NCE3050K vs NCE3080KA vs NCE3095K vs NCE30H14K - 30V TO-252 Family Comparison & Selection Guide | ICMASS

NCE3050K vs NCE3080KA vs NCE3095K vs NCE30H14K: Full Comparison

Read the two R_DS(on) test-current rows before anything else. The 3050K and the 30H14K measure both gate drives at the same current, so their two figures compare directly. The 3080KA and 3095K do not.

That matters because resistance rises with current. A low-drive row measured at a lower current is flattered, and the real gap between the two drives is wider than the printed numbers suggest.

Key Differences Between These Four Parts

The tail of the part number is the current rating

NCE30 + the tail, where the tail reads as amps: 3050 is 50A, 3080 is 80A, 3095 is 95A. Past 100A the family switches notation and inserts an H.

The rule is useful for reading a part number you have never seen, and useless for predicting performance. Resistance is set by the die, not the label.

The ladder breaks between the 3080KA and the 3095K

The 3095K beats the 3080KA on resistance and on gate charge at a higher current rating. Lower resistance, less charge, more current - three ways, one step up the scale.

On resistance alone the order looks clean. Add gate charge and it stops being a ladder: 32.3nC, 51nC, 38.4nC, 80nC against currents of 50A, 80A, 95A and 140A.

The 3095K carries nine hundredths more current than the 3080KA and asks for thirteen nanocoulombs less to do it. If drive current were the constraint, that step is free.

The figure of merit ranks them differently

On-resistance alone is a conduction-loss ranking, and it is not the ranking a switching design needs. The industry combines both costs into a single figure of merit: R_DS(on) × Q_g.

The 3095K comes first, and the part with the lowest resistance comes second. That is the same break in the ladder, arrived at from a different direction.

It does not overturn the resistance ranking - it bounds it. The 30H14K stays the right answer for a low-frequency, high-duty design. The 3095K is the better all-round part once switching loss is in the budget.

And the ranking is a 25°C ranking

Every resistance figure on this page is measured at 25°C, and none of these parts runs at 25°C. Low-voltage silicon typically gains 40% to 80% in on-resistance between 25°C and a 100–125°C junction.

The consequence is the one the industry warns about directly: ranking parts cold and operating them hot can change the order.

The effect compounds, too. More resistance means more loss, which raises temperature, which raises resistance again. These sheets show the characteristic as a graph rather than a number, so the direction is certain and the size is not.

The switching rows are not comparable as printed

These four sheets measure switching on three different rails and with four different gate resistors. The nanosecond figures therefore describe four different experiments.

The 3095K looks slowest in the table above only if you ignore its rail. Its 8ns fall time spans 5V where the 3080KA's 10ns spans 30V - a slew rate of 0.625V/ns against 3V/ns.

Normalising all four to a common slew rate reverses the apparent order. That is why the fall-time column should be read as a test report, not a specification.

The threshold window decides half-bridge safety

Gate threshold is the parameter that decides whether a device stays off when the other FET in the leg switches. These four publish 2.6V, 1.4V, 2.2V and 2.5V as their maximums.

Normalised to a common 3V/ns slew, the induced gate voltage is 1.13V, 1.86V, 3.82V and 3.69V. Three of the four cross their own threshold ceiling.

Two caveats belong with that table. It uses each sheet's own test gate resistance rather than your board's, and C_rss is a small-signal figure that understates the Miller region. The real spikes are larger.

The ranking still holds, and it explains a fact that is otherwise odd: only the 3050K publishes a dv/dt rating - 50V/ns. The part with the most margin is the one the manufacturer was willing to put a number on.

When to Choose Which

Choose the NCE3050K when a logic pin has to drive the gate, when the dv/dt requirement needs a published number rather than an estimate, or when the load is resistive or clamped. It has the lightest gate in the family and the least avalanche margin.

Choose the NCE3080KA when the drive rail is 5V rather than 4.5V, when a narrow threshold spread matters for paralleling, or when the body diode needs to be fast. Its 0.7–1.4V window is the family's tightest and its ceiling.

Choose the NCE3095K when you want more current than the 3080KA without paying more gate charge. It is the one step on this ladder that is strictly better than the part below it on both figures.

Choose the NCE30H14K when conduction loss is the binding constraint and the board has copper under the tab. It has the lowest resistance, the best junction-to-case path and the heaviest gate in the family.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Can I swap one of these for another without a layout change?

A: Yes - all four share the TO-252-2L footprint and the same pinout. Pin 1 is gate, pin 2 is the drain tab, pin 3 is source on every one. What changes is the gate charge and the thermal path, so the driver and the copper need re-checking.

Q2: Does a higher part number mean lower on-resistance?

A: No, and the 3095K is the counterexample. The tail encodes current, not resistance. The 3095K at 95A has lower resistance and lower gate charge than the 3080KA at 80A, and the 140A part has higher resistance than neither.

Q3: Why do the switching times look inconsistent across the family?

A: Because they were measured on different rails and with different gate resistors. The 3080KA was tested at 30V, the 3095K at 5V, and the other two at 15V, with gate resistors from 1.8Ω to 6Ω. Normalise before comparing.

Q4: Which one is safest in a hard-switched half-bridge?

A: The one with the most margin between its threshold ceiling and the induced gate voltage. On the normalised estimate here that is the NCE3050K at +1.47V. The other three cross their own ceilings under the same assumption.

Q5: Why does only one part publish a dv/dt rating?

A: Because a rating is a promise the other sheets cannot make. The 3050K tolerates a fast edge without the gate network having to absorb it. A sibling whose induced voltage crosses its threshold under the same conditions has no margin to guarantee.

Q6: Are the two R_DS(on) rows always measured at the same current?

A: No. The 3050K and the 30H14K use one current for both rows; the 3080KA and 3095K do not. Where the low-drive row is measured at a lower current the gap between the two drives is understated.

Q7: Which has the best thermal path?

A: The NCE30H14K at 1.25°C/W junction-to-case, and the 3050K is worst at 2.5°C/W. That is a die-area effect, not a package one - the four use the same package, and the larger die spreads heat better.

Q8: Which one should I stock?

A: Depends on whether your designs are drive-limited or conduction-limited. The 3050K covers logic-driven, low-current boards; the 30H14K covers high-current boards with copper to spare. The 3095K is the middle step that costs the least to move up to.

Q9: Should I sort these by on-resistance or by figure of merit?

A: By figure of merit once switching loss is in the budget, and by resistance at low frequency. R_DS(on) × Q_g ranks the 3095K first and the 30H14K second. A low-frequency, high-duty design reverses that.

Q10: Do these rankings still hold at operating temperature?

A: Not necessarily - they are 25°C rankings. On-resistance rises 40% to 80% by a 100–125°C junction, and the industry warning is explicit that comparing cold and running hot can reorder parts. Confirm the hot ordering on your own board.