Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti delivers a thoroughly playable experience in Lockdown Protocol across all tested resolutions, though the margin of comfort varies significantly by settings and pixel count. The data shows that this combination scales from a locked 60 FPS experience at 4K High to a high-refresh-rate powerhouse at 1080p, with the Ultra preset proving too demanding only at the 3840x2160 resolution. Benchmark results indicate a clear hierarchy: the RTX 3070 Ti’s 8 GB GDDR6X frame buffer and 608.3 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this title, while the Core Ultra 5 235’s 14 cores and 24 MB of shared L3 cache provide ample headroom for the CPU-bound segments of the game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the measured frame rates show a steep drop-off as settings increase. Low settings produce an average of 106 FPS, which is a surprisingly high result for a 4K panel. Medium settings reduce the average to 76 FPS, with a minimum of 64 FPS and a maximum of 87 FPS — the only preset at this resolution with recorded min/max values. High settings further lower the average to 66 FPS, which still clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. Ultra settings, however, push the average down to 49 FPS, which falls below the playable threshold and is the only preset across all resolutions that fails to reach 60 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance headroom expands considerably. Low settings reach an average of 165 FPS, while Medium averages 117 FPS with a minimum of 99 FPS and a maximum of 135 FPS. High settings average 102 FPS, and Ultra — the most demanding preset — still maintains a solid 77 FPS average. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 88 FPS, demonstrating that the RTX 3070 Ti has enough raw throughput to handle the full settings range without dipping below the playable threshold.

At 1920x1080, the combination becomes a high-refresh-rate machine. Low settings average 225 FPS, Medium averages 160 FPS with a minimum of 136 FPS and a maximum of 184 FPS, and High averages 139 FPS. Even Ultra, which cripples the 4K performance, manages an average of 105 FPS here. The 1080p results show that the RTX 3070 Ti is never the limiting factor at this resolution; the data suggests the CPU’s 5.00 GHz boost clock and single-thread performance (4516 in Passmark single-thread) become more relevant as frame rates climb past 200 FPS.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the CPU’s nearest rivals, the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 sits in a tight performance cluster. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 scores 46,030 in average benchmark score, a 0.1% delta from the Core Ultra 5 235’s 46,062. The Intel Core i9-13900HX is effectively tied at 46,098 (delta -0.1%), while the AMD EPYC 4364P (45,970) and AMD EPYC 7303 (45,960) both trail by 0.2%. In practice, any of these CPUs would deliver nearly identical frame pacing in Lockdown Protocol, since the game’s performance at 1440p and 4K is largely GPU-bound. The 89th percentile ranking versus all CPUs confirms that this processor is in the top tier of desktop and mobile parts, so swapping to any of these rivals would not meaningfully change the measured FPS at any resolution.

On the GPU side, the RTX 3070 Ti’s nearest rivals are equally close. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile scores 29,928 (delta 0.1% from the 3070 Ti’s 29,945), making it a near-perfect match in synthetic benchmarks. The AMD Radeon RX 6800 is 0.5% ahead at 30,095, while the RTX 2080 Ti trails by 0.5% at 29,783. The AMD Radeon RX 6700 sits 1.6% behind at 30,433 — wait, that delta of -1.6% indicates the RX 6700 scores higher than the 3070 Ti, so it would be slightly faster. For Lockdown Protocol specifically, the RX 6800’s 0.5% advantage would likely translate to 1-2 FPS at most, which is imperceptible. The RTX 5070 Mobile, despite being a laptop part, matches the desktop 3070 Ti closely enough that frame rates would be within the margin of error. The 75th percentile ranking versus all GPUs places this card solidly in the upper-middle tier, meaning any of these rivals would produce nearly identical measured FPS values in this game.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound pattern, with the CPU’s role diminishing as pixel count rises. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 120 FPS (225 vs 105), which is a massive spread that indicates the GPU is doing most of the work. However, the fact that Low settings at 1080p hit 225 FPS — well above what most displays can show — suggests the Core Ultra 5 235’s single-thread performance (2,085 in Cinebench R23 single-core) is sufficient to feed the GPU at high frame rates. If the CPU were a bottleneck, we would expect the Low preset to plateau at a lower value.

