Computer freezing constantly

[ThomasW]

I've been experiencing issues with my computer freezing up lately and would like to know whether it's because my PSU cannot handle the components.

Issue: Computer freezes randomly- the screen and application is frozen, and move cursor cannot be moved. Sometimes the computer will last 2 hours, sometimes 2minutes. It has been sporadic as it freezes while under heavy load from games, music, movies or even sitting idle. Also, a high pitched noise comes from the the PSU when frozen.
Yesterday I changed the PSU to another with similar watts (because the store didnt have any higher) to check whether my PSU was faulty. However, no luck there.

My system specs:

Graphics Card - Gainward GTS250 1gb "Deep Green"
http://www.gainward.com/main/vgapro.php?id=225
HDD - Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB http://www.wdc.com/en/products/pro [...] riveid=301
PSU - Silverstone 500W http://www.silverstonetek.com/down [...] eport1.pdf
CPU: AMD x4 965BE
Motherboard: Asus m4a79xtd evo http://www.asus.com.au/product.asp [...] templete=2
RAM: 4GB Gskill DDR3 1600 http://www.gskill.com/products.php?index=88


Gainward's site says the minimum required watts is 500 which is what I'm using.
I ran a GT220 which requires 300W and the computer ran smooth. I'm looking to change the graphics to a ATI 5770 to see if the issues lies with the graphics card. Will my current silverstone PSU handle it? ATI's site says minimum requirement is 450W.

 

[shovenose]

the ati radeon hd 5770 is better than the nvidia 250, but uses a more efficient design, thus less power. it should work.

 

[ThomasW]

Would the PSU be able to handle another 500gb harddrive?

 

[violentlyhappy91]

Still going with this one eh? The GTS250 doesn't need 500W, that's just the safe range. If you tried everything from the last thread I helped you in, take the GTS250 to a PC store and ask them if they can do a test with it to make sure it's all working. The PSU can handle another 500Gb SATA HDD pretty easily.