Lockdown Protocol

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Lockdown Protocol with the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and AMD Radeon RX 580 shows a wide spread of performance depending on resolution and preset. At 3840x2160, the combination is firmly in slideshow territory. The Low preset averages 40 FPS, Medium drops to 29 FPS with a minimum of 24 FPS and a maximum of 33 FPS, High averages 25 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 19 FPS. None of these numbers approach the 60 FPS threshold, and the gap between Low and Ultra represents a 21 FPS difference, which is a steep penalty for visual fidelity at 4K.

Moving to 2560x1440, the situation improves but remains constrained. Low preset delivers an average of 62 FPS, which is the only setting at this resolution that clears the playable threshold. Medium averages 44 FPS with a range of 38 to 51 FPS, High averages 39 FPS, and Ultra drops to 29 FPS. The pattern here is consistent: each step up in preset costs roughly 7 to 10 FPS on average. The 62 FPS Low result is barely above the 60 FPS line, so there is no headroom for demanding scenes.

At 1920x1080, the data shows the most usable results. Low preset averages 85 FPS, Medium averages 60 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS, High averages 53 FPS, and Ultra averages 40 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs 25 FPS on average, which is substantial. High and Ultra fall short of 60 FPS, meaning the RX 580's older Polaris architecture is the limiting factor once settings climb past Medium. The 1080p Medium result is exactly at the 60 FPS threshold, though the 51 FPS minimum indicates that busy scenes will dip below the line.

Across all resolutions, the data shows that min and max FPS values are only recorded for the Medium preset. At 4K Medium, the 24 FPS minimum and 33 FPS maximum bracket the 29 FPS average tightly. At 1440p Medium, the 38 to 51 FPS range gives a 13 FPS swing. At 1080p Medium, the 51 to 69 FPS range shows a 18 FPS swing, which is the widest recorded spread. This suggests that Medium preset produces the most variable frame pacing, likely due to the RX 580's 8 GB GDDR5 memory being stressed differently across resolutions.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results indicate a clear division of labor between the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and the AMD Radeon RX 580 in Lockdown Protocol. The CPU is a 24-core, 24-thread Arrow Lake Refresh part with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, and it sits in the 96th percentile among all tested CPUs. The GPU, a Polaris 20 part from 2017 with 2304 shading units and 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, sits in the 53rd percentile among all tested GPUs. This is a lopsided pairing, and the FPS data reflects it.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is overwhelmingly the bottleneck. The average FPS drops from 40 on Low to 19 on Ultra, a 21 FPS swing that corresponds almost entirely to pixel fill and memory bandwidth pressure. The RX 580's 256.0 GB/s bandwidth and 42.88 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply insufficient for 4K rendering in this title. The CPU's high single-thread score of 2439 in Cinebench R23 and 5068 in Passmark single-thread tests is irrelevant here because the GPU cannot push frames fast enough to engage the CPU.

At 2560x1440, the balance shifts slightly. The Low preset hits 62 FPS, which is the first sign that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately when the load is reduced. The Medium preset drops to 44 FPS, and the 38 FPS minimum suggests that the GPU is still the primary constraint. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 33 FPS, which is proportionally similar to 4K. This indicates that the RX 580's compute throughput, rated at 6.175 TFLOPS FP32, is the limiting factor regardless of resolution.

At 1920x1080, the CPU's role becomes more visible. The Low preset reaches 85 FPS, which is high enough that the CPU's per-core performance and cache hierarchy start to matter. The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus has 36 MB of shared L3 cache and a 115.2 GB/s memory bandwidth, which helps maintain frame delivery in CPU-bound scenarios. The Medium preset drops to 60 FPS, and the 51 FPS minimum suggests that the GPU is now struggling with the increased shading load. The CPU could likely push higher FPS on Low if the GPU were faster, but the data does not show that directly.

The resolution scaling between 1080p and 1440p shows a 23 FPS drop on Low (85 to 62), a 16 FPS drop on Medium (60 to 44), a 14 FPS drop on High (53 to 39), and an 11 FPS drop on Ultra (40 to 29). The gradient shrinks as settings increase, which confirms that the GPU saturates earlier at higher presets. Between 1440p and 4K, the drops are 22 FPS on Low (62 to 40), 15 FPS on Medium (44 to 29), 14 FPS on High (39 to 25), and 10 FPS on Ultra (29 to 19). The pattern is consistent: the RX 580 loses roughly 10 to 22 FPS per resolution step, and the CPU's influence is only felt at 1080p Low where the frame rate is highest.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 3840x2160, the recorded data shows no playable settings. Every preset, from Low at 40 FPS to Ultra at 19 FPS, falls below the 60 FPS threshold. The best achievable average is 40 FPS on Low, but that is still 20 FPS short of playable. The database does not list any playable settings for this resolution, so the recommendation is to avoid 4K entirely with this combination.

