Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol places this Intel Core Ultra 5 225 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 pairing at rank 1514 out of 2828 tested combinations. That places the combo in the 47th percentile of all tested systems, meaning slightly more than half of the tested configurations deliver higher average frame rates in this FPS title. The rank is not a verdict on component quality; both parts sit near the middle of their respective benchmark distributions. Instead, it reflects how this specific pairing behaves under Lockdown Protocol’s workload, where the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and the CPU’s 10-core layout interact with the game’s settings and resolution scaling in ways that produce a serviceable but not exceptional experience.

The data shows a clear pattern: at 1080p and 1440p, this combo delivers playable frame rates across all presets, while 4K remains marginal except at Low settings. The measured results indicate the RTX 4060 is the primary performance limiter at higher resolutions, while the Core Ultra 5 225 provides enough headroom to avoid bottlenecking at lower resolutions. This is a mid-tier configuration for Lockdown Protocol, capable of smooth 1080p and good 1440p gameplay, but not a high-refresh or 4K solution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1514 out of 2828 tested combinations places this system in the lower-middle tier for Lockdown Protocol. Roughly 53.5% of tested combos rank above it, which means the majority of systems outperform this pairing in average FPS. However, the rank alone does not tell the full story. The CPU’s percentile versus all CPUs is 85, meaning it outperforms 85% of all processors in general benchmark scores. The GPU’s percentile versus all GPUs is 61, which is lower but still above average. The disparity suggests the GPU holds the combo back more than the CPU, particularly at higher resolutions where the RTX 4060’s 8 GB memory and 128-bit bus become limiting factors.

The nearest CPU rivals in overall average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F at 36945 (0% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D at 37018 (-0.2%), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 at 37093 (-0.4%), and the Intel Core i9-12900T at 37112 (-0.5%). The Core Ultra 5 225’s average benchmark score of 36938 sits essentially tied with these parts, all within half a percent of each other. This means the CPU is firmly in a competitive mid-range tier, and swapping to any of these rivals would produce nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Lockdown Protocol.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4060’s nearest rivals by average score are the AMD Radeon HD 7790 at 17666 (-0.2% delta), the AMD Radeon 780M at 17588 (+0.3%), the AMD Radeon Pro 560 at 17551 (+0.5%), and the AMD Radeon Pro 460 at 17509 (+0.7%). The RTX 4060’s average benchmark score is 17639, placing it just below the HD 7790 and just above the 780M. The deltas are remarkably small, all under 1%, indicating that the RTX 4060’s general compute performance is indistinguishable from these older or integrated parts in synthetic tests. However, Lockdown Protocol’s measured FPS tells a different story, as the game’s optimization and feature set favor the RTX 4060’s architecture more than these raw scores suggest.

In the context of Lockdown Protocol specifically, this combo’s rank means it will handle 1080p and 1440p with ease, but 4K Ultra is beyond its reach. The measured FPS data shows a 4K Ultra average of 42 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold most players consider smooth. At 4K High, the average rises to 55 FPS, still not ideal. The combo only achieves comfortable 4K performance at Low settings, where it hits 89 FPS. This reinforces the interpretation that the GPU is the limiting factor at high resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD107 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It has 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output pipelines, along with 24 ray tracing cores and 96 tensor cores. The GPU’s base clock is 1830 MHz with a boost clock of 2460 MHz. Memory consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. The memory clock is listed at 2125 MHz, which translates to 17 Gbps effective. These specifications position the RTX 4060 as a mainstream card, not a high-end solution, and its 61st percentile rank among all GPUs confirms this.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU’s role becomes clear when examining the measured FPS across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 189 FPS, indicating the GPU is not the bottleneck at this setting. At 1080p High, the average drops to 117 FPS, still strong. Moving to 1440p, the Low preset yields 138 FPS, and High drops to 86 FPS. At 4K, the GPU’s limitations become pronounced: Low averages 89 FPS, Medium drops to 63 FPS, High to 55 FPS, and Ultra to 42 FPS. The 8 GB VRAM capacity likely contributes to the steep drop at 4K Ultra, where texture and geometry demands exceed what the memory bus can efficiently feed.

The RTX 4060’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon 780M, is an integrated graphics solution, yet its average benchmark score is only 0.3% lower than the RTX 4060. This is surprising but does not reflect gaming performance, as the RTX 4060’s dedicated hardware and driver optimizations give it a significant advantage in actual game workloads like Lockdown Protocol. The measured FPS confirms this: the RTX 4060 delivers playable frame rates at most settings, which an integrated GPU would struggle to match.

