Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core Ultra 5 225 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER delivers a robust Lockdown Protocol experience across all tested resolutions, with the data showing a clear transition from CPU-bound behavior at 1080p to GPU-bound performance at 4K. This combination ranks 407th out of 2,828 tested combos in this game, placing it comfortably in the top 15% of systems. The measured frame rates indicate that this setup can handle competitive play at high refresh rates at 1440p, while 4K remains viable at medium settings. The following analysis breaks down how resolution scaling, component roles, and settings presets interact to produce the observed results.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the shifting bottleneck between CPU and GPU. At 1080p Low, the system produces 290 FPS, but at 1440p Low it drops to 212 FPS, and at 4K Low it falls further to 137 FPS. This represents a 53% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, which indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary limiter as pixel count increases. The RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed more heavily at higher resolutions, but the CPU's 10 cores and 10 threads still manage to feed the GPU adequately.

At High settings, the scaling pattern is similar but with lower absolute numbers: 180 FPS at 1080p, 132 FPS at 1440p, and 85 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at High is 53%, matching the Low setting's proportional decline. This consistency across settings suggests that the game's rendering workload scales predictably with resolution, and the GPU's 35.48 TFLOPS FP32 performance is the dominant factor in determining frame rates at higher pixel counts.

The Medium preset shows 206 FPS at 1080p, 151 FPS at 1440p, and 97 FPS at 4K — a 53% drop from 1080p to 4K as well. Interestingly, the Ultra preset at 1080p delivers 135 FPS, which is 8% lower than the High preset at 1440p (132 FPS), highlighting how Ultra settings add enough graphical complexity to offset the resolution advantage. At 4K Ultra, the system still manages 64 FPS, which is playable but below the 85 FPS achieved at 4K High.

The data suggests that the Core Ultra 5 225 with its 3.30 GHz base and 4.90 GHz boost clock is not the limiting factor until very high frame rates are reached. At 1080p Low, the 290 FPS result approaches the practical ceiling for many displays, but the CPU's single-thread score of 4,412 in Passmark indicates it can sustain high instruction throughput. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings costs 78 FPS, while the transition from 1440p to 4K costs 75 FPS, showing that the GPU's rendering capacity is being consumed at a near-linear rate as resolution increases.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 SUPER's specifications directly influence the measured results. With a boost clock of 2475 MHz and 7,168 shading units, the GPU's 35.48 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is substantial for a 220 W card. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for Lockdown Protocol's texture streaming at 4K, as evidenced by the 85 FPS average at 4K High. The 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores are present but the game's workload appears primarily rasterization-based, given the linear FPS scaling with resolution.

The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 29,995 places it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 43,223 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (43,262, -0.1% delta) and the RTX 5050 Mobile (43,268, -0.1% delta). This indicates that the desktop RTX 4070 SUPER is performing at the expected level for its class. The 80 ROPs and 224 TMUs provide the pixel and texture processing rates of 198.0 GPixel/s and 554.4 GTexel/s, respectively, which are directly relevant to filling 3840x2160 frames.

At 4K Medium, the GPU produces 97 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS and maximum of 112 FPS, showing reasonable frame pacing. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is not exhausted at any tested setting, as even 4K Ultra maintains 64 FPS without dropping below playable levels. The GPU's 1,313 MHz memory clock (21 Gbps effective) contributes to the bandwidth figure, and the 2,475 MHz boost clock is sustained under load given the 220 W TDP. The data indicates that the RTX 4070 SUPER is the primary determinant of performance at 4K, while at 1080p the CPU begins to influence results.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 290 at 1080p Low settings. Even at 1080p Ultra, the system maintains 135 FPS, which is above the refresh rate of most standard monitors.

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

A: The Core Ultra 5 225 has an average benchmark score of 36,938, which is within 0.5% of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36,945, 0% delta), AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37,018, -0.2% delta), AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (37,093, -0.4% delta), and Intel Core i9-12900T (37,112, -0.5% delta). This places it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this configuration?

A: Yes, at 4K Medium the system achieves 97 FPS average with a minimum of 83 FPS. At 4K High it drops to 85 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it still maintains 64 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the Low preset produces 212 FPS while Ultra produces 99 FPS, representing a 53% reduction. The Medium preset sits between at 151 FPS, and High delivers 132 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER's average benchmark score of 43,223 is nearly identical to the Quadro M6000 24 GB (43,262, -0.1% delta) and RTX 5050 Mobile (43,268, -0.1% delta). It trails the RTX 4090 Mobile (43,667) by 1%, which is within measurement variance.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any tested resolution?

A: At 1080p Low, the 290 FPS result suggests the CPU is approaching its limit, but at all other settings and resolutions the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The CPU's 10 cores and 10 threads with a 4.90 GHz boost clock are sufficient for Lockdown Protocol's demands.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. The Low preset averages 290 FPS, Medium averages 206 FPS with a minimum of 175 and maximum of 237, High averages 180 FPS, and Ultra averages 135 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 155 FPS, indicating that each settings tier has a meaningful impact on performance. The Medium preset's minimum of 175 FPS ensures that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate stays well above 144 Hz.

