Should I be able to see circle lines on my SLK-900a?

Because...I do. I'm not sure exactly how to describe them. I don't have a picture to show you, but I'll do my best to describe it.

Imagine looking at the bottom of the SLk-900a. Okay? Now imagine looking at a peice of wood that was moved back and forth on a spinning blade cutter thing. (I'm tool stupid) You know how it leaves a bunch of circles on the part that was cut if you stop and then start cutting again? It kinda looks like that. If I rub my fingernail across it, I can feel each and every bump and it makes a slight click noise.

Time to lap? Will I notice a difference?

Here is an image that I drew up quickly to kinda give the idea what I mean.

Those lines are not unusual... They are mill lines, left there by the milling equipment when the copper stock was cut. As the mill blades become duller, the milling lines and marks will become more noticeable.

I go by this rule - if I can run my finger over it and hear the clicks like running my nail over a zipper, then it needs lapped.

You will most likely notice a difference, but this depends how steady your room temperature is and how similar your mounting and thermal paste application is.

Well, I will probably move from AS3 to AS5, Lapped, and have a freshly cleaned case with very few wires visible (just did that a few days ago..it rocks!) And I'll just have inserted a blow-hole on top of the case...I plan on doing a bunch of stuff all at once the day school gets out.

Yeah, that's normal. My SLK900A I just got has the same thing. I didn't lap it though (thought about it after I put it on but I haven't since it's a ***** to get it off/on the mb).

Instead, I rubbed som AS5 in on the hs and smeared it around with my hand in a plastic bag. Wiped off the stuff for the most part and put it on the cpu like normal (per instructions at Arctic Silver website). I don't think the rings are causing that much differenct and lapping seems to be a personal/ subjective issue.

I thought it might be the lapping or the seating of the hs and fan, but my temp issues turned out to be my Sonata case that has very poor flow (for ocing).

But if you haven't installed it, it may not be a bad idea to lap it (without doing damage to the surface).
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ANTEC SONATA True 380W PSU
ABIT NF7-S Rev. 2 w/ Zalman Passive NB HS
Mobile XP 2600+ 512K IQZFA 0348 TPMW
(2.4G 100x12 @ 1.75 54C Load)
SLK900A/Enermax 92mm Adj/AS5
Geil Value Series 2 X 512MB PC3200 (2.5 6-3-3)
SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800 PRO 128MB (R360 Hynix 350Mhz)/ VGA Silencer/AS5
SAMSUNG 80GB 7200RPM IDE 2MB
Samsung 52X32X52X16 DVD/CD-RW

No, I've had it installed for a while. Nearly 9 months now. I was just wondering if it was normal and if I should lap it or if it was soemthing really serious. I'm going to be lapping it anyway..thanks