The motherboard is a neccesery component of a computer that allows all parts to recieve power and communicate with each other. The features of a motherboard determine the upgradability of a computer and what hardware it can support. The motherboard itself doesn't do anything other than hold hardware, but it is neccesery for every computer. Newer motherboards can have support for PCIe lanes, RAID support, and on-board sound, network, video, and other peripheral support. All hardware components on a motherboard communicate through the chipset. A better motherboard allows for newer and better hardware and makes upgrading a computer easier.