At 1440p, the frame rates remain competitive for high-refresh gaming. Low averages 212 FPS, Medium averages 151 FPS with a minimum of 128 and maximum of 173, High averages 132 FPS, and Ultra averages 99 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs between 36 FPS (Medium) and 78 FPS (Low), with the percentage reduction being consistent around 27-31% across settings. This suggests that the GPU's pixel throughput is being consumed proportionally to the increased resolution.

At 4K, the system still produces playable frame rates across all settings. Low averages 137 FPS, Medium averages 97 FPS with a minimum of 83 and maximum of 112, High averages 85 FPS, and Ultra averages 64 FPS. The Medium preset's 83 FPS minimum is the lowest recorded in any configuration, but it remains above the 60 FPS threshold. The 4K results show that Ultra settings are only suitable for 60 Hz displays, while High and Medium are viable for 75-85 Hz monitors.

The settings-to-settings scaling at each resolution follows a similar pattern: Ultra is roughly 30-35% slower than High, High is about 12-15% slower than Medium, and Medium is about 30-35% slower than Low. This consistent scaling indicates that the game's settings presets apply uniform graphical intensity increments, and the RTX 4070 SUPER responds predictably to these changes.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 provides 10 cores and 10 threads with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.90 GHz. This configuration is sufficient for Lockdown Protocol, which is an FPS title that typically relies more on single-thread performance than multi-thread scaling. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25,891 and single-core score of 3,655 indicate strong per-core performance, which is reflected in the high frame rates at 1080p where the CPU has more influence.

The Passmark multi-thread score of 30,459 and single-thread score of 4,412 show that the CPU can handle both the game logic and the rendering pipeline without becoming a bottleneck. The 20 MB shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache provide adequate data locality for game assets. The 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth from dual-channel DDR5 support ensures that the CPU can feed data to the GPU without stalling, particularly at lower resolutions where frame rates are high.

The CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs places it above the median, and its average benchmark score of 36,938 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36,945, 0% delta). This indicates that the Core Ultra 5 225 performs at parity with a well-regarded gaming CPU. At 1080p Low, the 290 FPS result approaches the CPU's practical limit, but at 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the consistent 53% FPS drop from 1080p to 4K across settings.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and 3 nm process node (TSMC) contribute to efficient operation, but these factors do not directly impact gaming performance. The lack of an unlocked multiplier and the 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes from the CPU provide sufficient bandwidth for the RTX 4070 SUPER over its PCIe 4.0 x16 interface. The integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 16EU is not used in this configuration but does not interfere with the discrete GPU's operation.

Settings Recommendations

For 144 Hz displays, the Medium preset at 1440p is the optimal choice. It delivers 151 FPS average with a minimum of 128 FPS, ensuring that the frame rate stays above the refresh rate in most scenarios. The 1080p Medium preset offers even higher performance at 206 FPS average, which is suitable for 165 Hz or 240 Hz displays. The minimum of 175 FPS at 1080p Medium means that even in intense firefights, the frame rate remains above 144 Hz.

For 4K displays at 60 Hz, the High preset is recommended. It averages 85 FPS, which provides headroom above the 60 Hz refresh rate and allows for smooth gameplay with visual quality that is noticeably better than Medium. The 4K Medium preset at 97 FPS is also viable, and its 83 FPS minimum ensures that there are no drops below 60 FPS. The 4K Ultra preset at 64 FPS is borderline for 60 Hz displays, with the average being close enough to the refresh rate that occasional dips could cause perceptible stutter.

For competitive play where frame rate is prioritized over visual fidelity, the Low preset at 1440p offers 212 FPS, which is ideal for 240 Hz monitors. The 1080p Low preset at 290 FPS exceeds the refresh rate of most high-end monitors and provides the lowest input latency. The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1080p displays with 120 Hz or lower refresh rates, as it averages 135 FPS but lacks the consistency of lower settings.

The data shows that the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p it averages 206 FPS, at 1440p 151 FPS, and at 4K 97 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum FPS values (175 at 1080p, 128 at 1440p, 83 at 4K) are all above 60 FPS, making it a safe choice for any display configuration.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 407th out of 2,828 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol. This places the system in the top 14.4% of all tested configurations, which is a strong result given the CPU's mid-range positioning. The GPU's 83rd percentile ranking and the CPU's 85th percentile ranking indicate that both components are performing near their expected levels, and the combination does not introduce any notable bottleneck.

Compared to other combos in the database, this system's 407th rank suggests that it outperforms the majority of tested configurations while being bested by systems with higher-tier CPUs or GPUs. The RTX 4070 SUPER's average benchmark score of 43,223 is within 1% of the RTX 4090 Mobile (43,667), indicating that the desktop GPU provides desktop-class performance. The CPU's average benchmark score of 36,938 is within 0.5% of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36,945), showing that the Core Ultra 5 225 is a competitive gaming processor.

The measured FPS data confirms that this combo is well-balanced for Lockdown Protocol. At 1440p Medium, the 151 FPS average is above the 144 Hz threshold for smooth competitive play, and at 4K High the 85 FPS average provides a comfortable margin for 60 Hz displays. The 407th rank out of 2,828 combos indicates that while there are faster systems, this configuration delivers a high-quality gaming experience without requiring top-tier components. The system's performance is consistent across all tested settings and resolutions, making it a reliable choice for this game.