Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti delivers a mostly smooth Lockdown Protocol experience, but the data shows a clear ceiling at 4K. At 1920x1080, the combo averages 259 FPS on Low settings, demonstrating headroom for high-refresh-rate monitors. Moving up to 2560x1440, the system still exceeds 100 FPS on High settings, while 3840x2160 requires a drop to High presets to stay comfortably above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The measured results indicate this pairing is well-balanced for 1440p gaming, with 4K Ultra being the only setting that falls short of playable frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four quality presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). At 1920x1080, the combo produces 259 FPS average on Low, 184 FPS average on Medium (with min 156 FPS and max 211 FPS), 161 FPS average on High, and 120 FPS average on Ultra. The 1080p results show a consistent scaling pattern: dropping from Low to Medium costs 75 FPS, while moving from High to Ultra reduces performance by 41 FPS. The Medium preset's min/max range of 156-211 FPS indicates stable frame pacing, with the minimum staying well above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but predictably lower than 1080p. Low settings yield 190 FPS average, Medium produces 135 FPS average (min 115 FPS, max 155 FPS), High delivers 118 FPS average, and Ultra manages 88 FPS average. The gap between Low and Medium at 1440p is 55 FPS, while the drop from High to Ultra is 30 FPS. Notably, the Medium preset's minimum of 115 FPS suggests the system maintains fluid gameplay even during demanding scenes, with no risk of dropping below playable rates.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes significantly. Low settings average 122 FPS, Medium averages 87 FPS (min 74 FPS, max 100 FPS), High averages 76 FPS, and Ultra drops to 57 FPS average. The 4K results reveal a steep performance cliff: the difference between Low and Ultra is 65 FPS, and Ultra falls 3 FPS short of the 60 FPS playable threshold. The Medium preset's min of 74 FPS shows that even the lowest frame dips remain playable, but High's average of 76 FPS leaves less headroom. The data indicates that 4K Ultra is the only configuration across all tested settings that fails to meet the playable standard.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets reveals how the CPU and GPU split responsibilities in Lockdown Protocol. At 1920x1080, the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as evidenced by the massive FPS gains from lowering settings—259 FPS at Low versus 120 FPS at Ultra represents a 116% improvement. This pattern indicates that the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 has ample processing headroom at 1080p, with the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti determining the final frame rate based on graphical load.

Moving to 2560x1440, the balance shifts slightly. The FPS difference between Low (190 FPS) and Ultra (88 FPS) is 102 FPS, showing that the GPU still dominates performance scaling. However, the absolute numbers are lower than 1080p, which suggests the increased pixel count is beginning to stress the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading capabilities. The Core Ultra 5 235's 14 cores and 14 threads appear sufficient to feed the RTX 3080 Ti at this resolution, as the frame rates remain consistently high across all presets.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the overwhelming limiting factor. The Ultra preset's 57 FPS average—below the 60 FPS playable threshold—demonstrates that the RTX 3080 Ti's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 34.10 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are stretched thin at 4K. The CPU's role diminishes further, as the frame rate differences between presets (122 FPS at Low versus 57 FPS at Ultra) are entirely attributable to GPU workload. The data suggests that for 4K gaming, upgrading the GPU would yield larger gains than the Core Ultra 5 235, given that the CPU's benchmark scores (14769 in Cinebench R23 multicore) indicate it can handle the game's logic and physics without becoming a constraint.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 provide context for its CPU-level performance. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 has an average benchmark score of 46030, which is 0.1% lower than the Core Ultra 5 235's 46062. The Intel Core i9-13900HX scores 46098, a 0.1% delta above the 235. The AMD EPYC 4364P (45970, 0.2% lower) and AMD EPYC 7303 (45960, 0.2% lower) round out the closest comparisons. These results indicate that any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, assuming the same GPU is used. The Core Ultra 5 235's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests it sits comfortably in the upper tier for gaming workloads.

For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, the nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (40870 average score, 0.8% higher than the 3080 Ti's 41187), the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB (41707, 1.2% lower), and the NVIDIA Tesla M40 (41897, 1.7% lower). The GeForce RTX 5070 scores 40377, which is 2.0% lower than the 3080 Ti. When comparing to these alternatives, the RTX 3080 Ti's 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs means that swapping to any of these rivals would result in similar Lockdown Protocol performance—within a few FPS at each resolution and preset. For instance, the RTX 5070's 2.0% lower score would translate to roughly 2-5 FPS difference at 1440p Medium, which is imperceptible in practice.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti combination ranks 936th out of 3714 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 25.2% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the system's strong performance at 1080p and 1440p, where it easily exceeds the 60 FPS playable threshold at all presets. The 4K Ultra result (57 FPS) is the only blemish, pulling the combo's overall standing down from what would otherwise be a higher placement. The data suggests that this pairing is well-matched for the game, with neither component severely bottlenecking the other at typical gaming resolutions. The 936th rank indicates that while there are many faster combos, this system sits clearly above the median and handles Lockdown Protocol with authority.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Lockdown Protocol at 4K Ultra settings?

A: No. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 57, which falls 3 FPS short of the 60 FPS playable threshold. The highest playable setting at 4K is High, which averages 76 FPS.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 2560x1440?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 averages 88 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold. This makes Ultra the best playable setting at 1440p, with High (118 FPS), Medium (135 FPS), and Low (190 FPS) also all playable.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 Ti compare to the RTX 5070 in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 41187, while the RTX 5070 scores 40377, a 2.0% difference in favor of the 3080 Ti. This means the 3080 Ti would deliver slightly higher frame rates, approximately 2-5 FPS depending on resolution and settings.

Q: Is the Core Ultra 5 235 a bottleneck for the RTX 3080 Ti at 1080p?

A: No. At 1920x1080, the system averages 259 FPS on Low settings and 120 FPS on Ultra, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14769 suggest it can keep up with the GPU's output.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the combo averages 135 FPS, with a minimum of 115 FPS and maximum of 155 FPS. This provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS playable threshold, even during intense scenes.

Q: Does the combo meet the 60 FPS playable threshold at all resolutions?

A: No. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS is 57, below the 60 FPS threshold. All other resolution and settings combinations—including 4K High, Medium, and Low—meet or exceed 60 FPS average.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is High, which averages 76 FPS. The Medium preset also qualifies with 87 FPS average (min 74 FPS), but High offers better visual quality while maintaining a 16 FPS margin above the playable threshold. Ultra at 4K fails to qualify with 57 FPS average.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 88 FPS, making it the best playable setting. This provides a 28 FPS buffer over the 60 FPS threshold, allowing for smooth gameplay with maximum visual fidelity. All lower presets (High at 118 FPS, Medium at 135 FPS, Low at 190 FPS) also exceed the threshold but sacrifice visual quality.

At 1920x1080, Ultra settings average 120 FPS, which is double the playable threshold. This makes Ultra the clear choice for 1080p gaming, offering the best visuals while still delivering excellent frame rates. The minimum FPS at 1080p Ultra was not recorded in the data, but the average of 120 FPS indicates strong performance.