The motherboard of a computer is the electronics board, or circuit board, that everything plugs into. It is the “mother ship” of any device – phone, tablet, laptop, desktop. It holds the central processing unit (CPU) chip, probably from Intel, AMD or another major manufacturer. When a motherboard or CPU chip fails, then your device simply doesn’t do anything when you turn it on – nothing shows up on the screen, even though the power is on. Unfortunately, the motherboard is typically the most expensive part of the device, costing hundreds of dollars. When it fails, or the CPU chip, then a new computer is the most likely solution. In some cases, it is possible to buy the exact same make and model of the computer and move the hard drive from the old computer into the new one. If the computer is several years old, though, a new one is the better solution.