The GPU’s pixel rate is 118.1 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 236.2 GTexel/s. The FP32 compute is 15.11 TFLOPS, with FP16 also at 15.11 TFLOPS (1:1). These figures indicate a balanced mid-range part, but the 128-bit memory bus is a known limitation for higher resolutions. In Lockdown Protocol, this manifests as the 4K Ultra average of 42 FPS, which is below playable thresholds for most users. The GPU’s TDP is 115 W, and it requires a 300 W suggested PSU, but power figures are only relevant for system integration, not performance analysis.

The RTX 4060 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Its PCIe interface is Gen 4.0 x8, which provides sufficient bandwidth for this class of card. The display outputs include 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, allowing for multi-monitor setups. The card’s length is 240 mm, height 111 mm, width 40 mm, making it a dual-slot design with a 12-pin power connector. These physical characteristics are typical for a mid-range GPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is part of the Core Ultra Series 2, based on the Arrow Lake architecture (Arrow Lake-S) and manufactured on a 3 nm process at TSMC. It has 10 cores and 10 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. The L3 cache is 20 MB shared, with L1 at 192 KB per core and L2 at 3 MB per core. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel configuration, providing a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. The CPU supports PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes, and includes integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 16 execution units. Its TDP is 65 W, and it was released on 2025-01-06 with a launch MSRP of $246.

The CPU’s benchmark scores show strong single-threaded performance: Cinebench R23 single-core scores 3655, and multi-core scores 25891. PassMark single-thread is 4412, and multithread is 30459. The CPU’s percentile versus all CPUs is 85, meaning it outperforms 85% of all processors in aggregate benchmark performance. Its average benchmark score of 36938 places it in a tight cluster with rivals like the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36945, 0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37018, -0.2% delta). This indicates the Core Ultra 5 225 is a competitive mid-range CPU, with performance nearly identical to these alternatives.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with frame data, and the measured FPS suggests it does this effectively at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 189 FPS, which is likely CPU-bound or at least balanced. At 1080p Medium, the average is 134 FPS, and at High it is 117 FPS. These numbers indicate the CPU can maintain high frame rates without bottlenecking the GPU at 1080p. At 1440p, the CPU’s load decreases relative to the GPU, and the frame rates remain strong: 138 FPS at Low, 98 FPS at Medium, and 86 FPS at High. The CPU does not appear to be a limiting factor until 4K, where the GPU’s workload dominates.

The 10-core, 10-thread configuration with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz provides solid performance for gaming, where single-thread speed is often more important than core count. The Cinebench R15 single-core score of 368 and R20 single-core score of 891 reinforce this strength. In Lockdown Protocol, which is a fast-paced FPS, the CPU’s ability to process game logic and physics quickly is crucial, and the data shows it handles this well. The L3 cache of 20 MB is adequate for gaming workloads, though not exceptional.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in benchmark scores are all AMD or older Intel parts, but the deltas are negligible, all within 0.5%. This means that in CPU-bound scenarios, swapping the Core Ultra 5 225 for a Ryzen 5 5600F or Ryzen 5 5500X3D would yield virtually identical frame rates in Lockdown Protocol. The CPU’s 85th percentile ranking confirms its overall capability, and it does not hold back the RTX 4060 in this game at any resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions—3840x2160 (4K), 2560x1440 (1440p), and 1920x1080 (1080p)—each with four settings: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. The Medium settings include min and max FPS values, while others only have averages.

At 1080p, the combo delivers its best performance. Low settings produce an average of 189 FPS, which is exceptionally high and suitable for competitive play on high-refresh monitors. Medium settings average 134 FPS, with a min of 114 and max of 154, indicating consistent frame pacing. High settings average 117 FPS, dropping from Medium but still smooth. Ultra settings average 88 FPS, which is playable but below the 100+ FPS achieved at lower presets. The 1080p results show the combo is well-suited for this resolution, with even Ultra maintaining above 60 FPS.

At 1440p, the frame rates remain strong but decrease as expected. Low settings average 138 FPS, still high enough for smooth gameplay. Medium settings average 98 FPS, with a min of 83 and max of 113, which is comfortable for most monitors. High settings average 86 FPS, a notable drop from 1080p High’s 117 FPS. Ultra settings average 64 FPS, which is right at the edge of smoothness; some players may notice occasional dips, though it remains technically playable. The 1440p results indicate the combo can handle this resolution with adjusted settings, favoring Medium or High for the best balance.

