Well, I got a new cpu. Never used it.
I am not sure if the flash worked or like magik mikey said about the cables. All i do know is that its been about a week and no freezes or restarts.
Could have been the bios flash, at first i didnt realize you need to go back into the bios and load OPTIMIZED values for the new flash to actually be utilized. Seems after i did that was when the problems went away.
However, I also straightened out the hard drive ribbon cables when i hooked the new drive up as a slave.
Regardless, the problem seems to be gone for now.
Thanks for all the input. I will post if problems come back.
In the end, I never used new cpu or even the new hard drive. The fresh install on new hard drive and making sure all drivers/updates installed in proper was nice to do/learn though.
The freezes went away when i flashed bios or because of unplug/reseating everything.
Just in case anyone else is looking for this problem/answer.
Thanks
Kerry