[ben333]

My text is in green.


1. I have no idea where to begin. Am I best buying a kit or individual components? Either way, what components will I need?

Well Swiftech makes great kits pretty cheap so I'd look into them unless you really want to overclock a lot. www.swiftnets.com

2. When connecting the components, should I run the water to the CPU block first and then to the graphics card or the other way around?

I think most people run it from the pump outlet into the CPU and from the CPU into the GPU and from the GPU into the radiator then from the radiator into the res or T line then back into the pump. Lots of people also have the pump push the water into the rad and then from the rad into the blocks, etc but it doesn't really matter, in a good watercooling system there won't be more than 1C of difference from one spot in the loop and another.

Other considerations:

1. I'd like to keep the cost down as much as possible.

Hows about $200? It will be about that much for a good solid new watercooling system. Used could be anywhere depending how much performance you want to sacrifice. Heres an example - the first rig I really water cooled was a 2.9 GHz pentium 4 presscott. I water cooled it to overclock it and get the noise level down and I did it with a $37 pump, a $30 used waterblock, $10 in hose maybe and a free heater core I found. (Total of $77) It worked great even with a quiet fan so I never invested on better cooling for that rig. Had I gotten all new and bought parts that were built for computer cooling it would have been about $50 (at least) for the pump, $40 for the block, $10 in hose and about $50 for a radiator. ($150 total)

2. I'd prefer a fully internal solution (except perhaps for a radiator hanging off the back if necessary).

Unless you want to cut holes in your case you'll probably need to mount the radiator on standoffs on top of the case or off the back.

3. I have a single 5.25" drive bay free for a reservoir if necessary.

Reservoir make filling the system easy but in my opinion all they do is restrict flow and make another place that a leak could happen. I use a T line but I guess they aren't for everyone.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. I've built countless PC's before but never water cooled one and I want to do it right the first time.

Then you've come to the right place, welcome to ProCooling