Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core Ultra 5 235 + AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT produces a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Lockdown Protocol, an FPS title released in March 2024. The measured data spans three resolutions and four quality presets, revealing a system that scales predictably: it delivers high frame rates at 1080p, remains competent at 1440p with settings adjustments, and struggles to maintain smooth performance at 4K on higher presets. This analysis walks through the resolution scaling, the distinct roles of the CPU and GPU, the combo's ranking against other tested configurations, and the exact measured FPS numbers to guide settings choices.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count rises. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 159 FPS at 1920x1080 to 117 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 75 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 26% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 36% further reduction to 4K, with the total scaling from 1080p to 4K being a 53% drop. This pattern holds for Medium settings, where averages go from 113 FPS at 1080p to 83 FPS at 1440p (a 27% drop) and then to 53 FPS at 4K (a 36% drop from 1440p). High settings show a similar progression: 99 FPS at 1080p, 72 FPS at 1440p, and 47 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings follow the same trend but at lower absolute numbers: 74 FPS at 1080p, 54 FPS at 1440p, and 35 FPS at 4K.

The consistent percentage drops across settings suggest that resolution scaling is largely independent of the quality preset. The limiting component at higher resolutions is clearly the GPU, as the frame rate reduction from 1080p to 4K roughly doubles the pixel count at each step, and the measured FPS declines proportionally. At 1080p Low, the 159 FPS result indicates that the CPU and GPU are both capable of high throughput, but the 4K Ultra result of 35 FPS shows the RX 6600 XT's 8 GB of VRAM and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are taxed heavily by the increased resolution and detail level. The data shows no scenario where the CPU artificially caps performance at lower resolutions; even at 1080p Ultra, the 74 FPS average is well above the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting headroom remains.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with 24 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46062. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (avg score 46030, delta 0.1%), the Intel Core i9-13900HX (avg score 46098, delta -0.1%), the AMD EPYC 4364P (avg score 45970, delta 0.2%), and the AMD EPYC 7303 (avg score 45960, delta 0.2%). These deltas are all within 0.2% of the Ultra 5 235, indicating that this CPU performs essentially on par with those competitors in general benchmarks.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is most visible at 1080p with lower settings, where the GPU is less stressed. At 1080p Low, the average FPS of 159 suggests that the CPU can feed frames quickly enough to saturate the RX 6600 XT at that resolution. The single-thread performance, as indicated by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2085 and PassMark single-thread score of 4516, is strong enough to handle the game's physics and logic threads without bottlenecking. The multi-thread performance, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14769 and a PassMark multithread score of 37816, provides ample headroom for background tasks, though Lockdown Protocol likely does not utilize all 14 cores efficiently given its FPS genre. The 14 threads (equal to the core count, as there is no hyperthreading) are sufficient for modern game workloads, and the 24 MB L3 cache helps with data locality. The CPU's 65W TDP and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth ensure that memory bandwidth is not a constraint at the tested settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is a RDNA 2.0 architecture GPU with 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, built on a 7 nm process. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth, and clock speeds of 1968 MHz base, 2359 MHz game, and 2589 MHz boost. The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 70th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 24442. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (avg score 24277, delta 0.7%), the Intel Arc A350M (avg score 24647, delta -0.8%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (avg score 24236, delta 0.8%), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (avg score 24170, delta 1.1%). Notably, the RTX 2080 SUPER scores 1.1% lower, which is surprising given the generational difference, but the data shows the RX 6600 XT is competitive with these cards in synthetic benchmarks.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU is the dominant factor in determining frame rates at 1440p and 4K. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is a key consideration: at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 35, likely due to VRAM pressure and the GPU's compute limits. The 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is modest for 4K workloads, and the pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s and texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s are adequate for 1080p but strained at higher resolutions. The FP32 performance of 10.60 TFLOPS provides the raw compute for rendering, but the data shows that at 4K, even the Low preset (75 FPS) fails to reach the 1080p Low result (159 FPS) by a significant margin. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) means it can handle modern rendering features, but the benchmark results indicate that Lockdown Protocol at 4K Ultra exceeds what this GPU can comfortably deliver, with the 35 FPS average falling below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT ranks 2014 out of 2828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the 29th percentile of all tested combinations, meaning roughly 71% of combos perform better. This ranking reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning; the CPU is in the 89th percentile, but the GPU's 70th percentile and its 8 GB VRAM limit hold the combo back in a game that appears to be GPU-bound at higher resolutions. The ranking is measured data, not an estimate, so it directly reflects the FPS results across all tested resolutions and settings.

