Weird problem with AM2+ system

[naknakkus]

My friend has this system:
ASUS M3A78-EM
AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB 800mhz
Thermaltake Purepower 500W Power Supply
LG DVD/r
EDIMAX EW-7128G PCI Wireless Card
Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB


It refuses to boot unless he tries removing sticks or RAM, the DVD drive, or his wireless card. The right combination seems to be somewhat random. The system will work fine while it's running, but when he shuts it down and tries to boot up, it will just hang and not POST.

I thought that it might be the power supply, but he's had a message suggesting that he update his BIOS. He did that, and the problem persists.

He says that he gets a screen similar to this one:
http://i39.tinypic.com/5ovzmh.jpg

Any ideas? This is his first build and it's a shame he's having such a bad time of it.

Cheers.

 

[ChrisLX200]

Needs to clear the CMOS the contents have got corrupted. If it does it again after that maybe the battery is on it's way out.

 

[naknakkus]

I'm wondering if he botched the BIOS update somehow, as he didn't mention getting the error screen before, but he was still having the same problems.

I've told him to try clearing the CMOS though. I'd probably be able to figure out what was going on if I could see the machine in person, but he and the machine are in the States.

 

[naknakkus]

So you're pretty sure it wouldn't be the PSU?

Edit: I've told him to RMA both the motherboard and PSU.