If motherboard installed without standoffs will it short memory,cpu

Hello,
I'am attempting to troubleshoot/fix a buddies computer,the problem he reported was after he built the thing(his first build) when he powers the comp on the fans spin he gets the very short post beep but no video signal,i have suggested the normal try booting with the 1 stick of ram, disconnect drives try boot,reset cmos try boot,remove all cards,drives,ect try boot with only motherboard,cpu,psu. he still has same issue,he brought the pc to me when i opened it up i saw his issue straight away he installed the motherboard without the standoffs causing a possible short (when i booted up i did not hear any poping sounds nor did i see smoke/fireworks) i instaled some standoffs i had laying around still no video,my question should i only be figuring the board is toast or could it of taken out the cpu,memory? i have tested the psu it does supply the advertised power. if i replace the board and use the old components cpu,ram is there a chance the cpu,ram could damage the new motherboard? should i make him buy all new parts and start fresh? thank you for any and all help
the specs
msi MSI 890GXM-G65 AM3 DDR3 AMD 890GX
amd am3 960t black edition zosma core
16 gigs hyper x ddr3 1600
ocz 120 gig ssd
diablotek phd series 350 watt(weak link)
Thermaltake V9 BlacX Flex Edition

yes.

unless the case has built-in standoffs, you should always install them,

almost any circuit could short out, so the only way to find out is testing it.

are any of the pins on the underside of the motherboard bent? any areas have that burnt electronics smell that means a fried capacitor or ic chip? if there's nothing obvious like that, there is probably no probem, but testing is the only way to find out.

Well if the mobo is Dead, then nothing else is testable on that board. When he get his new board, get the Republic of Gamers 890FX. I was checking it out and oh man if i had that board when i used my 955. Remember to always Standoffs when installing components, itl keep you from frying components

What video card?

nope, 350 is plenty for onboard graphics, and up to any discrete card that doesn't need PCIe power (up to HD5670/6670, NVidia GT440/540). What brand is it?

as long as its not a poorly-built company like Diablotek, it'll be more than plenty for onboard.

If you plan to be adding a GPU like HD 6770/6790/6850 or a GTS 450/550 then the $44.99 Corsair CX 430W is an excellent choice.