Intel - i5-6600 3.3GHz

I've had my i5-6600 for about a year now, and it's been great. I originally wanted to get a 6700, non-k because overclocking isn't a priority, but the price was simply too steep. Since I was on a budget the 6600 was the way to go for the gaming I planned on doing and at the time the price/performance curve was just right. I've never really used it by itself, since it's paired with my 1070, but I've never had any problems with it in the three different builds I've used it in.

MSI - B150I GAMING PRO AC Mini ITX

I got this motherboard with the intent of water cooling on it so the colors and the features were my main focus. It's got support for everything I own and includes enough USB headers (all one of them) to allow me to run my fan controller off of it while keeping the cables out of the way. Overall, I really like the aesthetic and it should fit in just fine. The waterblock is pushing some of the capacitors towards the rear of the case so I'm hoping everything works just fine when I finally get to do my first boot with it.

Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB

I've also had this for a pretty long time, since I got the CPU, and there's nothing really too special about it. It's DDR4 to match with the motherboard requirements, and it has a speed of 2133 although that doesn't really matter considering RAM speed isn't an important factor in the build. The most important factor in the build is the LPX (Low Profile eXtension) designation, since there are some pretty tight spaces for tube runs and the slim profile allows me to save a large amount of time since I don't need any major bends.

Sandisk - SSD PLUS 120GB & WD - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5"

In this build I actually have three drives (sadly no images because they're not organized), the single SSD and two of the hard drives, and they all serve their individual purposes. I'd say that any SSD is crucial to a computer in this generation, the boot times and performance increase you'll see vs what you'll be paying makes it a no brainer. The OS and commonly used applications go on the SSD and everything else that isn't super common gets put into the mechanical drives. It keeps the performance blazing fast while keeping the cost of a 1TB SSD out of the picture.

MSI - GeForce GTX 1070

The MSI Gaming 1070 is the heart of my build, and is probably my most prized component. I got it to replace the heat and power draw of an R9 390, and it's done a great job while also providing a performance increase. I use it to drive two 24 inch 1080P monitors, and hopefully soon I'll be switching to a single 29 or 34 inch ultrawide. Sadly, most of the games I use it for aren't demanding and it's overkill for what I need, but it gives me a pretty large window before I need to upgrade it at least. I expect that with the addition of the water loop it'll be even better and I can't wait to get it up and running.

Fractal Design - Define Nano S Mini ITX

I got the Nano S for the simple reason of aesthetic, but I also got lucky with some excellent support for water cooling. Unfortunately, I've apparently overestimated the amount of complexity that goes into building in such a small case, and the build has been put on hold because of it. Anyway, the radiator support and pump brackets are pretty neat and I'd have to give the case a 10 overall.

EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 650W

I got the 650 watt PSU when I switched over to the less power-hungry 1070, plus I got a little bit more power efficiency. I don't have much to say about it, nothing bad at all, but it is technically a bit too long for the case but it all works fine. I give this a 10 as well, and if that's not enough jonnyguru gave it a 9.6 and that's really about the best praise you can get.

the next section talks about the parts I've purchased to water cool my computer

EK-Supremacy EVO CPU Water Block - Nickel/Plexi & EK-FC1080 GTX TF6

EK-CoolStream SE 120 & EK-CoolStream SE 240

I don't really know exactly what to say about the blocks, because I've never owned any before this, but I do know that they're beautiful and are insanely solid. They're much heavier than they look and the company that makes them, EK, is probably the best in the business. I got the plexi versions because I'm going for the aesthetic look and it matches.

Alphacool HT 12mm HardTube Compression Fitting & EK-HD PETG Tube

I'd say that the most surprising thing about building a water cooled computer was the cost of fittings, I pretty much neglected the fact that there are so many of them in the build, and that cost adds up in the end. Even with the build being so small and using so few pieces I ended up needing more to get close to finishing. However, the tube was actually affordable and came with more than I expected, so that made me feel a little better.

EK DDC 3.2 PWM & Mayhems Pastel Coolant

The first piece of the puzzle was the pump, I got it with the idea of having it sideways, but I've eventually changed it to vertical and cutting a hole in the top of the case for a fill port. Unfortunately, like the rest of the build, I've never gotten to run it due to a leak. As far as the coolant goes, I'll be running some Mayhems Pastel with green dye to get the aesthetic looking.