Lockdown Protocol

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Lockdown Protocol at 60 FPS in 4K?

A: No. The recorded data shows no playable settings at 3840x2160. The best result at 4K is 42 FPS on Low settings, while High, Medium, and Ultra average 26, 30, and 19 FPS respectively.

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

A: Low is the only preset that clears the 60 FPS threshold at 2560x1440, averaging 65 FPS. Medium drops to 46 FPS, High to 40 FPS, and Ultra to 30 FPS.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its closest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390's average benchmark score of 1482 puts it 1.3% ahead of the GeForce GT 520MX, 1.5% ahead of the GeForce 800M, 2.5% ahead of the GeForce GT 625 OEM, and 2.7% ahead of the GeForce GT 710. The GPU sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Is the Core Ultra 7 265 a high-performing CPU?

A: The CPU ranks in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 64640. It sits within 0.7% of the AMD EPYC 7343 and EPYC 9124, and within 0.3% of the EPYC 4464P and Core Ultra 7 265F.

Q: What frame times does the system produce at 1080p Medium?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 63 FPS with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS. This is the only preset above 1080p Low that maintains a 60 FPS average.

Q: Does lowering settings from High to Low change the frame rate significantly?

A: Yes. At every resolution, Low is substantially faster than High. At 1080p, Low averages 88 FPS versus 55 FPS on High. At 1440p, Low averages 65 FPS versus 40 FPS. At 4K, Low averages 42 FPS versus 26 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The database places this Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and Intel Arc B390 combination at rank 3302 out of 3714 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol. That places the system in the bottom 11% of all pairings measured, which is a striking result given the CPU's strong individual standing.

The processor itself performs at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 64640. Its nearest rivals in the database, the AMD EPYC 4464P, Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, AMD EPYC 7343, and AMD EPYC 9124, all sit within a 1% band around its score. The CPU is clearly not the limiting factor in this pairing.

The GPU tells a different story. The Arc B390 sits at the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 1482 from the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. Its nearest rivals, the GeForce GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GeForce GT 625 OEM, and GeForce GT 710, are all within 2.7% of its score. These are not GPUs associated with modern high-refresh FPS gaming.

The combination rank of 3302 out of 3714 reflects this massive imbalance. The CPU has headroom to spare, but the integrated GPU cannot translate that processing power into playable frame rates at higher resolutions or presets. The data suggests this combo is heavily GPU-bound in Lockdown Protocol, especially as resolution increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces its best results. Low settings average 88 FPS, the highest figure recorded for this combo in any configuration. Medium averages 63 FPS with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS. High drops to 55 FPS, and Ultra falls to 41 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 47 FPS, showing how sensitive this GPU is to preset changes.

Moving to 2560x1440, every preset loses ground. Low averages 65 FPS, still above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium averages 46 FPS with a minimum of 39 FPS and a maximum of 53 FPS. High averages 40 FPS, and Ultra averages 30 FPS. The step from Low to Medium at 1440p costs 19 FPS, the largest single-preset drop in the dataset.

At 3840x2160, the system falls below playable thresholds across the board. Low averages 42 FPS. Medium averages 30 FPS with a minimum of 25 FPS and a maximum of 34 FPS. High averages 26 FPS, and Ultra averages 19 FPS. The 4K results show a consistent pattern: each preset tier costs roughly 4 to 12 FPS, and even the lowest settings cannot reach 60 FPS.

The scaling between resolutions is consistent. At Low settings, moving from 1080p to 1440p costs 23 FPS, and moving from 1440p to 4K costs another 23 FPS. At High settings, the same transitions cost 15 FPS and 14 FPS respectively. The resolution penalty grows as settings drop, which suggests the GPU is the primary constraint.

No minimum or maximum frame times were recorded for Low, High, or Ultra presets at any resolution. Only Medium presets include min/max data: 53/72 at 1080p, 39/53 at 1440p, and 25/34 at 4K. The Medium preset at 1080p shows a spread of 19 FPS between minimum and maximum, indicating some frame time variability, though the average remains playable.

The Verdict

The database verdict is clear: this PC can run Lockdown Protocol at 60 FPS, but only at specific resolutions and presets. At 1920x1080, the system clears the threshold on Low and Medium, with Medium being the best playable preset at 63 FPS average. At 2560x1440, only Low reaches 65 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS mark but leaves no room for preset headroom. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS, and the best result is 42 FPS on Low.

