Hardwarenerd

1. Yes, it will help, it will take the cpu heating of the interior of the case out of the heating equation, as long as you have decent airflow, which will be nec, if you are running 2x 280s, i suggest at least one intake and one exaust fan, with your setup, probably 2 of each would be fine, and if sound is an issue, use 120mm or larger fans, they will provide decent airflow, with reduced sound.

2. In my experience, it is very easy, as easy as installing an aftermarket cooler. In addition, keep the waterblock mounted to the tubing. and MAKE SURE TO TEST the watersystem BEFORE you install it, you dont want a leak after you have installed.


3. Realizing that you are in AUS, i dont know if you can purchase Fluid XP for a reasonable price, but imo it is the single best coolant out there. It is non-conductive, anti-corrosive and anti-fungal. Even in my mix of 40% distilled water (because the fluid can use a bit of thinning out) it is still non-conductive. try to avoid the thermaltake fluid, although it says it is antifungal, it is not, i have had bad experiences with it, it contains sugar alcohols that do build mold, and flushing a waterblock is not an easy procedure. If you dont really have access to Fluid XP or Fluid XP ultra, there are other liquids out there, including distilled water and or car antifreeze, which actually does a pretty decent job of anti-corrosion/antifungal.

4. i have never used Ram cooling pads, but i do have Memory Heatsinks on all my memory and have never really had a big issue with overheating, even with pretty aggressive OCs.