Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H paired with the AMD Radeon 890M is a mobile combination that lands near the bottom of the performance hierarchy for Lockdown Protocol. With a combo rank of 3495 out of 3714 tested configurations, this system sits in the 6th percentile of all tested combos, meaning roughly 94% of other hardware pairings deliver higher frame rates. The data indicates this is a configuration built for productivity rather than high-refresh gaming, as the integrated Radeon 890M GPU becomes the limiting factor across all tested scenarios. The Core Ultra 9 185H, ranking in the 85th percentile among all CPUs, provides ample processing headroom, but the graphics solution cannot translate that into playable frame rates at higher resolutions or settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Core Ultra 9 185H and Radeon 890M achieves a rank of 3495 out of 3714 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol. This places the system in the bottom 6% of all configurations tested, indicating that while the CPU is competitive, the overall gaming experience is constrained by the integrated graphics. The CPU itself scores an average benchmark of 35670, placing it in the 85th percentile of all processors, but the GPU's average benchmark score of 9210 puts it in only the 45th percentile of all graphics cards. This mismatch is reflected in the frame rate data: the system cannot maintain 60 FPS at any resolution above 1080p, and even at 1080p only the Low preset clears the playability threshold. The rank suggests that users should expect a modest gaming experience, with the system better suited for less demanding titles or lower graphical presets.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, none of the tested presets achieve 60 FPS. The highest average frame rate at this resolution is 37 FPS on Low settings, with High at 23 FPS, Medium at 26 FPS, and Ultra at 17 FPS. Since no preset reaches the 60 FPS threshold, the verdict lists no playable settings for 4K. The system is effectively not viable for 4K gaming in this title.

At 2560x1440, the situation improves slightly but still falls short of playability. Low settings deliver an average of 58 FPS, just 2 FPS below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium averages 41 FPS, High averages 36 FPS, and Ultra averages 27 FPS. None of these meet the playable threshold, so the verdict again lists no playable settings for 1440p.

At 1920x1080, the system finally achieves a playable configuration. Low settings produce an average of 78 FPS, comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium averages 56 FPS, which is below the threshold, while High averages 49 FPS and Ultra averages 36 FPS. The best playable setting is Low at 1080p, with an average of 78 FPS, and this is the only resolution and preset combination that clears the 60 FPS bar.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a clear pattern where the GPU is the dominant constraint at every resolution. At 3840x2160, dropping from Ultra to Low improves the average frame rate from 17 FPS to 37 FPS, a 118% increase, while the CPU workload remains relatively constant. This indicates that the Radeon 890M's rendering throughput is the bottleneck, not the processor. The Core Ultra 9 185H, with its 16 cores and 22 threads, has ample headroom for the game's logic, but the GPU cannot keep up with the pixel count at 4K.

At 2560x1440, the scaling from Ultra to Low yields an increase from 27 FPS to 58 FPS, a 115% improvement. The fact that even Low settings at 1440p barely miss the 60 FPS target (58 FPS average) suggests that the GPU is operating near its limits. The CPU's role is secondary here; the 185H's strong single-thread performance (1810.5 in Cinebench R23 single-core) ensures that the game's main thread is not a limiting factor, but the GPU's fill rate and shading capacity determine the final output.

At 1920x1080, the GPU still dominates, but the gap narrows. Low settings achieve 78 FPS, while Medium drops to 56 FPS, a 28% reduction for one step up in quality. This steep drop-off indicates that the GPU's 1024 shading units and 32 ROPs are saturated even at 1080p Medium. The CPU's multi-threaded performance (17984.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core) is more than sufficient for the game's physics and AI, but the integrated graphics' 5.939 TFLOPS FP32 throughput caps the achievable frame rate. Across all resolutions, the GPU is the primary determinant of performance, with the CPU providing consistent support without becoming a bottleneck.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the Core Ultra 9 185H is closely matched by several processors. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 scores 35719 in average benchmarks, a negligible 0.1% difference from the 185H's 35670. The Intel Core 7 250H scores 35728, also 0.2% lower. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 scores 35802, 0.4% higher, and the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X scores 35909, 0.7% higher. These differences are within the margin of error, meaning users upgrading or downgrading among these CPUs would see virtually identical frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, provided the GPU remains the same.

For the GPU, the Radeon 890M's nearest rivals show similar performance parity. The AMD Radeon Vega 8 scores 9221, just 0.1% higher than the 890M's 9210. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 scores 9273, 0.7% higher, while the GTX 465 scores 9294, 0.9% higher, and the GTX 850M scores 9302, 1% higher. These delta values are all under 1.5%, indicating that swapping the 890M for any of these alternatives would produce nearly identical frame rates in this game. The practical implication is that the system's performance is firmly in the integrated-graphics tier, and users should not expect meaningful improvements from swapping to similar-class discrete GPUs from the same era.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the system delivers an average of 17 FPS on Ultra, 23 FPS on High, 26 FPS on Medium, and 37 FPS on Low. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 22 FPS and a maximum of 30 FPS, indicating some frame pacing variance. The spread between Low and Ultra is 20 FPS, showing that the GPU struggles with the 8.3 million pixels at 4K regardless of settings.

At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 27 FPS, High averages 36 FPS, Medium averages 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 and maximum of 47, and Low averages 58 FPS. The jump from Medium to Low is 17 FPS, the largest single-step improvement in this resolution, suggesting that the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading units are heavily taxed at Medium. The 58 FPS on Low is tantalizingly close to the 60 FPS target but falls short.

At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 36 FPS, High averages 49 FPS, Medium averages 56 FPS with a minimum of 47 and maximum of 64, and Low averages 78 FPS. The Medium preset's maximum of 64 FPS shows that the system can briefly exceed 60 FPS, but the average of 56 FPS and minimum of 47 FPS indicate inconsistency. Low settings provide the only stable experience above 60 FPS, with an average of 78 FPS that gives a comfortable margin above the threshold.

The Verdict

This PC can run Lockdown Protocol, but only under specific conditions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 78 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold with a 30% margin. This is the only resolution and settings combination that meets the playability criteria. At 2560x1440, the best result is 58 FPS on Low, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and thus not considered playable. At 3840x2160, the highest average is 37 FPS on Low, far below the threshold. The verdict by resolution confirms this: 1080p Low is the sole playable configuration, with no playable settings at 1440p or 4K. Users who prioritize higher visual quality or resolutions will need to consider a discrete GPU, as the Radeon 890M's integrated solution is insufficient for this title beyond the most modest settings.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Lockdown Protocol at 1080p?

A: Yes, but only on Low settings, where it averages 78 FPS. Medium settings average 56 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the best playable setting at 1440p?

A: None. The highest average frame rate at 2560x1440 is 58 FPS on Low settings, which falls 2 FPS short of the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Radeon 890M's average benchmark score of 9210 is within 1% of the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (9221), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (9273), GTX 465 (9294), and GTX 850M (9302). These differences are negligible for gaming performance.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The Core Ultra 9 185H ranks in the 85th percentile of CPUs, while the Radeon 890M ranks in the 45th percentile of GPUs. Frame rates scale dramatically with graphical settings, indicating GPU limitation.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 4K with this combo?

A: The system averages 37 FPS on Low, 26 FPS on Medium, 23 FPS on High, and 17 FPS on Ultra at 3840x2160. None of these approach the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: Would a different CPU improve performance?

A: No. The nearest CPU rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 and Intel Core 7 250H, score within 0.2% of the 185H in average benchmarks. The GPU's limited performance would remain the limiting factor regardless of CPU choice.