Newbie WC setup
 

Im a newbie to this Watercooling racket and Im assessing the cost for decent + quiet Watercooling vs Quiet Air cooling. I live in England but I have relations coming across in a month or 2.

I have time to plan a system. I dont know what i need and Im definately prepared to learn. My case isnt tiny but it isnt big. About 17" tall, 8" wide and about 16" front to back. I have space for an external setup as well so internal isnt nessercary.

Im after a system that is reasonably quiet and that will perform well for a reasonable cost, preferrably staying under $150 or so.

As i said in another thread, you're more looking at $200, especially if you're in Europe...
Building a silent setup aint cheap either, if you still want performance then price raises quickly. Good waterblocks, a good heatercore, and (since you're in EU) Papst fans are what you need.
In the UK, you can get those nice Atlantis waterblocks, the 'The Deep' rad, a Papst 4412 N/2GL and a Eheim 1048. I haven't made the total cost but if i was in the UK and about to start watercooling, that's what i'd get, definitely.

Forgot to mention that my Relatives that are visiting are from America and they wouldnt mind bringing a few bits and pieces over as long as they arent heavy or bulky.

Ill price up some of those you mentioned to give me a comparison.

EDIT: Im thinking of getting a Northbridge waterblock and a GeForce 4 waterblock to reduce the number of fans. EPoX dont use good Northbridge fans and the replacement they sent is going now less than 1 month into use. Is using Watercooling on a GFX card or Northbridge worth it in terms of reducing noise or for that matter overclocking these days?

Radiator: Dont know which one you exactly mean
Pabst Fans: Closest couple i found
Waterblocks: Here
Pump: Eheim Pump here

Hope my URL'ing works. Google is a gem as always.

If you can give us dimensions, I can give you a car model# and year. You can then have your folks go to an auto part store, and pick up a nice copper heatercore for you.

Excuse my ignorance but Heatercore? does that do the job of a radiator?

And where do you want measurements for? front under the HDD cage?

Here's a link:

http://www.heatercore4u.com/2-300.htm

It's like a radiator, but it's used inside the car, to heat it up.

You can look as long as you want, but I have the info compiled into a database, so if you give me the size of the opening where you are going to put a radiator, I can give you the model car and year.

Yay! Somebody still uses it! Those hours of work are paying off!

What order do the components go in? Is there a certain place where the radiator must go in relation to the pump and so forth?

I have a poor little digital camera. Ill try to get a half decent shot of my case with side off and everything in place. Stick a ruler there as a gauge.

Since a GPU and Northbridge block are a consideration, will the Eheim 1048 be enough to pump the water around? I suppose tube lengths would need to be discussed to figure it out.

Yes it's worth it, both for noise reduction and overclocking (watercooled NB = high FSB, provided you've got good memory modules).
WCing the GFX card is mainly for noise reduction, as i've yet to see OCing benefits. Generally GPU's are sold clocked very close to their limits.

Note: now you're looking into 3 waterblocks -> it will lead you more towards $280 - $300 for the grand total... You can do the CPU first then wait 1 or 2 months to get the 2 other blocks.

'edit) ah we posted at the same time. Put the components in the most obvious order, the one which won't produce any turns in tubing.. Usually ppl place the rad just after the pump, and at the lowest point to prevent bubbles to get trapped inside.
in the US the 1250 is just $10 more and worth them. Good luck if you find similar prices in Europe...

of course since no one has mentioned it i guess i will. You could always make your own WB's if you have a drill press or mill. Some people even use a hand drill (wouldn't try that my self cause i like my fingers :D).

Straight water cooling a video card might not help much, if any, but WCing it will allow for an 80w peltier, which will help ovarcloaking :D. But that's a different topic for a different time I guess.

While Ambient's comment has merit, I would caution against making your own waterblock if you are new to watercooling. Get the hang of it and do enough research to make your eyes bleed before taking that step ... you'll appreciate the reasons why once you start learning the hows and whys of block construction from the guys here. We have a few real pros hanging out at these boards, and they'll be happy to help once you're ready, but try getting your toes wet before diving into the water (and flooding your PC case accidentally, hehe).

I'm doing the same thing as you, Elcs, and I've only spend $176 shipped so far. But then again, I'm not using a HC or rad, but just a large bucket :)

$87.22 - Innovative's GF4 & NB blocks.
$15.75 - Maxi Jet 295GPH
$54.85 - TC-4
$18.18 - 10ft Tygon

All prices are shipped, and you can save ~$30 if you go with Becooling's NB&GF4 blocks, I just like the purdy Innovatives :)

The result won't be totally quiet, as I'll still have the PSU fan & pump, but pretty close. You probably don't want to get the Maxi jet, though, I just don't think it has enough power for 3 blocks. Ehiem really is the way to go for silence, or so I've read, so all in all you're probably looking at $200. Kinda like gmat said :)