System starting problem

[street1 (RIP)]

One of you motherboard IDE plug-in ports could be bad and you could use a PCI addon card.

[Dread]

Finally, it turned out to be the M.Board problem & its burnt. The RAM slot smokes (damaging the RAM ofcourse ) & hence i guess I gotto change the M.Board. So, guys, my question is : Any chance of the CPU getting damaged too ? ... I was thinking to get a M.Board (462 socket) compatible with the CPU I have (AMD Athlon AX 1600 DMT3C)... well, thats the current M.Board & CPU I have of which the M.Board is burnt.

I didnt wanted to spend much so trying to be economical here. Pls suggest, i guess the information above is sufficient for the new readers too.

[GX1_Man]

If the RAM is ruined then of course the CPU being destroyed is another possibility. If you have a repair shop nearby they may be able to check it for you for a few bucks to prevent throwing good money after bad. Other than that there is only the "try and see" approach. A bad power supply can cause all of this damage by the way. You stated it was fine, but I am not convinced at all.