreciate it if you can link me a sample transistor, and a short code snippet.

Sorry, I am new to IC and transistors, and don't really know how to make them work.