Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT delivers a solid 1080p and 1440p experience in Lockdown Protocol, but the combination hits a clear wall at 4K. The data shows a system that can comfortably handle the game’s most demanding presets at lower resolutions, yet requires significant graphical compromises to maintain playability at higher pixel counts. The measured frame rates indicate that the RX 6600 XT is the primary limiting factor when moving up to 3840x2160, while the Core Ultra 7 265 provides ample headroom for the CPU-bound scenarios.

Best Settings per Resolution

1920x1080: The Ultra preset is the most demanding setting that stays at or above 60 FPS, with an average of 74 FPS. This is the only resolution where the full Ultra experience is viable, and the data shows a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS playability threshold. The High preset at this resolution averages 99 FPS, and the Medium preset hits 113 FPS, but the Ultra setting remains the top choice for maximum visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness.

2560x1440: The High preset is the best playable setting, delivering an average of 72 FPS. While the Ultra preset drops to 54 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playability threshold, High stays safely above it. The Medium preset averages 83 FPS, and the Low preset hits 117 FPS, but the High setting offers the best balance of visual quality and performance at this resolution, providing a 18 FPS buffer over the minimum playable threshold.

3840x2160: The Low preset is the only playable option, with an average of 75 FPS. The Medium preset falls to 53 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold, and the High preset averages 47 FPS. The Ultra preset unsurprisingly leads to the lowest average of 35 FPS. The data clearly indicates that the RX 6600 XT’s 8 GB frame buffer and 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are insufficient for the heavier presets at 4K, forcing reliance on the Low settings to achieve playable frame rates.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the CPU’s nearest rivals, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 sits between the AMD EPYC 4464P and the AMD EPYC 9124 in synthetic benchmarks. The EPYC 4464P scores 64823, which is only -0.3% away from the Core Ultra 7 265’s average score of 64640, meaning the two will behave nearly identically in Lockdown Protocol. The AMD EPYC 7343 and EPYC 9124 show deltas of 0.7% and -0.7% respectively, placing them within a negligible performance band. Notably, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F shows a delta of 0.3%, indicating that the non-F and F variants are essentially indistinguishable in practice.

For the GPU, the RX 6600 XT’s nearest rivals present a more varied picture. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 scores 24277, which is 0.7% lower than the RX 6600 XT’s 24442 average, suggesting near-identical performance despite the different architectures. The Intel Arc A350M is -0.8% away, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti is 0.8% higher, meaning all of these cards would produce similar frame rates in Lockdown Protocol at the same settings. The most striking comparison is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER, which shows a delta of 1.1% — a surprisingly small gap given the generational difference, indicating that the RX 6600 XT performs level with a much higher-tier card in this specific game’s workload.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080: The Low preset delivers an average of 159 FPS, which is the highest observed in any configuration. The Medium preset averages 113 FPS with a minimum of 96 and a maximum of 130, showing a wide fluctuation range. The High preset averages 99 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 74 FPS. All four presets remain above the 60 FPS threshold, with the Low preset providing a 85 FPS buffer over the Ultra’s average.

2560x1440: The Low preset averages 117 FPS, representing the peak frame rate at this resolution. The Medium preset averages 83 FPS with a minimum of 70 and a maximum of 95, indicating occasional dips below the overall average but still staying above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset averages 72 FPS, which is the best playable setting, while the Ultra preset drops to 54 FPS, marking a 18 FPS loss compared to High. The transition from Low to Ultra at 1440p shows steady degradation, with each preset step costing between 11 and 29 FPS.

3840x2160: The Low preset is the sole playable configuration, averaging 75 FPS. The Medium preset averages 53 FPS with a minimum of 45 and a maximum of 61, indicating that some brief moments might hit 60 FPS, but the average falls short. The High preset averages 47 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 35 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is severe, with the Ultra preset delivering less than half the frame rate of the Low preset, confirming the GPU’s inability to handle the heavier workloads at this resolution.

FAQ

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

A: Only at 1920x1080, where the Ultra preset averages 74 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset drops to 54 FPS, and at 3840x2160, it falls to 35 FPS, both below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the best setting for 1440p gaming?**

A: The High preset is the best playable setting at 2560x1440, with an average of 72 FPS. The Medium preset is also playable at 83 FPS, but the High preset provides superior visual quality while staying above 60 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck for this game?**

A: The data indicates the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K, as the Core Ultra 7 265 scores in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, but the RX 6600 XT only reaches the 70th percentile for GPUs. At 1080p and 1440p, the CPU has sufficient headroom to maintain high frame rates, but at 4K, the GPU’s limits dictate the performance.

Q: How does the RX 6600 XT compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 2080 SUPER?**

A: The RTX 2080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 24170, which is 1.1% lower than the RX 6600 XT’s 24442. This suggests the two cards perform nearly identically in Lockdown Protocol, despite the generational difference between them.

Q: What is the highest achievable average frame rate in this game?**

A: The highest average frame rate is 159 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. The lowest average frame rate is 35 FPS, recorded at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset.

Q: Does the Core Ultra 7 265 have any close CPU rivals?**

A: The AMD EPYC 7343 is the closest, with a delta of 0.7% from the Core Ultra 7 265’s average score. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265F also shows a 0.3% delta, indicating negligible performance differences.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results reveal a clear division of labor between the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT. At 1920x1080, the CPU’s strength is fully utilized, with the Low preset reaching 159 FPS and the Ultra preset still maintaining 74 FPS. The CPU’s 93rd percentile ranking among all processors ensures it does not bottleneck even at the highest frame rates, allowing the RX 6600 XT to work at its maximum potential.

At 2560x1440, the GPU begins to take a more prominent role. The frame rate drops from 117 FPS on Low to 54 FPS on Ultra, a difference of 63 FPS, which is entirely attributable to the GPU’s increased workload. The CPU’s performance remains constant, but the GPU’s 8 GB memory and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth become limiting factors as the settings escalate. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p on the High preset shows a drop from 99 FPS to 72 FPS, a 27 FPS reduction, indicating that the GPU is the primary constraint at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s role becomes dominant. The Low preset averages 75 FPS, but the Medium preset drops to 53 FPS, and the Ultra falls to 35 FPS. This steep decline from Low to Medium (22 FPS) is far more significant than the CPU’s influence, as the Core Ultra 7 265’s 20 cores and 30 MB of L3 cache provide enough processing power to handle the game’s logic at any resolution. The RX 6600 XT’s 10.60 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 64 ROPs are insufficient for the heavier settings at 4K, with the 8 GB VRAM likely causing texture swapping. The data shows that the CPU is a consistent performer across all resolutions, while the GPU becomes the primary constraint as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT combination ranks 2630 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the lower 29% of all tested configurations. This rank is heavily influenced by the GPU’s 70th percentile rating, as the CPU’s 93rd percentile score would ordinarily position a system much higher. The benchmark data highlights the mismatch: the CPU is capable of handling even the most demanding scenarios, but the GPU limits the overall frame rate, especially at 1440p and 4K.

Compared to the nearest rival combos, the RX 6600 XT’s similarity to the GTX 1630 and RTX 2080 SUPER suggests that systems with those GPUs would rank similarly, assuming they pair with a CPU of comparable strength. The combo’s rank of 2630 indicates that it falls in the bottom 29% of tested systems, which is surprising given the CPU’s high synthetic scores. A system with a lower-end CPU but a more powerful GPU would likely rank higher in this game, as the measured FPS data shows the GPU being the decisive factor across all resolutions. In the context of the full benchmark database, this combo excels at 1080p and 1440p but is not positioned for high-refresh gaming at 4K.