Troubleshooting a Scratched Motherboard: My Experience and Tips

Hello everyone,

I want to share my recent experience while cleaning my PC and the challenges that arose as a result. During a routine maintenance session, I decided to use a can of compressed air to remove dust from my components. Unfortunately, while doing so, I found that some fluid escaped onto my motherboard, though it evaporated quickly.

As I attempted to detach my GPU, the size of my CPU cooler made the process tricky. In an effort to release the latch on the PCIe slot, I inadvertently scratched the motherboard with a screwdriver. This incident left me concerned that I may have damaged critical traces on the board.

After the mishap, my computer failed to boot up—it wouldn’t even reach the BIOS screen. Instead, it went through a cycle of rebooting without displaying anything but a black screen. In the past, I faced a similar situation that was resolved by properly seating the RAM, but that wasn’t the case this time.

You can see the scratch I inflicted here: View Image. My motherboard is an Aorus Elite Z390, paired with a 9700K processor. The status LED on the motherboard lights up red, which has me worried; according to the manual on page 21, this is not a promising sign.

Steps Taken to Diagnose the Issue

I tried several troubleshooting steps to address the issue:
– Resetting the CMOS
– Removing and reseating the GPU, SSD, and sound card
– Reseating RAM in different slots
– Double-checking all power cables

I’ve refrained from unseating the CPU since my NH D15 cooler makes it difficult to access the CPU pins without removing the cooler itself—something I couldn’t do without fresh thermal paste, which I didn’t have on hand at the time.

Given that many resources suggest that a short between traces might cause problems even if they appear intact, I found myself in quite a predicament. Unfortunately, I lack the skills for soldering repairs and decided it wasn’t the right approach for me.

A New Motherboard Solution

After considering my options, I planned to visit a store the next day to purchase thermal paste as well as a new motherboard. While I contemplated reseating everything on the old board and trying a boot with just the necessary components, I eventually opted for an easier route.

I’m glad to report that I found a new A