Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 combination delivers a surprisingly wide range of performance in Lockdown Protocol, depending entirely on how much graphical weight the user is willing to place on the older Pascal GPU. The data shows a system that can comfortably handle 1080p at maximum settings, but one that begins to show its age when pushed toward 4K. The benchmark results paint a clear picture of a pairing where the 10-core Arrow Lake processor provides ample headroom while the GTX 1070 becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, this combo is thoroughly playable across every preset. The Low preset produces an average of 131 FPS, which is a massive margin above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings still deliver 93 FPS on average, with the recorded minimum of 79 FPS and maximum of 107 FPS showing solid frame pacing. High settings bring the average down to 81 FPS, still well above playable. Interestingly, Ultra is the only preset at 1080p that dips near the threshold, averaging 61 FPS. This suggests the game’s Ultra preset is substantially more demanding than High, yet the combination still manages to clear the 60 FPS line by a single frame.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates begin to compress. The Low preset delivers a strong 96 FPS average, indicating the CPU and GPU are still working efficiently at this resolution. Medium settings drop to 68 FPS average, with a minimum of 58 FPS and maximum of 78 FPS. The minimum dipping below 60 FPS is worth noting for users who are sensitive to stutter. High settings land at 59 FPS average, which is technically below the playable threshold. Ultra falls to 45 FPS, showing a clear gap between Medium and Ultra at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GTX 1070’s age becomes apparent. The Low preset is the only playable option, averaging 62 FPS. Medium settings drop to 44 FPS average with a minimum of 37 FPS and maximum of 50 FPS. High settings average 38 FPS, while Ultra averages just 29 FPS. The scaling from Low to Medium at 4K is a steep 29% drop, which indicates the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth of the 8 GB GDDR5 buffer are being saturated quickly. The data shows no min or max values for High and Ultra at 4K, which suggests the frame time variance was too irregular to record meaningfully.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Lockdown Protocol at 4K?

A: Only at Low settings, where it averages 62 FPS. Medium settings drop to 44 FPS, and High averages 38 FPS, making Low the only viable preset at 3840x2160.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming?

A: Medium settings provide the best balance, averaging 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 FPS. High settings fall just short of the threshold at 59 FPS average.

Q: Is 1080p Ultra playable?

A: Yes, but barely. The average is 61 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold by only one frame. Users seeking a stable experience might prefer High settings at 81 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: Its average benchmark score is 9780, which is nearly identical to the AMD FirePro W5000 at 9803 (0.2% difference) and the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M at 9832 (0.5% difference). It sits at the 47th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: What is the CPU’s single-thread performance like?

A: The Core Ultra 5 225 scores 3655 in Cinebench R23 single-core, placing it at the 85th percentile of all CPUs. This strong single-thread performance helps maintain high minimum frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios.

Q: Does the game prefer more CPU cores or GPU memory?

A: The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU matters more, as the 10-thread processor easily drives 131 FPS on Low. At 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, with average FPS dropping to 29 on Ultra, indicating the 8 GB memory and 256-bit bus are limiting factors.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions reveals a clear division of labor. At 1920x1080, the Core Ultra 5 225’s strong single-thread performance, evidenced by its 3655 Cinebench R23 single-core score, keeps the GTX 1070 fully fed. The jump from Low (131 FPS) to Ultra (61 FPS) is a 53% reduction, which is entirely attributable to GPU workload. The CPU’s 10 cores and 10 threads, running at a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, are never the limiting factor at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the balance shifts. The gap between Low (96 FPS) and Medium (68 FPS) is 29%, while the drop from Medium to High (59 FPS) is 13%, and High to Ultra (45 FPS) is 24%. This non-linear scaling suggests the GTX 1070’s 1920 shading units and 120 texture mapping units are struggling with the increased pixel count, particularly on Ultra where the texture and shading complexity rises sharply.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is unquestionably the bottleneck. The GTX 1070’s 256.3 GB/s memory bandwidth and 8 GB GDDR5 buffer are insufficient for High and Ultra presets, which average 38 FPS and 29 FPS respectively. The CPU’s role diminishes almost entirely at this resolution, as even Low settings drop to 62 FPS, a 35% reduction from 1440p Low. The data implies that any CPU upgrade would yield negligible gains at 4K, while a GPU upgrade would provide massive improvements across all presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination ranks 3068 out of 3714 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the lower 17% of all configurations. This ranking is heavily influenced by the GTX 1070’s age, as the GPU sits at the 47th percentile of all GPUs while the CPU rests at the 85th percentile of all CPUs. The disparity between the two components is striking: the processor is a modern, high-performance part, while the graphics card is a 2016-era mid-range product.

In practical terms, this ranking means the combo outperforms roughly 646 other tested configurations, but it also means there are 3067 combinations that deliver better frame rates. The data indicates that the CPU is capable of supporting far more powerful GPUs, so users with this pairing are leaving significant performance on the table at higher resolutions. The 1080p results, where the combo hits 131 FPS on Low and 61 FPS on Ultra, show that the system is well-balanced for that resolution, but the 4K results reveal the GPU’s limitations.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals based on average benchmark scores are closely clustered. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F matches the Core Ultra 5 225 almost exactly with a delta of 0%, meaning users swapping between these two would see virtually identical frame rates in Lockdown Protocol. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is 0.2% slower, while the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 is 0.4% slower, and the Intel Core i9-12900T is 0.5% slower. All four CPUs would produce statistically identical results in this game.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are less aligned with gaming performance. The AMD FirePro W5000 is 0.2% slower, the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M is 0.5% slower, while the NVIDIA Tesla M10 is 0.6% faster and the NVIDIA Tesla C2070 is 0.7% faster. These are professional and workstation cards, not gaming GPUs, which means their real-world gaming performance may differ from their benchmark scores. However, the data suggests that swapping the GTX 1070 for any of these would result in nearly identical frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, with the Tesla M10 being the only one offering a marginal improvement.

The Verdict

This PC can absolutely run Lockdown Protocol, but the experience depends heavily on the user’s resolution and settings expectations. At 1920x1080, the system clears 60 FPS on all four presets, with Ultra averaging 61 FPS. This is a fully playable experience, though users who prioritize frame rate stability over visual fidelity might prefer High at 81 FPS. At 2560x1440, the system is playable on Low and Medium, with Medium averaging 68 FPS. High settings fall just short at 59 FPS, so 1440p users should stick with Medium. At 3840x2160, only Low settings are playable, averaging 62 FPS. The verdict is clear: this is a 1080p machine, a decent 1440p machine on medium presets, and only marginally viable at 4K with reduced settings.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Low, which averages 62 FPS. Medium drops to 44 FPS, so there is no room for compromise at 4K. At 2560x1440, Medium is the best choice, averaging 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 FPS. While the minimum occasionally dips below 60, the average provides enough headroom for a mostly smooth experience. At 1920x1080, Ultra is the best preset, averaging 61 FPS. This is the only resolution where the system can run the game at maximum settings while maintaining playability. Users seeking more consistent frame rates at 1080p can drop to High for an 81 FPS average, but Ultra remains technically viable according to the recorded data.