Cooling related questions

Still pondering my build (ticket 840687, details in my earlier thread), now I have a questions about mechanics of cooling.

Chassis: Corsair 550D
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Digital Storm Vortex 120mm Radiator Liquid CPU Cooler (High-Performance Edition)

So I initially believed the airflow was as described by Corsair for the case and similar for other cases where you have 3 fans... 2 in front as intake, and 1 in rear as exhaust. I figured that the radiator would just attach to the existing fan of the case and it would pull the hot air from the radiator outward. I then realized these coolers come with fans. I then read the Corsair hydro cooler instructions for their various models and they say it is best that this cooler fan(s) be configured as intake. I then wondered, well where does the hot air go? I asked some techs/salespeople at Microcenter and they said it goes out the top, and yes nowadays this is the way you do it. So I need at least one fan at top.

So:
1) What will DS do to my system which as configured has 3 fans that come with the chassis? Will they take the 3rd fan and put it on top, and make the rear (as part of the CPU cooler) be intake? The 550d comes with a lid on top so I guess they remove it?

2) The Digital Storm Vortex I assume comes with 2 fans like the H80. Do you need an extra fan header on the motherboard for the second fan, so you need 2x 4-pins, plus 1x 3-pin for the pump? I'm trying to add up how many fans the mobo supports and what I'll be running in the end.

3) If I get the asus z87 sabertooth it's got the thermal armor stuff including two more mini fans. Do they use any of the fan connectors? I almost wonder if this plastic shield actually keeps heat in and/or if it's a gimmick. I am almost thinking I prefer the Asus Z87-Pro instead. It's cheaper and has more other types of bells and whistles aside from this thermal armor stuff. It also has the software for automatic overclocking (I watched an Asus video) which sabertooth doesn't seem to have?

4) I noticed the Asus Z87-Pro/Deluxe/C and maybe others do not have 3-pin fan connectors. Can you plug a pump with a 3-pin connector into a 4-pin mobo header?

Thanks



Edited by overanalytical - 23 Jun 2013 at 8:44pm