For 2560x1440, the only playable setting is Low, which averages 62 FPS. This is the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS, and it clears the threshold by just 2 FPS. Medium drops to 44 FPS, so there is no room to increase visual quality. The 62 FPS average has no recorded minimum, but the Medium preset's 38 FPS minimum suggests that Low likely dips below 60 in heavy scenes, even if the average stays above.

For 1920x1080, the best playable setting is Medium, which averages exactly 60 FPS. This is the most demanding preset that stays at or above the threshold, and it matches the playable mark precisely. Low averages 85 FPS and provides more headroom, but Medium is the highest preset that clears 60 FPS on average. The 51 FPS minimum on Medium means that some scenes will drop below 60, but the average holds the line. High and Ultra at 53 FPS and 40 FPS respectively are not playable.

The data suggests a practical approach: at 1080p, use Medium if you accept occasional dips, or drop to Low for a stable 85 FPS. At 1440p, Low is the only option, and it is marginal. At 4K, none of the presets are viable.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Lockdown Protocol at 4K?

A: No. The recorded data shows no playable settings at 3840x2160. The best result is 40 FPS on Low, which is 20 FPS below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium averages 29 FPS, High averages 25 FPS, and Ultra averages 19 FPS.

Q: What is the best preset at 1440p?

A: Low is the only playable setting at 2560x1440, averaging 62 FPS. Medium drops to 44 FPS, High to 39 FPS, and Ultra to 29 FPS. The Low preset clears the 60 FPS threshold by only 2 FPS, so expect variation in demanding scenes.

Q: Does the Medium preset at 1080p stay above 60 FPS?

A: On average, yes. The recorded average is exactly 60 FPS, but the minimum is 51 FPS and the maximum is 69 FPS. This means the average clears the threshold, but individual scenes will dip below 60 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck?

A: The GPU is the primary constraint at all resolutions above 1080p Low. The RX 580's 6.175 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth limit frame rates as resolution increases. The CPU only becomes relevant at 1080p Low, where the 85 FPS result shows enough headroom to engage the processor's single-thread performance.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its nearest rivals in this test?

A: The RX 580's average benchmark score of 12928 places it near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, which scores 12940 with a -0.1% delta, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER, which scores 12986 with a -0.4% delta. It is slightly ahead of the AMD Radeon 740M by 0.5% and the AMD FirePro W5100 by 0.6%.

Q: What frame rate can I expect on Ultra at 1080p?

A: The recorded average is 40 FPS at 1920x1080 Ultra. This is 20 FPS below the playable threshold, so Ultra is not recommended for this resolution with this combination.

The Verdict

The short answer is yes, this PC can run Lockdown Protocol, but only under specific conditions. The verdict by resolution is clear: at 3840x2160, no settings are playable, and the best average is 40 FPS on Low. At 2560x1440, the Low preset is the sole playable option, averaging 62 FPS. At 1920x1080, both Low and Medium are playable, with Medium averaging exactly 60 FPS and Low averaging 85 FPS.

The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is not the problem. This CPU sits in the 96th percentile among all tested processors, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 44253 and a single-core score of 2439. It has more than enough compute for this game. The RX 580 is the limiting factor. This GPU sits in the 53rd percentile, and its 2017-era architecture shows its age in a 2024 FPS title.

For a practical recommendation: if you own this combination, play at 1080p Medium for the best visual quality that holds 60 FPS on average, or drop to Low for a comfortable 85 FPS. At 1440p, Low is the only viable setting, and it is marginal. At 4K, look for a different GPU or accept well under 60 FPS. The data does not support any preset at 4K, so that resolution is effectively off the table.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and AMD Radeon RX 580 combination ranks 3384 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. That places it in the bottom 9% of all configurations in the database. This is a low ranking, and it reflects the GPU's age more than the CPU's capability.

The CPU alone is strong: the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus has an average benchmark score of 93785, which places it in the 96th percentile. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6520P at 93786 with a 0% delta, the AMD EPYC 4564P at 95183 with a -1.5% delta, the AMD EPYC 9175F at 95615 with a -1.9% delta, and the AMD EPYC 4565P at 95764 with a -2.1% delta. The CPU is essentially tied with the Xeon and slightly behind the EPYC parts.

The GPU drags the combo down. The RX 580 has an average benchmark score of 12928, placing it in the 53rd percentile. Its nearest rivals are the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile at 12940 (-0.1%), the GTX 1660 SUPER at 12986 (-0.4%), the Radeon 740M at 12870 (+0.5%), and the FirePro W5100 at 12847 (+0.6%). The GPU is competitive with these parts, but none of them are modern high-end cards.

In practical terms, this combo ranks near the bottom because the RX 580 cannot deliver playable frame rates at higher resolutions or presets. The CPU has headroom that goes unused. If you were to pair the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus with a more capable GPU, the ranking would rise substantially, but with the RX 580, you are limited to 1080p Medium or 1440p Low. The data shows a capable processor held back by an end-of-life graphics card.