Help identify multiple hardware failure

Hello community,

I have had some horrendous computer failures recently involving multiple components and I am having trouble identifying the primary source of the problem. Issues first manifested with random computer shut downs. I checked my processor (wolfdale core 2 duo e8400) to make sure it was properly seated. I assumed it was a hard drive problem when the drive got corrupted several times causing me to reinstall the windows. After 3 installs over a few months The drive died completely. After the same problem with a new basic seagate drive I replaced it with an expensive seagate enterprise drive. These are supposed to be super stable and supposedly last up to 60 years. This drive died as well and Seagate sent me a new one under the 5 year warranty. Seagate told me only 5 of these drives had failed all year.

At this point I had a more tech savy friend look at the machine and he concluded that the processor was damaged. My question is if this overheated processor could cause my hard drives to fry? Should I consider replacing the powersupply (rosewill 800w). Could it be the motherboard?

I am planning on replacing the cpu and applying artic silver rather than the crap stock sealant. Can you recomend an effective cpu heatsink that is better than stock ? I'm waiting to install my replacement enterprise hard drive untill I fix this, and I certainly dont want to fry another cpu!

Your thoughts are greatly apreciated
Pabs