you said you are using AS3...well...AS3 is kinda tricky....here is why:
with air cooling, the vibration of the fan on the heat sink and with the heat being produced from the cpu, the AS3 will cure and settle pretty quickly. Usually a couple of days to maybe 5 at most.
with water cooling, you have the heat being produced, but also being removed a little quicker. Also, you do not get the vibration with water cooling that you do with air cooling. So because of this, the thin layer of AS3 isn't settling as fast as the air cooled setup.
on my 1.4 t-bird...as3, swiftech mcx370...for the first week my temps were in the 50's on the CPU, with a case temp in the upper 20's to 30c....they have since settled down to about 10 to 15c over my case temp with air cooling...now water cooling on that same cpu...i was in the 50's with about the same exact case temps as you for a good 2 weeks.....after about 2 weeks my temps came down into the mid 40's...and now a month later...they are just a few degree's over case temp...
what i did to make the curing go a little faster...i left my h2o system running, but i powered on the computer, let it boot up, then shut it off after a minute or 2....then i did the same thing over a couple of times....i went from waiting for ever on my temps to settle to just barely over night....
how i apply my as3...very small amount to the core....using a lint free cloth, i rub it into the core...then i take another small amount of the as3, and use a razer blade to give me a very nice smooth surface that is very thing...then to the bottom of my block..i use the lint free cloth (after cleaning the block with rubbing alcohol many times) and rub in a small amount of as3 to the center of the block (the area where the core will rest)...this has always worked best for me....im also using a smaller 1048 pump...so this could also be the reason mine took so long to settle...
im not saying this will work for you..i just wanted to give a little insite as to what happened with me and my temps and my experience with it....everyone else has very good points on what to check out....air in the system...this is a biggy and i just found out recently with a p4 system the difference between a little air and no air in the lines....im a little skeptical though with the block since you keep bringing up the problems with the mounting hardware.....the shim...not for wimps at all, but lapping one could make all the difference in the world....as for the air flow through your radiator....whatever they say...im a no0b there and would be of very little help...i hope you get it figured out, cuz i hate seein' high temps with h2o units...good luck, and get us some pics soon ;D
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