System hangs during POST-HDD initialize/power problem?

[capnkillem]

Hello everyone, I'm having some weird problems with my system. I have diagnosed it as much as i can. During POST my mobo hangs while initializing the HDD. I have a POST readout card "test card". It tells me what i already expected. "Detect and install all IDE devices:HDD,LS120,ZIP,CDROM...." All are SATA(except for the burner which is IDE). I think it's a power problem but i have everything thats not necessary disconnected and i'm still getting the same problem. I'll explain how i got here.

about a few weeks ago i made my external 1tb internal to help with bandwith for media streaming. It all worked fine until my ethernet port started acting weird. windows kept telling me to connect my cable. the connection light on the port was turning on and off randomly. So, i disconnected 2 fans and my cd burner and everything went back to normal. So figured it was just too much for the power supply. i left the burner disconnected and put the fans back and was running strong till i came home from work today. the ethernet problem came back. i turned off the system ,disconnected fans and the 1tb. Now it's hanging for about 50sec while trying to initialize HDD. after that it boots to windows just fine. Ethernet is fine. So went and got an updated bios firmware. flashed that and still getting the same problem. i do not have a spare PS to swap.tried just the 1tb and the same thing. Could this really just be a power issue? post card says power is fine(from it's POV in the PCI slot) any help would be greatly appreciated.

system specs
asus m4a785-m
althon64 x2 4400
2x2gb gskill ddr2 800
SAMSUNG HD160JJ 160.0 GB
WD elements 1tb
Sony dvd-rom/cd-rw IDE
2x 80mm case fans
120mm case fan
60mm cpu fan
40mm northbridge fan
okia 450atx power supply

 

[capnkillem]

So its definitely safe to say it's the PSU then? I also notice that my northbridge heatsink was loose and was getting pretty hot. reattached the heatsink and added a fan over it to see if it would solve the problem. Didn't see it solve the problem but it did help with the heat. anyone with seniority on this forum have a clue?

 

[capnkillem]

ok, so i didn't replace the PSU. what i did do though was put some arctic silver on it and added some hot glue to hold the heatsink in place. So it didn't rock back and forth. Then i hot glued a fan to the heatsink. Original problem resolved. I think. Now i'm having what i believe to be another hardware issue. The only thing it's affecting is google chat roster in gmail. I followed googles instructions. still nothing. It's only affecting my desktop. Not my laptop, my brothers desktop, or the laptop I'm repairing. So its not my router or my internet connection. I even reinstalled windows just for shits and giggles. I have win7 and xp on my desktop. Neither of them will work. thats leading me to believe it is a hardware problem. Can this be the PSU problem cropping up in another form? I really need help because this is the only way my wife can contact me when i'm out of minutes. btw she's 8 1/2 months pregnant with complications. so, Anyone got an idea that doesn't cost money? Can i just replace the PSU and be alright?