Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the Intel Arc B370 presents an unusual imbalance for Lockdown Protocol: a CPU sitting in the 96th percentile of all processors in the database, driving an integrated GPU in the 5th percentile. The recorded measurements show exactly the outcome that asymmetry predicts, with the graphics side strictly limiting frame rates at every resolution tested.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The database contains twelve measured configurations for this pairing in Lockdown Protocol, spanning three resolutions and four presets. All results are measured, not estimated.

At 1920x1080, the pairing manages 80 FPS average on Low, 57 FPS on Medium (with a recorded minimum of 48 and maximum of 65), 49 FPS on High, and 37 FPS on Ultra. Only the Low preset clears the 60 FPS playable threshold, and it does so with a comfortable margin of 20 frames. Medium falls three frames short of the threshold on average, and its minimum of 48 FPS indicates dips well below fluid territory during demanding moments.

At 2560x1440, frame rates drop across the board: 58 FPS on Low, 42 FPS on Medium (minimum 35, maximum 48), 36 FPS on High, and 27 FPS on Ultra. The Low preset comes within two frames of the threshold but does not reach it, so no preset at this resolution qualifies as playable by the database standard.

At 3840x2160, the results decline further: 38 FPS on Low, 27 FPS on Medium (minimum 23, maximum 31), 23 FPS on High, and 18 FPS on Ultra. Even the least demanding preset delivers barely half the target frame rate at 4K, and the Ultra preset's 18 FPS average is closer to a slideshow than a competitive FPS experience.

A clear pattern emerges across presets. Each step up in quality costs roughly the same proportion of performance: at 1080p, going from Low to Medium costs 23 FPS, Medium to High costs 8 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 12 FPS. The same monotonic decline holds at 1440p and 4K, confirming that the GPU is saturated at all times and that no preset at the two higher resolutions approaches playability.

Best Settings per Resolution

Applying the 60 FPS threshold strictly:

• 1920x1080: Low is the only preset at or above 60 FPS, at 80 FPS average. Medium at 57 FPS is the nearest alternative but does not qualify.
• 2560x1440: No preset qualifies. The best result is Low at 58 FPS, two frames short of the threshold.
• 3840x2160: No preset qualifies. The best result is Low at 38 FPS, well below the threshold.

In short, 1080p Low is the single playable configuration in the entire measured set for this hardware pairing.

FAQ

Q: Can the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + Arc B370 run Lockdown Protocol at 1080p?

A: Yes, but only on the Low preset, where it averages 80 FPS. Medium averages 57 FPS, which falls just short of the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Can this pairing handle 1440p?

A: Not by the database's 60 FPS standard. The best result at 2560x1440 is 58 FPS on Low, and higher presets drop to 42, 36, and 27 FPS on Medium, High, and Ultra respectively.

Q: Is 4K play at all feasible?

A: No. Even Low settings average just 38 FPS at 3840x2160, and Ultra drops to 18 FPS.

Q: How stable are frame rates on the playable configuration?

A: The database only records minimum and maximum values for Medium presets. At 1080p Medium, frames range from 48 to 65 around a 57 FPS average, suggesting noticeable fluctuation one preset above the playable setting.

Q: Does the strong CPU help performance in this game?

A: Not meaningfully. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus ranks in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, yet frame rates remain low, indicating the Arc B370 integrated graphics is the limiting factor at every resolution.

Q: What is the single best measured result for this combo?

A: 80 FPS average at 1920x1080 on Low settings, the only configuration that clears the playable threshold.

The Verdict

This PC can run Lockdown Protocol, but only in a narrow window. The verdict data is unambiguous: at 1920x1080, the Low preset is playable at 80 FPS. At 2560x1440 and 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS, with best-case averages of 58 and 38 FPS respectively. Players intent on higher resolutions or richer visuals would need different graphics hardware, because the recorded data shows the integrated Arc B370 cannot deliver them in this title. For a fast-paced FPS where frame rate matters, 1080p Low is the sole configuration the database can endorse for this pairing.

Similar Performance Alternatives

On the CPU side, the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus sits among close company: the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K averages within 0.2 percent of its benchmark score, the AMD EPYC 4584PX within 1.1 percent, the AMD EPYC 9135 within 1.2 percent, and the AMD EPYC 7F72 is 1.3 percent ahead. Any of these processors would provide effectively identical CPU throughput in this context.

On the GPU side, the Arc B370's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184 places it near the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (within 0.2 percent), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (0.5 percent ahead), the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (0.7 percent ahead), and the AMD FirePro M2000 (1.4 percent behind). Systems built around those graphics solutions would be expected to behave very similarly in Lockdown Protocol, since the GPU is the binding constraint here. The relevant upgrade path therefore lies entirely on the graphics side, not the processor side.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database's tested configurations for Lockdown Protocol, this pairing ranks 3427 out of 3714 combos. That places it in the bottom tier of results for this game, despite the processor being exceptional. The rank reflects the dominant influence of the graphics solution: a 96th-percentile CPU combined with a 5th-percentile GPU produces a combo that outranks only a small fraction of the field. The ranking aligns precisely with the measured frame rates, which are consistently among the lowest that clear even a single playable configuration.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling data makes the roles clear. Moving from 1080p to 1440p on Low drops the average from 80 to 58 FPS, and from 1440p to 4K drops it from 58 to 38 FPS. That is a 27.5 percent loss and then a 34.5 percent loss from resolution increases alone, with settings held constant. Frame rate falling steeply as pixel count rises is the classic signature of a GPU-bound game, and it means the Arc B370, not the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, determines performance at every resolution tested.

The preset scaling reinforces this. On a CPU-limited configuration, raising quality settings often has modest effect; here, going from Low to Ultra at 1080p cuts the average from 80 to 37 FPS, more than halving performance. Such sensitivity to visual settings confirms the integrated GPU is fully saturated.

The processor's contribution is best described as headroom the game cannot use. With 24 cores and threads, a 5.80 GHz boost clock, and a PassMark single-thread score of 4823 backed by a multi-thread score of 60860, the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is far from the bottleneck. The practical conclusion: in Lockdown Protocol on this machine, any performance improvement must come from the graphics side, and the CPU will remain ready to feed a far faster GPU if one is added.