Laptop Processor Core Clock Speed Curiosity

[peeeej]

So I've noticed this since I got into computer components and what not. My laptop has a processor Intel i3 3210m and I looked it up in the page of intel and it says that processor base frequency is 2.5ghz but when I open CPU-Z, the clock core speed is at 1.2Ghz. I tried to use prime95 to stress test my laptop to see if the clock speed will increase to 2.5ghz but it was stable at 1.197Ghz. Will someone please explain this to me? Thank you very much in advance

[2FA]

Your power plan settings may effect how much it clocks up to save power. Make sure it is on High Performance if you want it to run at max speed. Also if the CPU is running too hot the system will make it run slower to prevent itself from overheating.

[peeeej]

17 minutes ago, DeadEyePsycho said:

Your power plan settings may effect how much it clocks up to save power. Make sure it is on High Performance if you want it to run at max speed. Also if the CPU is running too hot the system will make it run slower to prevent itself from overheating.

Yea you're probably right about the overheating part. I'm using speccy to check for temperatures and the processor's at 60C at idle. Thanks man