Troubleshooting a Dead Motherboard: My Experience

Hello, fellow tech enthusiasts!

Recently, I embarked on a routine cleaning of my PC, hoping to remove dust and enhance its performance. I carefully opened the case and used a can of compressed air, but to my dismay, some fluid discharged onto the motherboard shortly thereafter. Thankfully, it evaporated quickly, or so I thought.

In the midst of cleaning, I encountered a challenge: my oversized CPU cooler made it difficult to detach my GPU. In an attempt to maneuver around this, I used a screwdriver to lift the latch on the PCIe slot, inadvertently scratching the motherboard while doing so. That incident has led me to worry that I might have actually damaged some critical traces on the board.

Since this mishap, my computer has been stuck in an endless reboot loop, failing to even reach the BIOS—just a frustrating black screen. Previously, I resolved a similar issue by correctly installing the RAM, but that technique hasn’t proved effective this time.

For reference, here’s a picture of the scratch I inflicted: My Motherboard Scratch. Did I accidentally wipe out my motherboard?

I’d greatly appreciate any insights!

Update

As a further clarification, here are the specifications for my setup:
– Motherboard: Aorus Elite Z390
– CPU: Intel 9700K
– The motherboard’s LED indicator is showing red, which I found detailed on page 21 of the manual here.

I’ve attempted several troubleshooting steps, including:
– Resetting the CMOS
– Unseating and reseating components like the GPU, SSD, and sound card
– Changing RAM slots
– Double-checking all cables, except for the CPU pins (the NH-D15 cooler is a bit too cumbersome to access without removing it, which I currently can’t do due to a lack of thermal paste).

Some resources suggested that it’s possible for traces to short even if they appear undamaged. Unfortunately, I lack the skills to perform any soldering myself, so I’m hesitant to attempt that route.

Tomorrow, I plan to purchase new thermal paste and a replacement motherboard. My strategy is to first reseat everything on the old board and, if that fails, to try the new one. A thought crossed my mind; could I