Watercooling componant selection help requested

[antiacid]

cpu block question: material = cosmetic change. I highly recommend going for an apogee XT because of the mounting system. If you ever so slightly mis-setup the EK block, you'll have way worse temperatures than the potential 0.2c improvement you could have by using it.

video card question: pretty much again a question of what looks best. Those blocks are very comparable in terms of performance. Pick with your wallet, remember nobody but you will see it

rad question: if you're buying in canada, check your prices on both shopbot.ca and pricebat.ca for the best possible price. RIGHT NOW ncix has some good shipping deals so it makes sense to price match to them and get 10-15$ express shipping. I would recommend a mcr320 for the cost/performance ratio which is simply miles ahead of anything else.

reservoir question: This will depend on your case. I find bay reservoirs to be easiest to install / maintain but it isn't always the easiest to fill. I'd pick with my wallet here again, remembering that the reservoir doesn't need to be very large to be useful.

pump question: they would all work since you have a medium sized loop. The d5 can be controlled so maybe you'd like the extra choice. I know I do. I have 2 of them soft mounted on foam pads and I barely hear them and both my loops are fine :P

tubing question: I personally go with 3/4 OD but for it's minimal compared to 1/2 OD. Try UV tubes instead of UV dyes. It's way less messy, won't leave deposits on your blocks and tubes and reservoir.

fittings question: you can use bards for a less expensive solution or compression fittings for a nice look. However, be aware that large compression fittings won't fit on small blocks. You'll need angled fittings for those (or use the alternate config for the XT). Bards are fine though.

I guess my overall recommendation is: don't go for the bling, go for what makes sense in the performance/cost metric.

Happy new year and enjoy watercooling!

[Atragon]

Thank you for the feedback, your comments are helping me narrow down what I need to go with.

I see what you mean about the mounting mechanisms, the Swiftech uses machine screws with a shoulder that screw into the backplate to achieve a consistant mount while the EK uses non-shouldered machine screws so the way to ensure a consistant mount is to check spring compression/height of arms above motherboard. I'll have to think about this one a bit, that seems slightly cumbersome compared to Swiftech's method.

The asthetics of the EK GPU blocks appeal to me more than the DD ones, so I'll be going in that direction. According to the EK website, a backplate is merely an asthetic addon, so I'll just go for the FC block.

After re-reading the triple radiator comparison on Skinnee Labs, the MCR320 is looking better and better for price/performance as you mentioned antiacid. Given the heat load I'd be putting into the loop (overclocked i7-2600K and a 580GTX (maybe a second one later), I'm thinking that a 320 mounted up top and a 220 in the bottom is the way to go.

For the pump, I was originally leaning towards a D5 vario so I could turn down the flow rate (and noise), but the MCP35X mentioned in the pump thread looks very appealing too. Not sure yet.

I'm entirely unsure as to the reservoir, I like the idea of a tube res, but since I'm planning on putting this all in a case with no window, I suspect I'll grab a bay res of some description so I can see the water level.

For filling/draining the res, a t-line at the bottom of the loop should do for draining, and if I leave a bit of slack, I think I should be able to pull a bay res out far enough to get to its fillport.

That was a good catch on the fittings possibly interfering with each other on some blocks antiacid, I'm thinking that if I go with the swiftech block, I'll do 3/8"ID tubing and if I go with the EK block I'll go with 1/2" ID tubing to avoid compatibility issues. I won't run into clearance issues on GPU blocks, will I?

I'm planning on distilled water + kill coil and/or PT Nuke despite the temptations of being able to see glowing fluid in the reservoir, the potential headaches that have been mentioned (staining, clogging, etc) just don't seem worth it.

In short:
CPU Block: Undecided between Swiftech Apogee XT and EK Supreme HF, one has the better mounting system, the other has slightly better temps when mounted properly, and accomodates larger compression fittings (ie, 3/4" OD tubing).
GPU Block: EK 580GTX Full Cover block
Rad: Swiftech MCR320 for the top of the case, if needed MCR220 for bottom of case.
Fans: Scythe Slipstream or Gentle Typhoons
Pump: Swiftech MCP35X or D5 Vario
Reservoir: A bay res of undetermined type most likely.
Fittings: Compression Fittings (Bitspower or Fesser most likely) for blocks, pump, and reservoir, and a t-line leading to drain plug.
Tubing: Clear tubing (maybe UV reactive) either 3/8"ID 5/8"OD or 1/2"ID 3/4"OD (Primochill LRT or Fesser?).
Fluid: Distilled water + PT Nuke and/or Kill Coil

The main questions that I still have are, do I have enough rad for my heat load? What about if I add a second 580GTX? Should I go with single loop or dual loop? Dual loop strikes me as more expensive to do (seems to require a second pump) but would isolate the CPU from the GPU's heat output so they could run at a higher delta T relative to air.