Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol is a demanding FPS, and the combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT produces a playable but heavily GPU-limited experience, particularly at higher resolutions. The data indicates that this pairing ranks in the bottom quarter of tested configurations, making it a baseline setup for 1080p competitive play rather than a high-fidelity powerhouse.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates reveal a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p with High settings, the combo delivers 97 FPS, which drops to 71 FPS at 1440p and further to 46 FPS at 4K. This represents a 53% performance loss when moving from 1080p to 4K, a steep decline that strongly indicates the Radeon RX 5700 XT is the primary limiting factor.

The scaling behavior becomes even more telling when examining the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 156 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded in the entire dataset. At 1440p Low, it still manages a very respectable 114 FPS, and at 4K Low it maintains 74 FPS. The fact that lowering settings to Low at 4K produces nearly the same frame rate (74 FPS) as High at 1440p (71 FPS) shows that the GPU's raw throughput is the bottleneck, not the CPU's ability to feed it.

The frame time consistency data available for the Medium preset further supports this analysis. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 111 with a minimum of 94 and maximum of 127, a spread of 33 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 81 FPS with a minimum of 69 and maximum of 93, a spread of 24 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 52 FPS with a minimum of 44 and maximum of 60, a spread of 16 FPS. The shrinking variance at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is becoming fully saturated, leaving less headroom for frame time variation.

The incremental cost of resolution is also visible in the Ultra preset. Ultra settings yield 72 FPS at 1080p, 53 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K. This shows that even at the highest settings, the resolution scaling remains consistent, with 4K Ultra producing less than half the frame rate of 1080p Ultra. The data suggests that this combo is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming, with 4K being viable only at Low or Medium settings for a playable experience.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank for this pairing in Lockdown Protocol is position 2105 out of 2828 tested combinations. This places it in the bottom 25.5% of all configurations, indicating that while it is not the weakest setup, it is decidedly below average for this particular title. The ranking reflects the combination of a mid-range CPU and an older, end-of-life GPU that struggles with the demands of a modern FPS.

The CPU itself, the Intel Core Ultra 5 225, performs well in synthetic benchmarks relative to its peers. It achieves a percentile rank of 85 against all CPUs, meaning it outperforms 85% of tested processors. Its average benchmark score of 36938 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, which scores 36945, a delta of 0%. The CPU also edges out the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D, which scores 37018 with a -0.2% delta, and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450, which scores 37093 with a -0.4% delta. This indicates the CPU is not the weak link in this pairing.

The GPU, however, tells a different story. The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT has a percentile rank of 59 against all GPUs, meaning it sits just above the median but is far from a top-tier performer. Its average benchmark score of 16361 is closely matched by its nearest rivals, including the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (16351, +0.1% delta), the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell (16408, -0.3% delta), and the AMD Radeon PRO W7500 (16415, -0.3% delta). The fact that the GPU ranks near the 59th percentile while the CPU ranks at the 85th percentile strongly suggests that the GPU is dragging down the overall combo performance in Lockdown Protocol.

The combination of a top-quartile CPU with a mid-pack GPU results in a system that is unbalanced for this game. Benchmark results indicate that the CPU has significant headroom to drive a more powerful GPU, but the RX 5700 XT cannot fully utilize the processing power available to it. This is a common scenario where the GPU becomes the ceiling for performance, and the combo rank reflects that limitation.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is built on the RDNA 1.0 architecture with a Navi 10 chip, fabricated on a 7 nm process. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1605 MHz, a game clock of 1755 MHz, and a boost clock of 1905 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). These specifications place it as a solid 1080p-class card from its 2019 release, but they are insufficient for high-refresh-rate 4K gaming in a demanding title like Lockdown Protocol.

The GPU's VRAM capacity of 8 GB is a critical constraint at higher resolutions. The measured frame rates show that at 4K Ultra, the combo only achieves 34 FPS, which is barely playable and likely stutters due to memory pressure. Even at 4K High, the 46 FPS average suggests the GPU is struggling to maintain consistent frame delivery. The 8 GB frame buffer is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, as evidenced by the 97 FPS at 1080p High and 71 FPS at 1440p High, but it becomes a bottleneck at 4K, where texture data exceeds the available memory.

The GPU's compute capabilities also play a role in its performance. It delivers 9.754 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 19.51 TFLOPS of FP16 performance, which are modest figures by modern standards. The texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s are adequate for 1080p but insufficient for 4K. The GPU's DirectX 12 support (12_1) is present, but the lack of dedicated ray tracing cores means that any RT features in Lockdown Protocol would have to be handled by the shader units, further reducing performance.

