Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core Ultra 5 125H + AMD Radeon 890M

This combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and AMD Radeon 890M lands at rank 2675 out of 2828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the bottom 5% of all systems measured. The data reveals a configuration that can handle the game at playable frame rates only in specific scenarios, with the integrated GPU clearly acting as the primary constraint across most settings and resolutions. The pairing of a strong mobile CPU with a modest integrated graphics solution produces results that are workable for casual play at lower resolutions but quickly fall apart as graphical demands increase.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2675 out of 2828 tested combinations means roughly 95% of all tested systems outperform it in Lockdown Protocol. This places the configuration firmly in the lower tier of the benchmark database, which is expected given the integrated graphics solution. The AMD Radeon 890M sits at the 45th percentile among all GPUs, indicating it outperforms nearly half of the tested graphics solutions but lags behind the majority. In contrast, the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H sits at the 79th percentile among all CPUs, showing that the processor component is comparatively much stronger.

The disparity between CPU and GPU percentiles tells a clear story: this is a system where the processor has headroom that the graphics solution cannot exploit. Looking at the GPU's nearest rivals provides context for its performance tier. The Radeon 890M's average benchmark score of 9210 is within 0.1% of the AMD Radeon Vega 8, within 0.7% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960, within 0.9% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465, and within 1% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M. These are all older discrete graphics solutions, which highlights that the 890M, despite being an integrated part, performs in the same league as those dedicated cards from previous generations.

When examining the CPU's nearest rivals, the picture changes significantly. The Core Ultra 5 125H's average benchmark score of 27507 is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 7 5800, sitting just 0.1% behind it. It also matches the Intel Core i5-12600K and AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, both at 0.3% behind, while leading the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355G by 0.5%. This CPU is clearly competitive with established desktop processors from previous generations, yet the overall gaming performance is dragged down by the integrated GPU. The benchmark results indicate that in Lockdown Protocol, the bottleneck is overwhelmingly on the graphics side, as the CPU's strong relative standing does not translate into high frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H brings substantial processing power to this configuration, featuring 14 cores and 18 threads. This core configuration, combined with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz, provides strong multi-threaded capability that modern FPS titles can leverage for game logic, physics, and background tasks. The CPU's benchmark results reinforce its capability, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12804.5 and a single-core score of 1647.5, along with a Passmark multi-thread score of 21100 and a single-thread score of 3399.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role appears to be adequately fulfilled, as the frame rate data does not suggest processor-induced stutters or bottlenecks at the tested settings. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache provides a solid foundation for game data access, and the 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth supports the integrated GPU's need for system memory. The processor's 28 W TDP indicates it is designed for mobile efficiency, yet it still delivers desktop-class performance in synthetic benchmarks. The CPU's percentile ranking of 79 among all tested processors means it outperforms the vast majority of CPUs in the database, suggesting that it is not the limiting factor in this gaming configuration.

The architecture, built on Meteor Lake with a 7 nm process from Intel, represents a modern design that balances performance and power efficiency. The integrated Arc Xe-LPG 96EU graphics within the CPU package, while not the primary GPU in this configuration, indicates Intel's commitment to providing capable integrated graphics. However, the actual gaming workload in Lockdown Protocol falls to the AMD Radeon 890M, and the data shows that even with this strong CPU backing, the system cannot achieve high frame rates at demanding settings. The CPU's benchmark scores, including a Passmark physics score of 1439 and a Passmark integer math score of 69986, suggest it has ample compute headroom for gaming workloads, but this headroom goes unused when the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 890M is the decisive component in this configuration's gaming performance, and its integrated nature defines the system's capabilities. Built on the RDNA 3.5 architecture with a 4 nm process from TSMC, the GPU features 1024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. The boost clock of 2900 MHz is notably high for an integrated solution, and the GPU can deliver 5.939 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The 16 ray tracing cores provide hardware support for DirectX 12 Ultimate features, and the GPU supports DirectX 12_2, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

