Lockdown Protocol

FAQ

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

A: Yes. The recorded data shows an average of 60 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. That is exactly at the playable threshold, so the game runs, but frame pacing is likely to be tight in dense firefights.

Q: What is the best resolution for a smooth competitive experience?

A: At 2560x1440, the system delivers 93 FPS on Ultra and 201 FPS on Low. For fast-paced FPS play, 1440p Ultra is the highest visual quality that still clears 60 FPS by a wide margin.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there from 1080p to 4K?

A: Comparing Ultra presets, the average drops from 127 FPS at 1920x1080 to 60 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 53% reduction in average frame rate when moving from Full HD to 4K.

Q: Does lowering settings help more at 4K than at 1080p?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160, switching from Ultra to Low raises the average from 60 to 129 FPS, a gain of 69 FPS. At 1920x1080, the same switch raises the average from 127 to 274 FPS, a gain of 147 FPS. The absolute gain is larger at 1080p, but the relative headroom at 4K is still substantial.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at higher resolutions?

A: The data indicates the GPU becomes the dominant constraint at 4K. The average at 3840x2160 Ultra is 60 FPS, while at 2560x1440 Ultra it is 93 FPS. The gap between resolutions suggests the graphics workload scales heavily with pixel count, and the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions.

Q: What are the minimum recorded frame rates?

A: The database only recorded minimums for the Medium preset at each resolution. At 3840x2160, the minimum is 78 FPS. At 2560x1440, the minimum is 121 FPS. At 1920x1080, the minimum is 165 FPS. These lows are all well above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

CPU and GPU Roles

Lockdown Protocol is a fast-paced FPS, and the balance between CPU and GPU shifts noticeably across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system produces 274 FPS on Low and 127 FPS on Ultra. The massive spread between presets indicates that at Full HD, the GPU is still doing most of the work, but the CPU is clearly capable of feeding very high frame rates. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX, with 20 cores and a 5.30 GHz boost clock, posts a PassMark single-thread score of 4500 and a multithread score of 47985. That level of single-core performance is more than enough to avoid bottlenecking at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the picture changes. The average on Ultra is 93 FPS, and on Low it is 201 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is roughly 54%, which shows the GPU is now the primary limiter. The RTX 5090, with 21760 shading units and 32 GB of GDDR7 memory, still has enormous headroom, but the pixel count at 1440p is high enough to start showing the GPU's workload. The CPU's role diminishes relative to 1080p, as the frame rate ceiling is no longer the processor's concern.

At 3840x2160, the GPU clearly dominates. The average on Ultra is 60 FPS, and on Low it is 129 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 69 FPS, compared to 147 FPS at 1080p. This compression of the preset range indicates that at 4K, even the RTX 5090 is being pushed hard, and the CPU is largely idle in comparison. The GPU's 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth and 512-bit bus are essential here, as the data throughput required at 4K is massive.

The verdict from the recorded data is straightforward: at 1080p, the CPU matters more because it must keep up with very high frame rates, but even then, the 265HX is not the bottleneck. At 1440p and especially at 4K, the GPU is the deciding factor. The RTX 5090's performance drops by roughly 53% between 1080p Ultra and 4K Ultra, which is a direct consequence of the pixel workload, not the CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset averages 274 FPS. The Medium preset averages 194 FPS, with a minimum of 165 FPS and a maximum of 223 FPS. The High preset averages 170 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 127 FPS. Every preset at 1080p clears the 60 FPS threshold by a wide margin, and even the lowest recorded minimum, 165 FPS at Medium, is far above playable.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong. The Low preset averages 201 FPS. The Medium preset averages 142 FPS, with a minimum of 121 FPS and a maximum of 164 FPS. The High preset averages 124 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 93 FPS. All presets at 1440p are comfortably above 60 FPS, and the minimum recorded at Medium, 121 FPS, is still more than double the playable threshold.

At 3840x2160, the system begins to feel the pressure. The Low preset averages 129 FPS. The Medium preset averages 92 FPS, with a minimum of 78 FPS and a maximum of 106 FPS. The High preset averages 80 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 60 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 78 FPS stays above the 60 FPS threshold, but the Ultra preset's average of 60 FPS leaves no margin for heavy scenes. The data shows a clear progression: 1080p is effortless, 1440p is excellent, and 4K is playable but only just at Ultra.

The Verdict

This PC can run Lockdown Protocol at every resolution and preset combination recorded in the database. The verdict by resolution is unambiguous. At 3840x2160, the playable settings include High, Low, Medium, and Ultra. The best settings are Ultra, with an average of 60 FPS. That meets the playable threshold exactly, so 4K Ultra is technically playable, but it is the edge case. Players who want a safety buffer at 4K should consider High, which averages 80 FPS, or Medium, which averages 92 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the system clears the threshold with room to spare. All four presets are playable, and the best settings are Ultra, with an average of 93 FPS. That is 33 FPS above the threshold, which gives enough headroom for competitive play. At 1920x1080, the system is overpowered for this game. All presets are playable, and the best settings are Ultra, with an average of 127 FPS. Even at 1080p Ultra, the frame rate is more than double the 60 FPS threshold.

The overall verdict is that this is a top-tier combination for Lockdown Protocol. The only scenario where the user might feel constrained is 4K Ultra, where the average sits exactly at 60 FPS. Every other scenario provides a comfortable margin. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 together form a system that can handle this game at its maximum settings on any monitor below 4K, and at 4K it is still playable across all presets.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU and GPU each have nearby rivals in the database that would produce very similar results in Lockdown Protocol. On the CPU side, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX sits at the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 63173. Its nearest rival is the Intel Core i7-13790F, which scores 63080, a delta of just 0.1%. That means the i7-13790F would behave nearly identically in this game, with no meaningful difference in frame rates. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 450G scores 63331, which is 0.2% higher than the 265HX, again a negligible difference. The AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P185 scores 62839, 0.5% lower, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX scores 62738, 0.7% lower. Any of these CPUs would pair with the RTX 5090 in Lockdown Protocol without changing the measured results in any practical way.

On the GPU side, the RTX 5090 sits at the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79842. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, which scores 79605, a delta of 0.3% lower. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79396, 0.6% lower. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78940, 1.1% lower. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 80959, which is 1.4% higher than the RTX 5090. In practical terms, all four of these GPUs would produce frame rates within a couple of percent of the RTX 5090 in Lockdown Protocol. The delta between the closest rival and the RTX 5090 is so small that users with those cards would see the same playable settings at each resolution.

The takeaway is that the 265HX and RTX 5090 are not isolated outliers. Nearby hardware, both on the CPU and GPU side, would deliver effectively identical performance in this game. If a user is considering a system with one of these rivals instead, the Lockdown Protocol experience would be indistinguishable.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 770th out of 3714 tested combos in the database for Lockdown Protocol. That places it in the top 21% of all systems tested. The rank reflects the balance of CPU and GPU, and in this case, both components are high performers individually. The CPU sits at the 93rd percentile, and the GPU sits at the 92nd percentile. The combo rank of 770 out of 3714 is consistent with two components that are both near the top of their respective categories.

The ranking also indicates that there are 769 combos ahead of it, which suggests that other pairings of even higher-end CPUs or GPUs exist in the database. However, for Lockdown Protocol specifically, the measured frame rates show that this combo is already capable of maxing out the game at 1080p and 1440p, and hitting 60 FPS at 4K Ultra. The rank of 770 is a data point, but it does not tell the whole story. The actual gameplay experience, as measured by the FPS data, is excellent across the board. The combo ranks in the top fifth of all tested systems, and it delivers playable performance at every resolution and preset in this game.