[Solved] Taking the plunge

Ok, I've finally decided to water cool my system. I'm flexible about everything, including budget and what parts to cool. For the budget though, I cringe at spending too much since that money could go into gpu power, mobo, ssds, monitors, etc. I'm thinking 300-400 would be appropriate.

My goal is to get better oc performance and cooling on my gpu and cpu (I think I likely need a mobo upgrade for cpu to get much better though). Noise is not an issue, though it shouldn't be louder than it is (my 6950 is loud).

My plans are to cool both the gpu and cpu now and add another water cooled 6950 in the future.

My CM 690 isn't the best water cooling case but I don't mind modding it. The rest of my specs are in my sig.

That said, I've read alot of guides and reviews on wc and am slightly less lost than I was.

Here's my list of parts that I expect will change a lot. I'm Canadian so my preferred websites are NCIX, DirectCanada, DazMode and maybe Newegg.ca (though they don't seem to have a great selection of wc parts). The below are mostly DazMode, but that can change.

Pump (and res)
I like this combo from DazMode because it gives me both a D5 strong (which i assume should be enough for a 3 block loop) and a reservoir for $80. I read somewherethat the D5 strong needs 16V to get full performance. Do I need a special adaptor for this?

CPU Block
Koolance 370
I'd be fine with a cheaper one...

GPU Block
Really not sure what's best here. These are the available and compatible coolers at DazMode
Aquacomputer aquagrATIx
Watercool HEATKILLER
XSPC Razor 6970 (this doesn't say it's compatible with a 6950 but they're the same board, so i assume it is)

Radiator
XSPC RX360 - i'll need to be creative to fit it in the case.
Would three of these Yate Loon fans be good?

I'll look at fittings and hoses after i've figured out the above pieces.

Comments?

Edit:
Going with NCIX I can do a similar but more expensive build.
-Koolance CPU-370
-Swiftech MCP35X
-EK-FC 6970
-Swiftech MCR320
The above comes to about the same price but with no res or fans.

cool, the ex rads are apparently almost as good as the RX series, but as slim as the Rs, check reviews if you can, and when you shop for your gfx block then, make sure (if its full-cover) that it specifies that it fits reference cards,
not sure on the 16v bit for the D5, one of the others may know of it, and if so a solution as well
but I'm unsure as to a psu being able to supply 16v to be honest, your molex lines are 12v obviously, but maybe we'll both find out
Moto

Combined GPU/RAM/VRM-cooler for graphics cards of the type ATI / AMD HD 6970 and 6950 with 2048 MB RAM (Cayman XT/PRO GPU) according to reference design.
Yup, its a reference block alright
Yup, that tubing will fit
Yup, water and coil fine
Yup, fittings same size
Yup, just use your As5 (unless it is actually five years old
or the K2 grease included in the kit
so thats $430
You could go for a cheaper block for the card but I havent seen any reviews of the Xspc one vs the Aquacomp one yet
Moto

Those results seem like there is a very large performance difference...which is rarely the case. Also, that run-down has some typical blocks and some that aren't as commonly considered when testing blocks.

You just don't see up to a 10C difference in GPU blocks like that...just seems very suspect to me.

AC blocks and hardware looks great, but it's also priced great...like Moto mentioned. Some of us use full-cover blocks, some of us use universal...each has a reason why. I've used my MCW60's on at least 5 different video cards and only replaced RAMsinks (most have been reused though). $55 x2 has lasted longer than $110x2x5 (I run SLI, hence x2x5 you'd pay for full-cover blocks over that time.)

Best answer selected by slicedtoad.