simple question on placement
 

I am looking to add my new stuff in my case. Res, Pump, Rad, but I do not have room in the bottom, nor wish for the inaccessiblity to the water reservoir. SO, are there any reasons why I can not just stack these items to the top of the case, and tiewrap them down in a quasi-attractive fashion, then cut 2 holes for tubing going into the proc.?

I just want to avoid a n00b no no about something that was addressed before I jumped into the forums, and was already common knowledge. You helpful suggestions would be appreciated.

There are ways to make it fit, but otherwise, there's not really any kind of "preferred stacking order". Just keep the rad's air fresh.

You might be able to route the tubes through the back, or even through a slot opening. There's no need to go and cut up your case:p

Are we talking about a submerged pump?

Yes.. the pump is in the res. Can I put it on top. I am leaning toward that solution because I don't have room behind or to the side. If it wont effect performance critically or even by 5% then is it ok?

as for the case.. its a cheap one, and I don't mind.

No, there shouldn't be any negative (or positive) effects. What's most important is keeping the heatercore's air fresh.

If you're interested in cleaning it up, you could do a Vapochill style case mod, where you extend that case (top or bottom), to fit the watercooling parts.
:shrug:

The only reason that you don't see many people putting their res/airtrap up top is the risk of a leak dumping your entire contents on your components (as if it would be worse than a low end burst). It is ideal to let the air get trapped at the highest point, but not essential if your trap is designed right.

I know what a plumbers p trap is, but the air trap. Does it resemble a N coming from the pump to the block?

An air trap can be anything, really. Basically, it is a chamber half filled with water with one input and one output, but as the water flows through it, air bubbles can get trapped in it. You want this right before the pump in EVERY circumstance, and you don't want it to ingest any air into the output. In it's simplest, it can be a T junction with a fill tube. Some are really complicated. There are design ideas all over in this forum.

I have a submerged pump in a res. It has a inlet going from the top where there is an air gap as the water falls in. Couldnt that just be the air trap?

Yes. You will just need to make sure that the design prevents air ingestion. If the pump is sucking air constantly, you may destroy your pump ... air pockets in a mag-driven pump's drive shaft will wear the shaft unevenly and destroy it pretty quickly.