Soyo k7v Dragon Plus!
AMD Athlon XP 1900+ (Palomino)
768 Mb DDR Ram PC2100
Gainsward GeForce 3 64 MB Video
Total of 3 HDD 110 GB
2 of the drives are connect to a PROMISE onboard RAID controller and using RAID 0
V92 internal modem PCI
USB 2.0 PCI with 5 ports
Video Capture Card with IEEE 1394
7 in 1 card reader
DVD burner and CDRW burner

Please HELP! It all started several months ago. First, one of the drives on my RAID went out. Then another IBM drive went out. Replaced. Then I installed a DVD burner and video capture to burn home movies. Decided to upgrade the CPU from 1600+ to a 2100+. When I installed the 2100+ the computer wouldn't post, so I got a 1900+ and the computer posted after several attempts to power up the computer.

The computer is very flaky now. If I unplug the computer from power and peripherals, I have to mess with the insides for hours to get it to boot again. Each time something different seems to get it to boot. I unplug a hard drive and the plug and then the computer will boot. I will reattach the power to the board, then it will reboot. Last week I checked through the RAM and thought I solved the problem. With one of my sticks of RAM the computer wouldn't boot. So I removed it and everything seemed fine, until I went to install an ATA controller. Once installed the computer wouldn't boot again...no post...but all the fans and drives had power...CPU light did not come on.

Once the system boots it seems to be fine. It runs clean and fast. But I want to switch out a drive and I am afraid to get this boot issue. I have tried to put the old CPU back (it was working fine when I removed) thinking that was the issue, but the same issue occurs, that is, the computer will only POST and boot after several attempts, plugging and unplugging etc. Then it works fine.

Any ideas. A bad mobo or psu have been suggested and before I purchase either I would like to have an educated guess as to the problem. I await any help and in the meantime I will belly up to the bar and take solace in the drink which this problem is driving me.

Thanks.

Whats the wattage on your PSU

400 W original to an Antec Case