My "Sandy Bridge" processor does not appear to be overclocked.

Velocity Micro hyperclocked systems that are built using SandyBridge motherboards and processors feature a passive overclock. This means that the processors run at stock speeds when the system is idle, or lightly stressed. When a processor-intensive application is run, the processor speed will ramp up, to the maximum speed of the overclock. The system properties page in Windows will only display the stock speed for the processor. If you wish to verify the overclock of your system, you will need to (1) run an application that will place a high level of stress on the processor (such as Prime95), and (2) an application that can display the processor speed in real time (like CPU-Z). The following links and instructions will guide you through the verification pr0cess.

These are the links for Prime95 and CPU-Z.

Prime95: ftp://mersenne.org/gimps/p64v266.zip

CPU-Z: https://www.cpuid.com/downloads/cpu-z/1.60-64bits-en.zip

1. Unzip both files.
2. Locate cpuz_x64.exe in the cpu-z_1.60-64bits-en folder, and double-click it to run the application.
3. While the CPU-Z is running, locate prime95.exe in the P64v266 folder, and double-click it to run the application.
4. You will be prompted to choose between joining GIMPS, or to simply stress test. Choose the stress testing option.
5. Next you will be prompted to choose the type of torture test that you would like to run. Ensure that small FFTs is chosen, then click OK to start the test.
6. Refer to the Clocks section in the CPU-Z application. The Core Speed found there is the actual speed that the processor is running.