Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination delivers a commanding performance profile in Lockdown Protocol, with benchmark data showing this pairing ranks 9th out of 3,714 tested combos. The measured results reveal a system that not only clears the 60 FPS playable threshold at every resolution and preset combination, but does so with substantial headroom. The data indicates a hardware pairing where the GPU, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and Blackwell architecture, provides the primary performance driver, while the CPU’s 20-core Arrow Lake design ensures the system remains balanced across all tested scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance envelope is exceptional. The Low preset yields an average of 369 FPS, while the High preset maintains 249 FPS. The Medium preset, which is the only one with complete min/max data, shows an average of 285 FPS with a minimum of 243 FPS and a maximum of 328 FPS. The Ultra preset records an average of 187 FPS. The scaling between Low and Ultra is steep, with the Ultra preset delivering nearly half the frame rate of Low, indicating that GPU load scales significantly with visual fidelity at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the system still produces extraordinarily high frame rates. Low averages 295 FPS, High drops to 183 FPS, and Medium averages 209 FPS with a minimum of 178 FPS and maximum of 241 FPS. Ultra remains comfortably above the playable threshold at 137 FPS. The resolution jump from 1080p to 1440p reduces average FPS by roughly 20-26% across all presets, which is a modest decline suggesting the GPU has ample resources to spare.

At 3840x2160, the performance remains exceptional, though the scaling becomes more pronounced. Low averages 190 FPS, High averages 118 FPS, and Medium averages 135 FPS with a minimum of 115 FPS and maximum of 155 FPS. The Ultra preset still delivers a solid 88 FPS average. The difference between High and Medium at this resolution is interesting: Medium runs 17 FPS faster than High on average, indicating that the Medium settings likely disable certain GPU-intensive effects that disproportionately impact frame pacing. The only recorded minimum frame rate at 4K comes from Medium at 115 FPS, which is nearly double the 60 FPS playable threshold, suggesting frame consistency remains strong under load.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Lockdown Protocol at 60 FPS on Ultra settings at 4K?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160 Ultra settings, the combo achieves an average FPS of 88, which is 28 FPS above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The benchmark data confirms all four quality presets are playable at this resolution.

Q: What is the difference in performance between 1080p and 4K at Medium settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 285 at 1920x1080 to 135 at 3840x2160, which is a reduction of 150 FPS. The minimum FPS also scales down from 243 at 1080p to 115 at 4K, while the maximum decreases from 328 to 155.

Q: Which preset provides the most consistent frame pacing at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 is the only setting in the entire dataset with complete min/max data, showing an average of 209 FPS with a minimum of 178 FPS and a maximum of 241 FPS. The 63 FPS range between minimum and maximum indicates some variance, but it is well above the playable threshold.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1080p?

A: Ultra delivers an average of 187 FPS, while High runs at 249 FPS. This represents a 62 FPS difference, or roughly 25% lower average performance when moving from High to Ultra, which is typical for extra visual effects.

Q: Is there any resolution or preset where the system fails to meet 60 FPS?

A: No. Across all twelve measured combinations—three resolutions times four presets—the lowest average FPS is 88 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. The playable threshold is 60 FPS, so every result clears it.

Q: What are the strongest and weakest results in the dataset?

A: The strongest result is 369 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings, while the weakest is 88 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. The difference between these extremes is 281 FPS, illustrating the wide performance range based on resolution and preset choices.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU and GPU each have close rivals in the benchmark data that would behave similarly in game. For the Intel Core Ultra 7 265, the nearest rival is the AMD EPYC 4464P, which has an average benchmark score of 64,823 compared to the Intel's 64,640, a difference of -0.3%. This means the EPYC 4464P would likely deliver nearly identical frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, since the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at most settings.

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265F is another close match, scoring 64,438 with a delta of 0.3%, effectively identical performance. The AMD EPYC 7343 and EPYC 9124 are slightly further apart, with deltas of 0.7% and -0.7% respectively. These differences are all under 1%, so any of these CPUs would produce indistinguishable gaming results in this title.

