I know its super jank and wastefull of water but i only had it trickling through as it doesnt need much flow as its not being recirculated

Do you mean not a closed water cooling loop?

I know there are still some words of encouragement left in me " somewhere " 

Good on you matey ✔️ A lot better than most of these lazy Aussie bastards. About right?

Yeah not a closed loop, out of the tap in the cpu and down the sink haha. Got some universal gpu blocks on the way and might put the 690 on cold water with liquid metal and will see how hard i can push it then. hahaha, cheers mate :p