OS Freezing and Test Freezing

I’ve built a new computer with an Asus P6X58D Premium, OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600, i7-930 Intel and the WD1002FAEX. With a fresh install of Win 7 pro 64b I’m getting freezing (complete lock, requireing hard reboot) in the OS if I leave it idle or open apps.

I’ve tried to run CHKDSK and it froze (complete lock, requireing hard reboot) half way 2x and I’ve run your Data Lifeguard Diagnostics (dos boot) and it has frozen (complete lock, requireing hard reboot) 2x on the full media scan.

Will a bad HD cause freezing like this on OS usage and during these scans? Or could it be a ram/cpu issue?