The Heat Sink Base

The fins of the SP-97 are soldered to the base to ensure good contact between the fins and the heatsink base. There are 32 fins in the SP-97. The large number of fins increase the SP-97's overall surface area, allowing better thermal dissipation.

The SP-97's base is very flat. However, it is not well polished. You can barely see the reflection of Arctic Silver 5 syringe in the picture below.

Not mirror polished as i expected it to be.

If you want to ensure nothing but the best performance from this heat sink, you should consider lapping the SP-97's base.

Here is another shot of the base from a different angle.

As you can see, it looks like the base was polished in a circular fashion. Not a mirror finish though.