This is a list of the particular components I used in this build. Keep in mind that these parts are what suited my particular build and budget. There are countless other ways I could have gone.
- Motherboard: ASUS TUF Sabertooth X99. I picked this one mostly because of the plastic and aluminum 'armor' crap that it comes with. The specifications of the board were similar to others I was looking at, but the decorative bits were the starting point for the theme I ended up with. Purchased through Amazon:
https://www.amazon.ca/ASUS-SABERTOOTH-X ... B00VUK54F0
- CPU: Intel i7 6800k. Fit the motherboard and my budget. Link:
https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.a ... wAodqaoDnQ
- RAM: 32GB (4 x 8GB sticks) Ballistix Tactical DDR4. I was looking for 32GB of RAM, as lack of RAM was an issue with my last computer. This fit my budget, motherboard, performance requirements, and color scheme. Link:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01GZ1SUHW/ref ... nkCode=df0
- Power Supply: 650W Antec. This was pulled from my previous computer, and was sufficient for this one. Can be purchased at any computer part retailer (Amazon, Newegg, NCIX, etc.).
- The power/reset buttons were salvaged from my previous computer.
- Video Card: 2 x EVGA GTX1060 Founders Edition. These suited my price range, and they have water-cooling blocks readily available. Only 1 card is installed, the second one hasn't arrived yet (2nd card boosts gaming/video encoding/rendering ability). Link:
https://www.amazon.ca/EVGA-GeForce-Foun ... B01GLRX81I
- Storage: 2 x Kingston HyperX 128GB SSDs in RAID 0. These came from my old computer, I installed them on my new computer for extra storage. The two, 128GB hard drives are combined together to make one, 256GB hard drive. Combining them in this fashion boosts their performance as the data is split between the 2 drives, allowing it to be accessed faster. The downside is that if one fails, all data on both is lost. I don't keep any thing important on them though, so I'm not concerned.
There is also a Intel 512GB PCI-E M.2 Hard Drive which is used as my main storage device (Windows, ect). It clips into a special port on the motherboard, and can't be seen because of the plastic decorative crap. It is FAST. Windows loads in under 10 seconds, and like 3 seconds if it is only 'sleeping'. SSD hard drives are King, the performance boost for day to day activites is night and day. I can't go back to magnetic drives.
Cooling: The radiator, fans, reservior, pump, waterblocks, tubing, coolant and fittings were purchased through a company called EK Water Blocks. I believe they are based out of Slovakia.
https://www.ekwb.com/ Everything is specific to the other parts I had purchased, as well as the amount of heat I expected to produce. They have a nice configurator which is helpful to walk you though what parts you need for your system.
They aren't the only place to purchase water-cooling parts. There are plenty of other companies like Bitspower and Alphacool who also provide such parts.
To answer your question Bill_L, the tubing is called PETG. It is actually a hard, clear, acrylic like tubing. It is easy to cut, and easy to bend once you apply a little heat to it. The yellow comes from the pastel coolant additive I combined with distilled water to make the coolant for my system. There are tons of options for colors, ranging from opaque pastel colors to bright UV reactive ones.
They aren't the only place to purchase water-cooling parts. There are plenty of other companies like Bitspower and Alphacool who also provide such parts.
There is information abound on the internet on water-cooling and custom computers. YouTube has plenty of tutorials and videos, and forums like overclock.net have tons of information and pictures as well.
Edit: Yes, I spelt reservior wrong on the picture, and I don't feel like changing it