Relative to the combo's individual components, the CPU is a strong performer, but the GPU's limitations cap the overall result. The ranking suggests that while the Ultra 5 235 provides a solid foundation, the RX 6600 XT is the bottleneck in demanding scenarios. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 159 FPS, which would be competitive with many higher-ranked combos, but the 4K Ultra result of 35 FPS drags down the overall ranking. The rank of 2014 out of 2828 indicates that this is a middle-of-the-pack configuration for Lockdown Protocol, suitable for 1080p gaming but not for high-refresh-rate 1440p or 4K experiences. The data shows that users with this combo should expect to prioritize resolution or settings, as the system cannot deliver high frame rates at maximum quality across all resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low 159, Medium 113, High 99, and Ultra 74. The Medium preset has a min FPS of 96 and max FPS of 130, while the other presets have null min/max values in the data. The gap between Low and Ultra is 85 FPS, showing a significant performance cost for higher quality settings. The 159 FPS at Low is the highest result across all tested configurations, indicating that the combo is well-suited for competitive play at 1080p with reduced graphics settings.

At 2560x1440, the measured average FPS values are: Low 117, Medium 83, High 72, and Ultra 54. The Medium preset has a min FPS of 70 and max FPS of 95, while other presets have null min/max values. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is substantial, with the Low preset losing 42 FPS and the Ultra preset losing 20 FPS. The 72 FPS at High settings is marginally above the 60 FPS threshold, while Ultra at 54 FPS falls below it.

At 3840x2160, the measured average FPS values are: Low 75, Medium 53, High 47, and Ultra 35. The Medium preset has a min FPS of 45 and max FPS of 61, while other presets have null min/max values. The 4K results are notably lower across all settings, with only the Low preset exceeding 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 35 FPS is below the 30 FPS playability floor for some users, though it remains technically playable. The Medium preset's min FPS of 45 indicates that frame pacing can dip below 50 FPS, which may cause noticeable stuttering in a fast-paced FPS.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 provides the highest frame rates, with all presets exceeding 70 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low and Medium presets exceed 80 FPS, while High and Ultra fall to 72 and 54 FPS respectively. For 4K, only Low settings exceed 60 FPS.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 has an average benchmark score of 46062, which is within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030), Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098), AMD EPYC 4364P (45970), and AMD EPYC 7303 (45960). These deltas are negligible, indicating near-identical synthetic performance.

Q: Is the GPU the bottleneck at 4K?

A: Yes, the data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at 3840x2160. The FPS drops from 159 at 1080p Low to 75 at 4K Low, a 53% reduction, while the CPU's strong single-thread scores suggest it is not the constraint. The RX 6600 XT's 8 GB VRAM and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for high-quality 4K rendering.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 159 FPS, while Ultra averages 74 FPS. This is a difference of 85 FPS, or a 53% reduction in performance when moving from Low to Ultra.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 2014 out of 2828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the 29th percentile. This is a mid-range ranking, with the CPU's 89th percentile performance offset by the GPU's 70th percentile and its 8 GB VRAM limitation.

Q: Which preset offers the most stable frame rates at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, only the Medium preset has min/max FPS data, showing a range of 70 to 95 FPS with an average of 83. This indicates that Medium is the most stable preset at this resolution, as the other presets have null min/max values in the data.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 74 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold and provides the best visual quality while maintaining smooth gameplay. For users seeking higher frame rates for competitive play, the Low preset at 159 FPS offers the maximum performance, though it sacrifices visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 113 FPS provides a balanced compromise between quality and speed, and its min FPS of 96 ensures consistent frame delivery.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the best choice, with an average of 83 FPS and a min FPS of 70, ensuring that frame rates rarely dip below 70. The High preset at 72 FPS is also playable but offers less headroom for demanding scenes, while the Ultra preset at 54 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold and may result in noticeable stuttering. The Low preset at 117 FPS is recommended for users who prioritize frame rate over visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset is the only option that exceeds 60 FPS, averaging 75 FPS. The Medium preset at 53 FPS is playable but has a min FPS of 45, which can cause hitches in fast-paced action. The High and Ultra presets at 47 and 35 FPS respectively are not recommended for FPS gameplay, as they fall well below the 60 FPS target. For the best experience at 4K, users should stick to Low settings, or consider lowering the resolution to 1440p to enable higher quality presets.

In summary, the data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming at Ultra settings (74 FPS) or 1440p at Medium settings (83 FPS). At 4K, only Low settings provide a smooth experience, and the Ultra preset at 35 FPS is only suitable for non-competitive play. The CPU's strong performance ensures no bottlenecking at lower resolutions, but the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and bandwidth limitations become apparent as resolution increases.