Help: Possible Hardware Failure

[Spongebob]

Not so fast there, SB. The PSU could be the root of most of these problems. The best way to tell is to remove the new graphics card (assuming you have the old one or you have an integrated graphics solution). That will relieve the PSU of its burden of trying to supply more current than it is capable of. If the problems go away, you can choose to put up with the poorer video performance - at least for the short term - or upgrade the PSU.

I can't remember why he put in the new graphics card in the first place.  Was is because of the flickering monitor?  Not sure.  But yeah, if he reverts back to the old GPU and the system runs smoothly, then it's probably because he's overtaxed the PSU.

But it also sounds like the hard drive is getting noisy.  That's not an emergency but it could mean eventual death.  Honestly its been about five years since I rebuilt a desktop.  My skills are getting old.