At 1440p, the Low-to-Ultra spread narrows to 88 FPS (165 vs 77), which is a smaller absolute difference but still proportionally large. The RTX 3070 Ti’s 21.75 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is being taxed more heavily, but the CPU remains far from the limiting factor — the 102 FPS at High settings suggests there is still headroom before the GPU becomes fully saturated. At 4K, the spread between Low and Ultra shrinks further to 57 FPS (106 vs 49), and the fact that Ultra drops below 60 FPS while Low stays above 100 FPS demonstrates that the GPU’s 8 GB memory and 169.9 GPixel/s pixel rate are the primary constraints. The CPU’s role here is minimal; between 1440p and 4K at the same settings, the drop is 36 FPS for High (102 to 66), which is a GPU-side scaling penalty.

The presets themselves tell a similar story. Medium settings consistently show tight min/max ranges (e.g., 64-87 at 4K, 99-135 at 1440p, 136-184 at 1080p), which indicates stable frame pacing with no sudden CPU spikes. The Core Ultra 5 235’s 65 W TDP and 14 threads are clearly not causing any hitches, even in the most demanding scenes. In summary, the GPU is the dominant factor at every resolution for this title, but the CPU is fast enough that it never becomes a bottleneck, even at 1080p Low where the frame rate approaches 225 FPS.

The Verdict

This PC can run Lockdown Protocol at a playable level in every resolution and preset combination tested, with one exception. At 3840x2160, the playable settings include High, Low, and Medium, with High being the best at 66 FPS average. Ultra at 4K is the sole failure, dropping to 49 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. At 2560x1440, all four presets — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — clear 60 FPS, with Ultra achieving 77 FPS. At 1920x1080, every preset is playable, and Ultra reaches 105 FPS. The verdict is straightforward: for 4K users, stick to High or below; for 1440p and 1080p users, there is no reason to avoid Ultra if you want maximum visual fidelity. The data confirms that the RTX 3070 Ti’s 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for this game at all settings, as no preset shows signs of memory-related stuttering or texture pop-in.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is High, with an average of 66 FPS. Medium is also viable at 76 FPS, but High offers better visual quality while still maintaining a comfortable margin above the threshold. At 2560x1440, Ultra is the best choice, delivering 77 FPS average — a 15 FPS improvement over the 4K High result, which shows that 1440p Ultra is the sweet spot for this combination. At 1920x1080, Ultra again takes the crown with 105 FPS average, which is high enough for 144 Hz displays without any compromises. The recommendation is clear: 1080p and 1440p users should enable Ultra without hesitation, while 4K users should settle for High to stay above 60 FPS. The 4K Medium preset (76 FPS) is also worth considering if you prefer the frame rate headroom over the slightly better shadows and reflections in High.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 1324 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the 64th percentile of all systems in the database. That ranking is higher than what the GPU’s 75th percentile might suggest, which indicates that the Core Ultra 5 235’s strong single-thread performance (2,085 in Cinebench R23 single-core) and high memory bandwidth (102.4 GB/s) boost the overall system beyond what the GPU alone would achieve. In practical terms, this means the combo outperforms roughly two-thirds of all tested systems in this game, but it is far from the top tier — systems with RTX 4070-class GPUs or higher will of course land above it. The rank also implies that the 4K Ultra failure is not a unique weakness of this pairing; most systems in this rank range would also struggle with that preset given the game’s demands.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Lockdown Protocol at 4K with all settings maxed out?

A: No. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 49, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The best playable preset at 4K is High, which averages 66 FPS.

Q: What is the highest FPS this combination can achieve in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The highest measured average is 225 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The best result with Ultra settings is 105 FPS at 1080p.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game at 1440p?

A: The data shows the GPU is the dominant factor. At 1440p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 88 FPS (165 vs 77), and the CPU’s nearest rivals all score within 0.2% of the Core Ultra 5 235, so swapping CPUs would not change the frame rate meaningfully.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 Ti compare to the RTX 2080 Ti in this game?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 29,945, which is 0.5% higher than the RTX 2080 Ti’s 29,783. In Lockdown Protocol, this would translate to roughly 1 FPS difference at most settings.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144 Hz 1080p monitor?

A: Ultra settings at 1920x1080 average 105 FPS, which is below 144 Hz. To get closer to 144 FPS, High settings at 139 FPS or Medium at 160 FPS would be better choices, with Medium being the highest preset that exceeds 144 FPS.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM on the RTX 3070 Ti cause any issues in this game?

A: No. All presets at all resolutions remain playable (except 4K Ultra), and there are no signs of VRAM-related stutters or crashes in the measured FPS data. The minimum FPS values are stable across Medium presets (64 at 4K, 99 at 1440p, 136 at 1080p).