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.
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