The GPU's end-of-life status and its position in the market are reflected in its benchmark scores. It achieves a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2134, a Geekbench Vulkan score of 68310, and a Passmark G3D score of 16277. These scores place it near the 59th percentile of all GPUs, confirming that it is an average performer. The GPU's thermal and power design, with a TDP of 225 W and a suggested PSU of 550 W, is reasonable for its class, but it cannot overcome the fundamental limitations of its older architecture.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Lockdown Protocol with this combo?

A: The data shows that 1080p is the optimal resolution. At 1080p High settings, the combo achieves 97 FPS, which is smooth for competitive play. At 1440p High, the frame rate drops to 71 FPS, which is still playable but less ideal for fast-paced action. 4K High is only 46 FPS, making it marginal for the game.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 has an average benchmark score of 36938, which is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F at 36945 (0% delta). It is slightly behind the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D at 37018 (-0.2% delta) and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 at 37093 (-0.4% delta). The CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it is a strong performer.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the bottleneck in this system for Lockdown Protocol?

A: The benchmark results clearly indicate the GPU is the bottleneck. The CPU ranks at the 85th percentile, while the GPU ranks at the 59th percentile. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a steep decline, which is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario. The CPU has ample headroom to feed a more powerful GPU.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Lockdown Protocol?

A: At 4K, the combo achieves 74 FPS on Low settings and 52 FPS on Medium settings, which are playable. However, at 4K High, it drops to 46 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 34 FPS, which is not a smooth experience. For a consistent 60 FPS at 4K, Low settings are required.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration and how does it affect performance?

A: The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but at 4K, the frame rate drops significantly, likely due to memory capacity and bandwidth limitations. The 8 GB VRAM is a constraint at higher resolutions.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 2105th out of 2828 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 25.5% of all systems tested in Lockdown Protocol. This ranking reflects the GPU's mid-pack performance (59th percentile) combined with the CPU's strong performance (85th percentile), resulting in an overall below-average gaming experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm TSMC process. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 20 MB of shared L3 cache, 3 MB of L2 cache per core, and 192 KB of L1 cache per core. This configuration provides strong single-threaded and multi-threaded performance that is well above average for gaming.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU demonstrates its capabilities. It scores 25891 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 3655 in Cinebench R23 single-core. In Passmark tests, it achieves 30459 in multithread and 4412 in single-thread. These scores translate to an 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs, indicating that it outperforms the vast majority of processors on the market. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D, have nearly identical average scores, confirming that the Ultra 5 225 is a competitive mid-range option.

The CPU's role in Lockdown Protocol is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. Given that the GPU is the bottleneck, the CPU is likely underutilized in this specific pairing. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the CPU can push the GPU to 156 FPS, which is near the practical limit for this GPU. The CPU's high boost clock of 4.90 GHz and strong single-thread performance are crucial for maintaining high frame rates in FPS games, but the RX 5700 XT cannot fully exploit this capability.

The CPU's memory support for DDR5 with a dual-channel bus provides 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for gaming workloads. The lack of an unlocked multiplier means overclocking is not possible, but the stock performance is already strong. The CPU's integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 16 EU is present but irrelevant for gaming with a discrete GPU installed. Overall, the CPU is a capable partner that is held back by the GPU in this configuration.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For competitive play at 1080p, the Low preset delivers 156 FPS, which is the highest possible performance and ideal for fast-paced FPS action. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 111 FPS with a minimum of 94 FPS, providing a good balance of visual quality and performance. High settings at 1080p still offer 97 FPS, which is smooth, but Ultra drops to 72 FPS, which may be less desirable for competitive play.

At 1440p, the Low preset achieves 114 FPS, which is excellent for a sharper image. Medium settings at 1440p provide 81 FPS with a minimum of 69 FPS, which is playable but with some frame drops. High settings at 1440p yield 71 FPS, which is borderline for a smooth experience. Ultra at 1440p drops to 53 FPS, which is not recommended for action-heavy gameplay.

For 4K gaming, the options are more limited. Low settings at 4K produce 74 FPS, which is the only preset that consistently stays above 60 FPS. Medium settings at 4K offer 52 FPS with a minimum of 44 FPS, which can feel stuttery. High settings at 4K drop to 46 FPS, and Ultra falls to 34 FPS, both of which are not ideal for a fast-paced FPS.

The data suggests that the best experience is achieved at 1080p with Medium or High settings, offering a balance between visual fidelity and smoothness. For players prioritizing frame rate over visuals, 1080p Low is the clear choice. At 1440p, Low settings provide the best experience, while 4K should only be considered with Low settings for a playable frame rate. The Medium preset provides the most consistent frame times, with the minimum FPS staying within 15% of the average across all resolutions.