Help choosing parts

[DraGoNsLaYeR]

I need some help building a water cooling system. I'm trying to eliminate noise and heat in my system. I don't plan on over clocking much if at all. Unfortunately I don't have the skills to build something very exotic, so basically I don't want to be modifying my case or anything. I have an average mid-tower case so something large might would have to go on the outside of my case. I could get a new case if I really need to but that's obviously a substantial amount of additional money. The CPU that needs to be cooled is a P4 3.2. My graphics card is a vanilla 6800, but I don't think I'll be water cooling that.

[Jordan]

A Zalman Resarator and the GPU block nought seperately would cool both and isn't too hard to fit as it's external and the tubing just feed through a PCI slot.

[pdf27]

If you've got the space and don't plan on moving about a lot, get the Zalman reserator.
If you plan to move it, or don't have room for a reserator/don't like the looks then some of the Swiftech kits are probably worth a look - they're well engineered, and have simple plug-in fittings for the tubes in many cases that would make the build a lot easier/safer.
Pump choice would be either an Eheim 1048 or Laing DDC (Swiftech sell this as something else, but I can't remember the description) - most other pumps are either a bit noisy for SPCR levels or have reliability issues (C-systems!).
Fan choice is the other problem. Despite 38mm thick fans being better performers, for noise/airflow levels the Nexus may be a better choice - see Ferdb's posts on the subject.

[DraGoNsLaYeR]

The reserator I think is too expensive for me. MCP350 is the pump that comes with the Swiftech kits. Is this the one you are talking about?
Which Swiftech kit do you recommend?
Also, how are Astek Waterchill and the new Thermaltake BigWater compared to swiftech?

[pdf27]

The reserator I think is too expensive for me. MCP350 is the pump that comes with the Swiftech kits. Is this the one you are talking about?

Yep, that's the one. They also do (did? they may have stopped recently) supply the MCP650 which isn't quiet. The MCP350 is arguably the best pump in the world right now, and the only reasonably high performance one likely to get SPCR approval.

Which Swiftech kit do you recommend?
Also, how are Astek Waterchill and the new Thermaltake BigWater compared to swiftech?

I would be very surprised if the Swiftech kit didn't blow either of the other two out of the water in performance terms. There is a lot of test data over at ProCooling.com for the Swiftech waterblocks - and all the current ones are very close to the best in the world (they're the best mass produced ones).
Asetek and Thermaltake haven't supplied anything for testing, but what anecdotal evidence I have coupled with what I can tell by looking at the blocks suggests that the Asetek will have somewhat average performance while what I can see of the Thermaltake makes me suspect it will struggle to beat a good aircooling setup.
I've just spotted the BigWater mixes aluminium and copper in the system, so I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole - it is almost certain to suffer from galvanic corrosion. That, and the way it looks like you can't swap parts easily makes it a no-go.
IIRC Swiftech sell components seperately as well as in kits. I'm on a 56k connection so can't be bothered to trawl around the Swiftech website at this time of night (the page with individual components for sale directly is massive - everything is on one page with individual pictures).
Best thing to do is have a look at the kits available to you to see what suits you, make sure there are no mixed metals (copper/aluminium) touching the water (one or other is fine but both will cause corrosion) and then go over to ProCooling to compare the two, if they have test data. Bill Adams, a VP of Swiftech often posts in the ProCooling forums so that might help you, but watch your step - he's very knowledgable and will often help, but has zero tolerance for idiots/time wasters.

[DraGoNsLaYeR]

H20-220 kit comes with the MCP650 pump. The other two have the MCP350 pump, one has a 80mm radiator and the other has a 120mm. Suposably you can mount the 120mm outside the case on a 80mm fan thing with MCB120 Radbox, which I believe is not included and costs extra. For now I'll look for a comparison between the Swiftech and the Asetek.

[pdf27]

H20-220 kit comes with the MCP650 pump. The other two have the MCP350 pump, one has a 80mm radiator and the other has a 120mm. Suposably you can mount the 120mm outside the case on a 80mm fan thing with MCB120 Radbox, which I believe is not included and costs extra. For now I'll look for a comparison between the Swiftech and the Asetek.

Radiator size/airflow will make a bigger difference than block design in most real world situations, so I'd look seriously at the 120mm rad with the MCP350 pump kit. IMHO that will cool a lot better than the Asetek.