Dabadger84
I called in the backup lol:
 

 
3000RPM server fan REPORTING for duty - of course I'm not going to be running it at THAT speed, too noisy.  But that combined with the standoffs should improve air movement overall, this fan has those air-channeling thingies in it's face:
 

 
Edit to avoid triple posting:
 
Think I found the culprit/problem, if the VRM temp that went up is coming from this one, I had no heatsink over it, a problem which I fixed while re-arranging (from what I can tell, there are no thermal pads on the backside of the VRM between the PCB & the backplate, but I'm hoping in that particular one's case, due to it's proximity to the memory, there is some there... I am very tempted at this point to buy some thermal pads, take the backplate off, and put some between those areas & the backplate... I just wouldn't know what size to buy) :
 

 
This addition will probably get the post a temporary "approval pending", but I wanted to point that one out, because that's a Memory VRM/PWR stage, I believe, so it's important not to forget it.
I also realigned my heatsinks near the "top"/output side of the card, even though, again, there's no pads between the backplate & that area, I'm hoping it will still "do something".

kikkoman123
i decided not to do the thermal pad across the entire pcb. i don’t know enough about electronics. 

kikkoman123

Lord Winchester

kikkoman123
i decided not to do the thermal pad across the entire pcb. i don’t know enough about electronics. 

As long as the thermal pads are not conductive and touch every heat generating part, you are golden. 
 
Still waiting for my waterblock to arrive. 
Going to order the Backplatecooler tonight. 
 
Sidenote:  mp5works.com only does credit card payment

i’m not concerned about the conductivity, I’m concerned about things on the pcb that weren’t meant to get 120f+. like I said I don’t know that much about Tronics