The most critical limitation is memory, as the 890M uses system shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth. This means the GPU competes with the CPU for memory access, and the effective bandwidth is determined by the system's DDR5 configuration rather than dedicated VRAM. The GPU's 15 W TDP is remarkably low, which contributes to its integrated nature but also caps its sustained performance. The benchmark results show a GPU that is positioned at the 45th percentile, with a Passmark G3D score of 8076 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 37254. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 590 indicates modest modern gaming capability.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's role is clearly the determining factor in frame rates. The measured FPS data shows a steady decline as resolution and settings increase, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 78 FPS, but this drops to 49 FPS at 1080p High and 36 FPS at 1080p Ultra. The pattern repeats at higher resolutions, with the 4K Ultra setting producing just 17 FPS. The GPU's nearest rivals, including the Radeon Vega 8 and GTX 960, all have similar average benchmark scores, yet none of these are considered capable of high-end gaming at modern resolutions. The data indicates that the 890M is suitable for esports titles and older games at lower settings, but Lockdown Protocol at high settings pushes it beyond its comfortable operating range.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Lockdown Protocol reveals a consistent pattern across all tested resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system achieves its best results: 78 FPS on Low, 56 FPS on Medium, 49 FPS on High, and 36 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting shows a minimum of 47 FPS and a maximum of 64 FPS, indicating some frame time variance but generally playable performance. The 1080p Low setting is the only configuration that approaches the 60 FPS threshold, while the High and Ultra settings fall below it.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop significantly. Low settings produce 58 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium drops to 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 and maximum of 47. High settings yield 36 FPS, and Ultra falls to 27 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each setting level is substantial, ranging from 20 FPS at Low to 9 FPS at Ultra. This resolution increase puts additional strain on the GPU, and the data shows that 1440p gaming is only viable at Low settings.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings produce 37 FPS, Medium drops to 26 FPS with a minimum of 22 and maximum of 30, High falls to 23 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 17 FPS. These numbers indicate that 4K gaming is not practical with this configuration, as even the lowest settings fail to reach 40 FPS. The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: Low settings provide the best playability, Medium is borderline, and High and Ultra are only suitable for screenshot purposes or very patient players. The lack of min and max FPS data for most settings makes it difficult to assess frame pacing, but the Medium settings at each resolution provide some insight into variance, with tighter ranges at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior in Lockdown Protocol reveals the GPU-bound nature of this configuration. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings, the frame rate drops from 78 to 58 FPS, a 25.6% decrease. From 1440p to 4K at Low, the drop is from 58 to 37 FPS, a 36.2% decrease. The overall drop from 1080p Low to 4K Low is from 78 to 37 FPS, representing a 52.6% reduction. This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU that is heavily strained by pixel count increases, as the integrated solution lacks the raw fill rate and memory bandwidth to handle high resolutions efficiently.

At High settings, the scaling is even more dramatic. The 1080p High score of 49 FPS drops to 36 FPS at 1440p, a 26.5% decrease, and then to 23 FPS at 4K, a 36.1% decrease from 1440p. The total drop from 1080p High to 4K High is 53.1%, showing that the GPU's performance degrades proportionally as resolution increases. The Medium settings tell a similar story: 56 FPS at 1080p, 41 FPS at 1440p, and 26 FPS at 4K. This represents a 53.6% total drop from 1080p to 4K. Ultra settings show the most severe scaling, with 36 FPS at 1080p, 27 FPS at 1440p, and 17 FPS at 4K, a total reduction of 52.8%.

The consistent ~50% drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at every configuration. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see less severe scaling at higher resolutions, as the GPU would have more time to render each frame. Instead, the proportional scaling suggests that the Radeon 890M's compute and memory resources are saturated at all resolution points, and increasing resolution simply reduces the GPU's ability to keep up. The system shared memory configuration further compounds this issue, as the GPU cannot rely on dedicated high-bandwidth VRAM to mitigate resolution increases.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and setting combination for this system in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The data shows 1080p Low provides the highest frame rate at 78 FPS, and 1080p Medium at 56 FPS is also playable. At 1440p, only Low settings at 58 FPS approach smooth gameplay, while 4K is not recommended at any setting.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H scores 27507 on average, which is 0.1% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 5800, 0.3% behind both the Intel Core i5-12600K and AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, and 0.5% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355G.

Q: Is the AMD Radeon 890M competitive with dedicated graphics cards?

A: The Radeon 890M's average benchmark score of 9210 is within 1% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960, GTX 465, and GTX 850M, as well as the AMD Radeon Vega 8, indicating it performs similarly to those older discrete solutions.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 1080p across different settings?

A: The measured data shows 78 FPS on Low, 56 FPS on Medium, 49 FPS on High, and 36 FPS on Ultra at 1920x1080 resolution.

Q: How does the frame rate scale from 1080p to 4K?

A: The frame rate drops by approximately 50% from 1080p to 4K across all settings, with Low going from 78 to 37 FPS, Medium from 56 to 26 FPS, High from 49 to 23 FPS, and Ultra from 36 to 17 FPS.

Q: Which component is the limiting factor in this gaming configuration?

A: The GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as shown by its 45th percentile ranking versus the CPU's 79th percentile, and the proportional frame rate drops with increasing resolution indicate GPU saturation.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for Lockdown Protocol with this configuration is at 1080p with Low settings, which delivers 78 FPS. This provides smooth gameplay that exceeds the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered acceptable for FPS titles. For players who prefer higher visual quality, 1080p Medium at 56 FPS is a viable compromise, offering improved visuals while maintaining frame rates that are still playable. The Medium setting also shows a minimum of 47 FPS, which is acceptable for most gaming scenarios.

At 1440p, the data suggests that only Low settings at 58 FPS provide a playable experience. The Medium setting at 41 FPS is borderline, and the minimum of 35 FPS may cause noticeable stuttering in fast-paced FPS gameplay. High and Ultra settings at 1440p, with 36 and 27 FPS respectively, are not recommended for competitive play. The 4K resolution is not viable for this game with this hardware, as even Low settings only achieve 37 FPS, and the Ultra setting at 17 FPS is effectively unplayable.

For the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, the data supports using 1080p Medium as the default recommendation. This setting provides over 50 FPS and includes measured minimum and maximum values of 47 and 64 FPS, indicating relatively stable performance. Players who prioritize frame rate above all else should use 1080p Low, while those who want the best possible visuals and can tolerate lower frame rates might explore 1440p Low as an alternative. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as the frame rate drops below 40 FPS even at 1080p, which is insufficient for smooth FPS gameplay.