Thanks for the replies.
It’s my first time at mining hence just trying on some pieces of hardware I have laying around. After proof of concept I decided to improve the hardware so I brought the new motherboard and a new graphics card (Radeon HD7870). With the first two HDD failing I assumed it was just conincidence but when the third happened I decided to ask on here if mining caused these HDD problems. So thanks for the information.
I don’t think the SATA power cables are the fault as I’ve used the new ones supplied with the motherboard so now the fault occurred with the older power connectors and the newer ones too. I will visually inspect them just to be sure they match your description.
I first started mining on an old Pc with 250w PSU but when I got the new graphics card it was clear it needed a new PSU so I got a Corsair 550W PSU.
I’ll probably buy a New HDD no that I know mining doesn’t have a damaging effect on HDD
Thanks
Gavin