Computer freezing problems

[Sindenization]

I've been having problems with my computer recently where every 20-40 minutes my computer will freeze up and it can take anywhere from 30 seconds to three minutes to unfreeze again.

I first thought it might be the graphics card as sometimes the ATI drivers would show that they stopped working but were recovered however I then updated the software and that message has not shown up since.

I then thought it could be my temperatures but during a Intel stress test the highest temperature I got was 68*c (154*f) and that was when the CPU was at 100% load.

I then thought maybe my graphics card was bad but I switched the card out for an older one I had and the problems still persist.

If I'm lucky I won't get a freeze for about an hour or two but that's rare and it mostly does freeze within the 20-40 minute time frame as I stated above.

Another thing is the sometimes during the freezes I can still hear the audio that I had running, be it the game or video or just music. This audio is however jumpy and in slow motion.

If anyone has anyway that they know could help I would really appreciate it. It really is annoying to be going about my daily tasks or relaxing playing a game or watching a video only to have it freeze on me.

My computer specs are:
Intel i5-2500k (CPU)
ASRock z77 Pro4 (Mobo)
ATI r7 260x (GPU)
Corsair 750M (PSU)
Windows 7 Home Premium

I apologize if I posted this in the wrong place but I am not sure where I should post it.

 

[InvalidError]

Check your HDD's SMART status with a tool like HDTach or the manufacturer's own diagnostic tool. Windows randomly locking up for a while could be due to the kernel stalling due to the HDD timing out or taking much longer than normal to respond.

 

[Sindenization]

Check your HDD's SMART status with a tool like HDTach or the manufacturer's own diagnostic tool. Windows randomly locking up for a while could be due to the kernel stalling due to the HDD timing out or taking much longer than normal to respond.

I'm running an extended test with "SpeedFan" cause I already had that installed. IT's thing quite a while but when I did a short test it did not come up with any errors. If this comes up without any errors would you recommend me backing up my computer and just reinstalling windows? Would this help at all or is it the actual hard drive so I'd have to get another one?

 

[InvalidError]

If you start having HDD-related warnings/errors, that usually means you need a new HDD. Sometimes though, SMART says everything is fine but the manufacturer's diagnostic tools find something.

My personal experience with dying HDDs is you start having occasional lock-ups at random times (what you might be having here - does your HDD light get stuck on for part of those freezes? If you do, this becomes a prime suspect) and eventually the drive quits responding altogether until you restart the PC. Once it gets to that point, the drive may have just enough life left in it to finish doing last-second backups. I had three of my HDDs fail following that sort of pattern. One of them lived just long enough for me to finish getting my important files off while the two other failed while I was formatting them before shipping them off for RMA.

 

[Sindenization]

If you start having HDD-related warnings/errors, that usually means you need a new HDD. Sometimes though, SMART says everything is fine but the manufacturer's diagnostic tools find something.

My personal experience with dying HDDs is you start having occasional lock-ups at random times (what you might be having here - does your HDD light get stuck on for part of those freezes? If you do, this becomes a prime suspect) and eventually the drive quits responding altogether until you restart the PC. Once it gets to that point, the drive may have just enough life left in it to finish doing last-second backups. I had three of my HDDs fail following that sort of pattern. One of them lived just long enough for me to finish getting my important files off while the two other failed while I was formatting them before shipping them off for RMA.

So despite SpeedFan not finding any problems I've decided to spend a couple days to back up my system and reinstall Windows on a new HDD. I never thought that this could possibly be the problem and it seems that it could be. Especially because I thought my hard drive was somewhat louder now but shrugged it off thinking it was just me.

 

[Sindenization]

If you start having HDD-related warnings/errors, that usually means you need a new HDD. Sometimes though, SMART says everything is fine but the manufacturer's diagnostic tools find something.

My personal experience with dying HDDs is you start having occasional lock-ups at random times (what you might be having here - does your HDD light get stuck on for part of those freezes? If you do, this becomes a prime suspect) and eventually the drive quits responding altogether until you restart the PC. Once it gets to that point, the drive may have just enough life left in it to finish doing last-second backups. I had three of my HDDs fail following that sort of pattern. One of them lived just long enough for me to finish getting my important files off while the two other failed while I was formatting them before shipping them off for RMA.

Thanks for all your help. I reinstalled Windows on my new hard drive and it's working perfectly. I never thought the hard drive would be the problem. THanks again.