Windows 7 freezes randomly a few times per hour

I've been having some issues with Windows 7 lately and have scoured as many relevant forum threads Google can muster up, but to no avail. The problem seems somewhat common among users, but each potential solution seems to go off in a completely different direction than the next, so here I am making my own customized post and seeking your expert advice.

Randomly when running any application (even just Event Viewer or the file browser, but also when using Chrome, Skype, Adobe products, etc.), my computer will freeze for anywhere between 30 seconds to 1.5 minutes. I usually notice my system is going to lock up when internet tabs stop loading. I see the loading wheel in the Chrome tabs, and I know the program is about to hang. Shortly after one application begins to freeze, most of the other applications I click on/mess with freeze too. Interestingly, for programs that are recording or outputting sound (Skype calls, YouTube videos, iTunes) will continue to play/record sound so long as I don't touch them. Once a minute or two has gone by, the entire system frees up again and all the applications continue as normal, all at the same time.

Custom computer build specs (PCPartPicker list: /list/MfMHhq):

• CPU: AMD FX 8350 8-Core 4.00 GHz


• mobo: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P ATX AM3+


• GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE 3X


• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM (applied Arctic Silver 5 AS5-3.5G thermal paste)


• SSD: Transcend 256GB 2.5"


• HDD: WD Blue 2TB 5400 RPM SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5"


• RAM: 2 ✕ 4GB DDR3-1600 (it should be noted that I had a difficult time installing one of the RAM sticks during assembly. It seemed like one of the bays was a tiny bit smaller than the stick so I had to be more forceful than I'd hoped/liked. Nothing snapped/broke to the best of my knowledge.)


• DVD: Asus 24x DVD-RW SATA Internal OEM optical drive


• PSU: Corsair CXM 750W 80+ Bronze Semi-Modular ATX


• OS: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP-1 (activated)

I wore an anti-static wrist band apparatus during entire build time.

Troubleshooting steps already taken:

• Boot the system with many things disabled (from msconfig) -- proof!




• System File Checker -- nothing to report




• Downgrading from Windows 10 (when it was a free upgrade. It sucks for me now.)




• Reinstalling Windows 7




• Check Disk -- took literally 24 hours to complete and it found a few corrupted or missing things (not sure of the jargon here...) but offered to fix them so I accepted. They were raw image files (.NTF) I had imported from my Nikon D3200 DSLR camera.




• "Smart Scan" with Avast Antivirus (free) -- results here I'm not sure what to think, but I'm not thinking too deeply about this.




• Updating drivers -- I've updated all my drivers that programs like AVG and Avast have told me are out of date, but none of by devices that connect with USB 3.0 work in any of the ports on my motherboard. I've installed the Eltron USB3.0 Host Controller driver from Gigabyte's website, and I (hope) this is a separate issue I can solve later.




• Keeping Event Viewer and Task Manager open at all times to observe behavior during freezes -- I've looked through all (yes, all) of the logs under Applications and Service Logs/Microsoft/Windows and the only section that had anything that matched the timestamp of the latest freeze was the "CAPI2" Operational log. Lots of "Information" level entries and one or two "Error" entries. When applicable, I've copied the URLs in the "Details" tab of the "Error"-level entries, downloaded the file, right-clicked, and chosen "Install CRL". I've always restarted my computer after installing any CRL files. Nothing's fishy in Task Manager during these freezes either. About 80-88% from System Idle Process, 13% from svchost.exe, and maybe 8-12% from Chrome during the most recent freeze.

  
  

  I'm guessing you'll want to see those CAPI2 entries, so just let me know of the best way to dump that information.

Any and all help/suggestions are appreciated. I will gladly run any necessary tests thrown at me and will report back results. Just make sure I know how to report/dump the results.