ive had chance for a closer inspection and one of the tubes attached to the rad come loose of the barb, the 290x is just below it, would it be possible for the heat from the 290x to warm up the tubing allowing it unseal and come loose or am I just grabbing at straws and the thing was just faulty
Grasping.
Just give the card a good 2 weeks in a warm dry environment and try it again. To be honest though id be straight onto corsair to see what they can do, if they're willing to replace the card quicker, do so.