At 4K, the combo struggles at higher settings. Low settings average 89 FPS, which is surprisingly high and playable. Medium settings average 63 FPS, with a min of 54 and max of 73, meaning there are drops below 60 FPS during intense scenes. High settings average 55 FPS, below the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra settings average 42 FPS, which is not smooth for a fast-paced FPS. The 4K results show the combo is only viable at Low settings, where it achieves 89 FPS, or possibly Medium if the player accepts occasional frame drops.

The Medium settings with min/max data provide insight into frame consistency. At 1080p Medium, the min is 114 and max is 154, a 40 FPS spread, which indicates some variation but no major stutters. At 1440p Medium, the min is 83 and max is 113, a 30 FPS spread, showing tighter consistency. At 4K Medium, the min is 54 and max is 73, a 19 FPS spread, but the min falls below 60 FPS, which could cause noticeable hitches. This data suggests that Medium settings are the sweet spot for this combo at 1440p, where the frame range is stable and above 60 FPS.

Comparing resolutions, the scaling is not linear. At 1080p Low, 189 FPS; at 1440p Low, 138 FPS (a 27% drop); at 4K Low, 89 FPS (a 36% drop from 1440p). At 1080p Ultra, 88 FPS; at 1440p Ultra, 64 FPS (a 27% drop); at 4K Ultra, 42 FPS (a 34% drop from 1440p). The consistent percentage drops suggest the GPU is the primary scaling factor, with the CPU maintaining its performance across resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The data shows 1080p is the best resolution, with all settings averaging above 88 FPS. At 1440p, Low through High settings are playable, but Ultra drops to 64 FPS. 4K is only recommended at Low settings, where it averages 89 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its closest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 4060’s average benchmark score is 17639, with the AMD Radeon HD 7790 at 17666 (-0.2% delta), the AMD Radeon 780M at 17588 (+0.3%), the AMD Radeon Pro 560 at 17551 (+0.5%), and the AMD Radeon Pro 460 at 17509 (+0.7%). These deltas are under 1%, indicating near-identical synthetic performance.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 a bottleneck for the RTX 4060?

A: The measured FPS indicates the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 189 FPS, and at 4K Low, 89 FPS. The CPU’s 85th percentile ranking and strong single-thread scores (Cinebench R23 single-core 3655) support that it feeds the GPU adequately.

Q: What settings provide 60 FPS or higher at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, Low averages 138 FPS, Medium 98 FPS, and High 86 FPS. Ultra averages 64 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS but with less headroom. All settings meet the 60 FPS threshold at 1440p.

Q: Can this combo run Lockdown Protocol at 4K smoothly?

A: Only at Low settings, where it averages 89 FPS. Medium averages 63 FPS with a min of 54, so there are drops below 60. High averages 55 FPS, and Ultra averages 42 FPS, both below the smoothness threshold.

Q: How does the CPU’s performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core Ultra 5 225 has an average benchmark score of 36938. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F scores 36945 (0% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D scores 37018 (-0.2%), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 scores 37093 (-0.4%), and the Intel Core i9-12900T scores 37112 (-0.5%). All are within 0.5% of each other.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience in Lockdown Protocol, the data suggests prioritizing 1080p or 1440p over 4K. At 1080p, Ultra settings average 88 FPS, which is smooth, but Medium offers 134 FPS with a min of 114, providing a higher and more consistent frame rate without sacrificing much visual quality. For competitive play, Low at 1080p yields 189 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh monitors. The sweet spot for most players is 1080p Medium or High, depending on whether frame rate or visual fidelity is prioritized.

At 1440p, Medium settings provide the best balance, with an average of 98 FPS and a min of 83 FPS. This ensures smooth gameplay with minimal frame drops. High settings at 86 FPS are also acceptable, but the lower min FPS (though not listed) makes Medium the safer choice. Ultra at 64 FPS is playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. Low at 138 FPS is the choice for maximum responsiveness.

At 4K, the only recommendable preset is Low, which averages 89 FPS. Medium averages 63 FPS but has a min of 54, meaning there will be noticeable dips below 60 FPS. High and Ultra are not recommended, as they average 55 and 42 FPS, respectively, which is insufficient for a fast-paced FPS. Players with 4K monitors should either drop to Low or reduce resolution to 1440p for a better experience.

The measured data shows that the combo’s performance scales predictably with settings and resolution. The RTX 4060’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus are the limiting factors at 4K, while the CPU’s strong single-thread performance ensures high frame rates at lower resolutions. For most users, 1440p Medium or High will deliver the best combination of visual quality and performance, with 1080p Medium or High as a solid alternative for higher frame rates. The combo is not suited for 4K Ultra, and players should avoid that preset unless they accept sub-60 FPS averages.