For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D, the situation is different. The nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT with an average score of 76,904, which is just 1.1% below the RTX 5090 D's 77,712. This is surprising given the RTX 5090 D's massive 32 GB frame buffer and 512-bit bus, but the benchmark data suggests the RX 6650M XT delivers nearly comparable performance in synthetic tests. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT is actually 1.6% higher, and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants are 2.1% and 2.4% higher respectively. Any of these alternatives would likely produce similar FPS in Lockdown Protocol, though the RTX 5090 D has a clear advantage in memory capacity for future titles.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 9 out of 3,714 tested combinations places this system in the top 0.2% of all benchmarked hardware pairs. This is an exceptionally high ranking, meaning that among the thousands of possible CPU and GPU pairings, this one is among the elite. The percentile data for the individual components supports this: the CPU is in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs.

The ranking implies that the combination of the Core Ultra 7 265 and RTX 5090 D is well balanced for Lockdown Protocol. A lower-ranked combo might show either a CPU bottleneck or GPU bottleneck, but the data here shows the system delivering high frame rates across all resolutions. The rank of 9 is not the absolute top score, which leaves a small performance gap to the number 1 combo, but for practical gaming purposes this system is at the highest tier of performance.

The Verdict

Yes, this PC can run Lockdown Protocol with no issues. The verdict by resolution shows that all settings are playable at every resolution. At 3840x2160, the best playable setting is Ultra with an average FPS of 88, meaning the system can handle the highest visual quality at 4K while remaining 28 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold. At 2560x1440, the best setting is also Ultra with an average FPS of 137, which provides a comfortable margin for high-refresh-rate monitors. At 1920x1080, the best setting is Ultra with an average FPS of 187, which is more than triple the playable threshold.

The data confirms that this system never struggles with Lockdown Protocol. Even in the most demanding scenario—4K Ultra—the average FPS is 88, which is well above the 60 FPS requirement. There is no scenario in the measured data where the game falls below the playable threshold, even in the minimum FPS recordings. This is a system that can handle the game completely with maximum visual quality at any resolution.

Best Settings per Resolution

For each resolution, the most demanding preset that maintains at least 60 FPS is Ultra across the board. At 3840x2160, Ultra delivers an average FPS of 88, which is the lowest of all Ultra settings but still comfortably playable. The minimum data is not recorded for Ultra, but the average suggests consistent performance.

At 2560x1440, Ultra runs at an average of 137 FPS, which is 49 FPS higher than at 4K. This setting would be ideal for a high refresh rate 1440p monitor, as it exceeds 120 FPS. At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 187 FPS, which is the highest Ultra result and easily handles competitive play.

The data also shows that choosing Medium settings instead of Ultra at 4K increases the average FPS to 135, which is 47 FPS higher. This is a significant improvement if the player prefers higher refresh rates over visual fidelity. At 1440p, Medium jumps to 209 FPS, and at 1080p, Medium hits 285 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions reveals which component dominates the performance equation. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS at Low settings drops from 369 to 295, a 74 FPS reduction. This is a 20% decrease, which is relatively small and suggests the CPU is still feeding the GPU adequately at both resolutions. From 1440p to 4K, Low drops from 295 to 190, a 105 FPS reduction, which is a 36% decrease. This larger drop at 4K indicates the GPU becomes more heavily loaded as pixel count increases.

The Medium setting shows a similar pattern. From 1080p to 1440p, the average drops from 285 to 209, a 76 FPS decrease. From 1440p to 4K, it drops from 209 to 135, a 74 FPS decrease. This suggests the GPU load scales roughly the same across all resolution jumps for Medium.

At High settings, the drops are 249 to 183 (a 66 FPS decrease) from 1080p to 1440p, then 183 to 118 (a 65 FPS decrease) from 1440p to 4K. The consistency of these drops suggests that the GPU is the primary driver at High and Medium presets.

The Ultra setting shows a different pattern. From 1080p to 1440p, the average drops from 187 to 137, a 50 FPS decrease. From 1440p to 4K, it drops from 137 to 88, a 49 FPS decrease. This indicates that at the highest settings, the GPU's rendering workload is intense enough to limit performance even at lower resolutions.

The CPU's role is less prominent across the board, as the 20-core processor has enough headroom to sustain high frame rates. However, the data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the average FPS of 369 is likely near the CPU's maximum output for this game, as the GPU is not heavily stressed at that resolution and preset. The CPU's single-core performance, as indicated by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5,960, helps ensure that frame pacing remains consistent.