Case, fan, or thermal paste.

[DNA3e8]

I have an antec sonota 3 case. With one 120 mm fan 79 cfm. 

CPU i7 990x 3.4 GHz runs warm at 85C

 

Opening the side panel drop it be 6-11 C.

 

I am thinking of getting a 150 cfm fan to replace the back fan.

 

I am on the fence about the front fan because it is on the mobo ( vs front panel) side of the drives get.

 

With the CPU running 75c to 100 C I think maybe I get

[NMS]

Welcome to the forums.

 

I would get all 3 actually.

Your old case has very restrictive airflow.

A good case fan from Noctua or beQuiet! would help a lot for front intake.

And of course if you haven't reapplied the paste in few years might as well swap it.

[Skiiwee29]

From the sounds of it, you would benefit the most from adding additional fans.

[nick name]

Yeah don't simply replace fans. Add fans.

[Guest]

I would switch to a newer case, and definitely replace the thermal paste with something like Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut:

https://www.amazon.com/Thermal-Grizzly-Kryonaut-Grease-Paste/dp/B011F7W3LU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1531814518&sr=8-1&keywords=thermal+grizzly+kryonaut

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Konrad Kwasniewski said:

I would switch to a newer case, and definitely replace the thermal paste with something like Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut:

https://www.amazon.com/Thermal-Grizzly-Kryonaut-Grease-Paste/dp/B011F7W3LU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1531814518&sr=8-1&keywords=thermal+grizzly+kryonaut

Arctic MX-4 does the job also quite well.

[DNA3e8]

Stepping back and being a bit more pragmatic.

What temperature should I see? How do I find that out?

 

And is the cooler big enough?

It is a cooler master Like the hyper T4 or hyper 212 but with the fan inset.

 

 

 

 

[LogicalDrm]

1 hour ago, DNA3e8 said:

Stepping back and being a bit more pragmatic.

What temperature should I see? How do I find that out?

 

75C under load is good temp. 80C is acceptable, 85 hot and over 90C is time to do something. There are several software you can use to monitor temps. Like HWmonitor or MSI Afterburner.

 

1 hour ago, DNA3e8 said:

And is the cooler big enough?

It is a cooler master Like the hyper T4 or hyper 212 but with the fan inset.

 

Yes, its fine. Your case isn't best, and I can say from experience that moving from older style case to modern can improve your temps by 7-10C. I would also consider trying how much re-pasting helps.