Not sure of the problem with my computer

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I built the computer I'm currently using, and it's been working great for several months now. Recently on startup the CPU and graphics card fans don't spin properly, they start and stop intermittenly and make a louder noise than usual. There's no mechanical issue, so I'm leaning towards it being a power issue. The computer shuts down before it starts loading XP and often when restarting it there isn't a problem.

I've done a lot of video conversion and gaming on this rig so really it doesn't make sense to me that it would be a power issue, as surely the power consumption during those tasks would be higher than on startup. Does anyone know what else might be the problem?

The power supply is at maximum stress during start up. Spinning up hard drives and charging all the capacitors takes a lot of current.

Interesting, so the amount of power used during startup is even more than while having 100% CPU use during video conversions or playing extended sessions of Oblivion or Gears of War? I really wouldn't think that that much power was being used on startup. I've had this computer doing video conversions for over 24 hours non-stop, and it didn't have any issues then.

Also, it's weird that the problem has been completely random and only happens once every now and then. If it were a power problem then wouldn't it consistently be a problem?

I really hope it's not a power issue, I only recently upgraded a few months ago to a 500W PSU which I thought would be sufficient.

It's probably the PSU. During startup, there is no regulation, everything just flows freely. It's actually software that determines the load for the power supply, along with hardware.

Try upgrading to a larger power supply, or finding one with multiple rails. That helps spread out your power consumption. If you're confused, take a list of your hardware to a local computer store and find a tech. A really geeky looking one. They can help, and they are weird too, so no comments