The playable settings list from the database confirms this: 1080p supports Low and Medium, 1440p supports Low only, and 4K supports nothing. The best settings and average FPS at those settings are Medium at 1080p with 63 FPS and Low at 1440p with 65 FPS.

For players targeting the standard 60 FPS baseline, 1080p Medium is the recommended configuration. It offers a 63 FPS average with the frame time data showing a 53 FPS minimum, which is close to the threshold but does not dip below it. The 1080p Low preset at 88 FPS provides substantial headroom for competitive play, while 1440p Low at 65 FPS is viable for players who prioritize resolution over visual fidelity.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a heavily GPU-bound system. The Core Ultra 7 265 ranks in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, while the Arc B390 ranks in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. The CPU's nearest rivals, the EPYC 4464P, Core Ultra 7 265F, EPYC 7343, and EPYC 9124, all score within 0.7% of it, confirming the processor is a top-tier part. The GPU's nearest rivals are all low-end discrete parts from past generations, within 2.7% of the Arc B390's score.

The scaling between resolutions reinforces this interpretation. At Low settings, the system loses 23 FPS going from 1080p to 1440p, and another 23 FPS going from 1440p to 4K. This near-linear drop with pixel count is a classic sign of GPU limitation. A CPU-bound system would show smaller absolute losses at higher resolutions, since the rendering load shifts more to the GPU.

The preset scaling tells a similar story. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra costs 47 FPS, a 53% reduction. At 1440p, the same preset change costs 35 FPS, and at 4K it costs 23 FPS. The diminishing absolute cost at higher resolutions is consistent with a GPU that is already saturated: when the base frame rate is low, preset changes have less absolute impact because the GPU is already near its limit.

The CPU's role appears to be providing consistent frame delivery rather than pushing higher averages. The Medium preset at 1080p shows a 53 FPS minimum against a 63 FPS average, a relatively tight spread that suggests the processor is keeping up with the GPU's output. At 1440p Medium, the minimum of 39 FPS against a 46 FPS average shows a similar pattern. The CPU is not introducing major stutters, but it also cannot compensate for the GPU's raw throughput limits.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Medium, with an average of 63 FPS. The minimum of 53 FPS sits below the threshold, but the average clears it comfortably. The Low preset at 88 FPS is the safer choice for players sensitive to frame drops, and the High preset at 55 FPS and Ultra at 41 FPS fall short of the threshold.

At 2560x1440, the only playable preset is Low, averaging 65 FPS. Medium drops to 46 FPS, which is 14 FPS below the threshold, and High and Ultra fall further to 40 FPS and 30 FPS respectively. The database's verdict lists Low as the best settings at this resolution with an average of 65 FPS.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches the 60 FPS threshold. The best option is Low at 42 FPS, followed by Medium at 30 FPS, High at 26 FPS, and Ultra at 19 FPS. The database marks no playable settings at 4K.

The pattern across resolutions is that the system has only one playable preset tier at 1440p and two at 1080p. The jump from 1080p to 1440p removes Medium from the playable list, and the jump to 4K removes everything. Players should target 1080p for the best combination of visual quality and frame rate.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rivals in the database provide a useful reference for what else could pair with this GPU. The AMD EPYC 4464P scores 64823, which is 0.3% higher than the Core Ultra 7 265. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265F scores 64438, 0.3% lower. The AMD EPYC 7343 scores 64202, 0.7% lower, and the AMD EPYC 9124 scores 65104, 0.7% higher. All four processors are within 1% of the Core Ultra 7 265's average benchmark score of 64640, meaning any of them would behave nearly identically in Lockdown Protocol when paired with the same GPU.

The GPU's nearest rivals are considerably weaker in absolute terms. The GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463, which is 1.3% lower than the Arc B390's 1482. The GeForce 800M scores 1460, 1.5% lower. The GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446, 2.5% lower, and the GeForce GT 710 scores 1443, 2.7% lower. These deltas are small, but the absolute scores are telling: all five GPUs cluster in a narrow band near the bottom of the database's GPU distribution.

For a system builder looking at this combo, the data suggests that swapping the CPU for any of its four nearest rivals would produce nearly identical frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, since the GPU is the bottleneck. Swapping the GPU for any of its nearest rivals would also produce similar results, since they all fall within 2.7% of the Arc B390's score. The practical takeaway is that this combo's performance is defined almost entirely by the GPU tier it occupies, not by the specific CPU choice.