PC does not boot. Motherboard dead?

[CapriAnupam]

Hello everyone.. just need to confirm on a problem... and maybe get any ideas.

Day before yesterday... my PC just won't boot at all. I press the start button, nothing at all.

The night before that, the PC was running without any problem. I had shut it down normally, and had even taken out the mains plug, before going to sleep. The next morning, I plugged it in (connected via UPS), and the PC just refused to boot at all.

I checked all connections. I then took out every bit of connection from all devices, including power chords too. On the 2*2 power connector on the motherboard, I noticed two of the contacts are a little black.. so, it seems like something might have happened there.

I hoped that just the SMPS might have gone bad. But, I swapped the SMPS from another PC.. and the PC still fails to boot. Does it mean for sure that the motherboard is dead, and my worst fear is confirmed?

I also tried shorting the power-on pins on motherboard manually, in case that the start switch might have gone bad.... but there too, no luck.

The small light on the motherboard comes on though, when the power is on. Considering that, is there any hope for the motherboard at all?

I am thinking of getting the motherboard checked at the shop, in case they can fix problems. Should I try, or is it gone for good?

I also haven't tried my SMPS to see if its working or not... did not want to fry motherboard of another PCs, just in case. I am thinking of getting it checked at the shop too.

Motherboard is Intel D915GAV, purchased in 2005 and the SMPS is of UMax... purchased two years ago... in case this information even matters

Oh, and if the motherboard is dead, any possibility the processor might have survived?

Thanks

[CapriAnupam]

And in case, I need to buy a new PC, I will need help on that too. Have queries in mind. Will ask them later on this forum, in another thread perhaps.

[techman]

Well, if the lights are coming up then i dont think its a motherboard problem, check the processor or the ram or the video card (if installed) for this purpose and take it out and reseat it again if necessary. Also make sure that the thermal interface material or the thermal grease is applied to the processor properly.

[CapriAnupam]

Thanks for the reply.

Well, its not "lights" on the motherboard... only the small light on the motherboard which indicates power on, is coming on... nothing else.

I had done that earlier, I had taken everything off, including RAM, and then reseated everything... still nothing.

I had not checked the CPU yet.. so I did that yesterday. When I took it out, I saw that over the inner contacts, a kind of black soot was there. It went away when I rubbed over it, but I think it gives the indication that the CPU might have fried. Well, just being positive.. I replaced CPU back, applied thermal paste, put the heat sink on... connected other things... still no joy.

Nothing happens when I press the power switch... all same as before.

I think I can now say that the PC is dead for sure.

I will now take PC to a shop, and determine what has survived, and what not... or whether, there is any hope of revival at all. Chances are dim though.