Before you put anything in your case, you need to check for leaks. One method that I have found to work very well is the dyed-water test. Take your system and connect the components in this order:

RESERVOIR OUT BARB > TUBE > CPU WATERBLOCK > TUBE > RADIATOR > TUBE > RESERVOIR IN BARB

   Make sure to use a hose clamp on every connection. You will want to get the hose clamp as tight as possible. Like my dad used to tell me, "Tight is tight, and too tight is broken!"

   After assembling the system outside of the computer, open the lid of the reservoir and fill it 90% full with distilled water. Then add a few drops of food coloring or hi-lighter ink. Close and reservoir, and tighten the screws to seal the lid. Now, take about 6 plain white paper towels or napkins and spread them out over your counter or workbench. Place the whole system on the towels, and plug in the power. As the pump pushes the water around the system, look for visible leaks. If you find one, unplug the system and seal the leak. After all visible leaks are found, it's time for a break. Leave the system on overnight. You can leave it on longer if you like, but overnight should be enough time. Go outside and get some fresh air, because there is still more work to be done tomorrow!

   After running the system for at least 8 hours, go back and check the paper towels. If there were any small leaks, the ink in the water would have dyed the paper towels. If you had any ink on the towels, find the origin of the leak and seal it.

Installing the Components

   Before you put the water-cooling setup in your computer. You need to prepare the CPU. First, unplug all external cords. Next, remove the doors from your computer and unplug all internal cords (but make sure to remember where they go!). Remove your old heatsync from the CPU. Next, remove your CPU. You will want to clean off the old thermal compound with rubbing alcohol before mounting your waterblock. After the chip is clean, plug it back into the motherboard and apply a thin coat of thermal compound over top of the chip. Here are some different thermal compounds you can use:

   When your CPU is prepared for mounting, refer to the intallation instructions that came with the waterblock. Different waterblocks mount different ways, so make sure you use the correct method and hardware. Here is an example for mounting DangerDen's Maze 3 waterblock (pdf format): http://www.dangerden.com/Instructions/MAZE3_Instr.pdf, however please use the instructions that came with your actual waterblock.

   When you have your block mounted, place the components of your system in your case, in the relative location that you want each part to go in. You can use anything from zip-ties to nuts and bolts to mount your radiator, and the reservoir can just sit in its location. Depending on your case, you may want to mount the radiator inside the front of the case, but you should get better water temperatures if it is mounted externally. Here are some sample layouts: