Your boost clock is highly dependant on a number of factors and as a result is not really a good figure to put as the "default" clock speed.
Factors include:
- if there is a single thread working vs many thread
- current CPU temperature which can be affected by ambient temperature
- how much active cooling is going on, whether the heatsink/fan is good enough to keep the CPU cool.
What this means is that all the manufacturer can really do is give you the "standard" or minimum high clock speed, and say that you might boost above that for extra performance should the right conditions arise. You will not always get the boost clock due to the factors above, but you may well reach the peak for brief periods and get somewhere higher than the normal for some amount of time.
To see your CPU boosting you can follow these steps:
- Open up task manager by right-clicking in an empty space on the bottom task bar
- Click "more details" at the bottom of the Task Manager Window
- Select the "Performance" tab that appears at the top of the window
- Click CPU on the left.
You should see something like this:
"Speed" may well be constantly fluctuating and is normal as requirements and thermal limits will be constantly fluctuating.
The only way to be certain about your maximum boost is to go to the Intel page for your CPU where it states
Processor Base Frequency 2.30 GHz
Max Turbo Frequency 2.90 GHz