The Fan:
The Spire fan is moderately noisy. With a low RPM, it doesn't come close to the Delta fans. Measuring 15mm in height it is a low-profile cooling solution. Many current cooling solutions opt for 25mm high fans for their added CFM ratings. This fan comes with an RPM monitor and hooks into the motherboard fan headers via a three-pin connector.

Heatsink Top:
The heatsink is a little longer then average, and two notch cuts help allow the clip to easily lock into place on the socket. The clip is made such that it can only fit into the heatsink in one direction. Additionally the small tabs stop the heatsink from sliding on the processor when the when the motherboard is in an upright position. The six cuts only go through two fins, an not the entire body of fins which is interesting to note.

Side A:
With this angle there is a better view of the six cross cuts. The cuts are done such that they stop at the second set of fins and thus only provide marginal exhaust avenues. While the outer fins have a serrated surface, the inner fins are without the texturing .

Side B:
Those tall and skinny fins look quite good for cooling from this angle, even with the rather thick base, and wide spacing. The clip sits in a little channel so that the length of the heatsink is actually a little longer then average. The aluminum base is just over 6mm thick.

Heatsink Base:
Behind the blue protective cover a pink, bubble-gum like thermal phase change material. It's quite tacky and when the temperature reaches a certain point, bonds well with the core. We prefer to use silver-based thermal compound in our tests for consistency. The surface finish of the base is alright, but by no means perfectly flat or smooth.