New to liquid cooling -- need suggestions - Money is no object :)

[eth0s]

I can bench press 400+ lbs

Dude, rly? Only 400lbs? Is that all? (JK, but hypocritical much?)

@OP: Don't freak out, take a deep breath, and just scale back your goals for your first water cooled rig. It's your first water cooled rig, so just remember that you don't have to build a dream rig and win the grand prize at a national LAN party with your first attempt. You are guaranteed to make some mistakes, and you will definitely buy the wrong thing, and/or change your mind half-way through the build, and/or ruin components/ parts/ the rug, but w/e, you will definitely learn a few things. (And hopefully this forum can help you prevent catastrophic loss, like a leak that ruins your whole computer.) The only way to really learn this hobby is to jump right in and start doing it. Trial by fire. Learn by doing. Or insert w/e cliche you like better. Anyway there ain't no shame in being a noob, everybody's been there, so don't be afraid to ask questions.

Well with keeping it simple in mind here is my suggested list of things to buy:

First off: Do one giant loop for your first build, it will make things much easier (and many would argue that one loop is better anyway)

CPU - XSPC Raystorm

Board - Add this later

RAM - Add later

GPUs - w/e fits your budget, but I would recommend getting pure copper blocks, i.e., do not get nickel plating, b/c EK blocks are good, but they had a problem with the electroplating coming off, which is something you don't need your first time out (actually this is something you don't ever need, and it is totally annoying when it happens to you, just saying), so stick with all-copper regardless of brand. Besides nickel plating only decreases heat exchange anyway.

Pump - One or two Laing DDC 3.25's (or re-branded versions from Swiftech or Koolance) with a dual combo top is probably the easiest way to get good head pressure in a combo loop. Mount the pumps on the bottom of your case with a cylindrical reservoir on top. Really simple would be a single DDC 3.25 with a reservoir on top of the pump. Don't worry about maximizing flow rate at this point, you will get around 0.8 - 1.0 gpm flow rate with only one pump.

Tubing - Primochill tubing. Get 1/2" ID tubing, and 1/2" barb fittings. Keep it Simple. USE TUBE CLAMPS. Get colored tubing if you want to make it visually appealing. DO NOT USE DYES.

Fittings - Barbs give best performance, but actually compression fittings might be easier to use. So this is your choice. Try to minimize the use of fancy fittings like extenders, 180 degree snakes and the like, as you don't really need them, and you won't really know what you need until AFTER your loop is built. So hold off on exotic fittings until your second build. Also try to minimize the use of 90 degree elbows for your first build, until you learn how they impact your flow rate. Now as for a drain plug, in your first build, I would skip it, and just put a set of male and female Koolance VL4N quick disconnect fittings in the line right before your pump(s).

Coolant - distilled water plus a few drops of PT-nuke, or some other biocide. (WARNING: USE ONLY 2 or 3 DROPS. Otherwise you will create a copper sulfate solution in your tubes, created when copper ions are leached from your copper and brass components, which will turn your water brown and make it smell like metal, and which will leave nasty dark brown stains wherever it spills. I umm, heard this happened to somebody, once, in the past.)

Radiators - Easiest way to go is 120mm form factor. XSPC RX series rads are good and use 6-32 screws. Also I like HW Labs SR-1 Series rads, but they use M4 screws. (Also consider Swiftech rads as a beginner as they are good value, if not best performers.) I would say if you want to run fans under 1,100 rpm then use the XSPC RX series, if you want to run fans of greater than 1,200 rpms, then use the SR-1 series, or if that is too confusing, then just use Swiftech rads. (On your next build you can try more exotic radiators, like a 140mm.)

Fans - It's pretty easy: for 120mm size, Scythe Gentle Typhoons are the best fans that you can get (if you can get them that is). (S-Flex are basically second best alternative. I have them all: S-Flex E, F, and G, and all of the GT's, and I can attest that the GT's are superior in every way.) My advice is to keep it simple and get the AP14 since you want quiet operation AND high performance (lol, which is what we are all still looking for btw). Your other choices are the AP13's for more quietude, or the AP15's for more performance. For your first build just go with single row of fans, mount them in push or pull, depending upon whichever is easiest orientation to put into the case. Don't go crazy trying to optimize fan placement on your first try. (If you get hooked on this hobby, you will spend the rest of your life trying to squeeze another 2% of performance out of your fans with the use of shrouds, and double rows, etc. But for right now, just do whatever is easiest.)

Reservoirs - go simple, go with a single cylindrical reservoir mounted on top of the pump(s). As for size, you are really only limited by your case. Bigger never hurts, but you really don't need more than 150ml.

Case: Mountain Mods is an awesome company, and I have spent much money there. But you maybe want to start simple, so maybe try a Corsair 800D or a CoolerMaster HAF. If you are heart-set on MM, maybe try the Pinnacle 24 case with a 480mm rad in the top and a 360mm rad in the front, or a U2-UFO with a 360mm rad in front and a 240mm rad in the back.

Final words of advice: just get it built, and see how it performs. Then you can start the never-ending process of improvement and upgrades.

[Eeeaugheeeaugh!]

No I don't "hypocritical" much...even a developmentally challenged hypocrite wouldn't attempt to use the word "hypocritical" as a verb. How'd you do in grammar school? Oh...and why did you tell him to avoid spending lots of $ on fancy fittings, then turn around and convince him he needs compressions and koolance qd's? You my friend must hypocritical all the time...while wearing a space helmet, mouth guard and mittens. If the OP reads your advice he will not only never build a wc rig, he will probably jump off a tall bridge in an attempt to quiet the stupidity now infecting his head...and it will be all your fault Mr. grammar genius.

[Panthols]

I recommended what I did because it's simple, good quality components that you can most likely completely or partially reuse if you plan to continue water cooling. I specifically said the Swiftech CPU block because that is what the OP mentioned multiple times, and as I stated, the difference between the best and the prettiest components is going to be 1 - 3c at most. Some things to follow and you won't have any problems:

1) If you aren't using compression fittings, use hose ties. These range from zip ties to $10 clamps.
2) Pay attention to flow direction, some blocks are picky about it. Primary thing to remember if you have a separate res and pump... Pump pulls from the res.
3) Leak test before turning everything on. Simple jumpered PSU works or you can buy an AC to DC Molex adapter if you want to get fancy.
4) Start off simple and go from there. You might be able to spend $1000+ now but it's better to spend $300 and find out that you don't like it. You will always find a use for the extra equipment if you really get into the hobby.

The gear I posted is good, tested products that have been around for a while. It's also pretty inexpensive so it's a good starting point. The biggest thing now is finding a place to start, after that you can start making more informed decisions on what you want and where you want your eventual build to go. You can even hold off on the MM case for a while and just use a gutted fan to hang your radiator from the back of your current case while getting familiar with water cooling.

The only reason I posted like I did the first time was the "unlimited budget" thing... Give me a truly unlimited budget and I'll probably drop $5,000 - $10,000 on cooling. I'm sure there's people here that have. Probably even posted in this thread 3 or 4 times already...