Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol is a demanding FPS that scales predictably with resolution, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER delivers a robust experience across the board. The measured data shows a clear progression from extremely high frame rates at 1080p to playable, though less spectacular, performance at 4K. The combination of a 14-core Arrow Lake CPU and a 12 GB Ada Lovelace GPU proves well-balanced for this title, with the primary bottleneck shifting from the processor at lower resolutions to the graphics card at higher ones.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is substantial but expected for a modern FPS. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 180 at 1080p to 132 at 1440p, a reduction of 48 FPS (26.7%). Moving further to 4K, the average drops to 85 FPS, which is a 95 FPS (52.8%) decline from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern indicates that the RTX 4070 SUPER is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, demanding significantly more GPU throughput.

The trend is consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 290 at 1080p down to 212 at 1440p and 137 at 4K. The percentage drops are 26.9% and 35.4% respectively, showing that even with reduced graphical load, the GPU's rendering capabilities are stretched at 4K. At Ultra settings, the numbers are 135 FPS at 1080p, 99 FPS at 1440p, and 64 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 4K here is 71 FPS (52.6%), mirroring the High preset's relative decline.

What these numbers reveal is that the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is not the primary constraint in this game. At 1080p Low, the CPU is able to feed the GPU enough data to produce 290 FPS, which is a very high ceiling. The fact that the FPS drops by more than half when moving to 4K at every settings level points directly to the GPU as the performance limiter. The 14 threads of the Ultra 5 235 appear sufficient to keep up with the RTX 4070 SUPER's output, even at lower resolutions where CPU overhead is typically more pronounced.

The data suggests that for competitive play at 1440p, the High preset (132 FPS) offers a strong balance, while 4K gaming is best suited for Medium settings, which maintains an average of 97 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay without dipping into uncomfortable territory.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of all tested system combinations, this setup ranks 407th out of 2828 combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the top 14.4% of all configurations tested, which is a strong showing for a CPU and GPU pairing that is not at the absolute top of their respective product stacks. The ranking reflects a system that is well above average for this specific game, indicating that the components work harmoniously together.

The CPU itself, the Intel Core Ultra 5 235, sits in the 89th percentile against all CPUs in the benchmark database. This high percentile is supported by its nearest rivals in synthetic tests. It scores within 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and within 0.2% of the AMD EPYC 4364P, while being 0.1% behind the Intel Core i9-13900HX. These results show that the Ultra 5 235 is a capable processor that competes with higher-tier mobile and server parts in raw compute workloads.

For the GPU, the RTX 4070 SUPER is in the 83rd percentile against all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB, which it trails by only 0.1%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile, which is also 0.1% ahead. It is 1% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile. This positioning suggests that the desktop 4070 SUPER is a strong performer, though not a top-tier flagship, which aligns with its 407th place ranking in this game's combo list.

The combination of an 89th percentile CPU and an 83rd percentile GPU yielding a top 14.4% combo ranking in Lockdown Protocol indicates that the game is somewhat more GPU-bound than CPU-bound. The CPU has enough headroom to not drag down the overall performance, allowing the GPU to be the primary driver of the frame rates observed in the measured data.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the AD104 chip using a 5 nm process at TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 1980 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, which is sufficient for the textures and data required by Lockdown Protocol at high resolutions.

The GPU's FP32 performance is rated at 35.48 TFLOPS, and it has 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores. These specifications translate directly into the rasterization and compute power needed for a fast-paced FPS. The 80 ROPs and 224 TMUs handle pixel and texture processing, while the 7168 shading units provide the raw arithmetic throughput. The measured results show that this hardware is well-utilized, especially at 4K where the GPU is clearly the bottleneck.

The 12 GB VRAM capacity is a notable factor in this game. At 4K Ultra settings, the GPU must manage high-resolution textures and effects, and 12 GB is adequate to avoid stuttering or texture thrashing, as evidenced by the 64 FPS average. The memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s ensures that data is fed to the processing units quickly enough to sustain these frame rates. The boost clock of 2475 MHz allows the GPU to reach its maximum performance under load, which is crucial for maintaining the 85 FPS average at 4K High.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 4070 SUPER's synthetic benchmark scores are tightly clustered. Its average benchmark score of 43223 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (43262) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (43268). This indicates that in compute-heavy tasks, the 4070 SUPER is on par with these competitor cards, though its actual gaming performance in Lockdown Protocol may vary due to driver optimizations and architectural differences.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the Medium preset stands out as the optimal choice at 4K. The measured data shows an average of 97 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS, ensuring that frame pacing remains smooth even during intense firefights. The High preset at 4K drops to 85 FPS average, which is still playable but offers less headroom. The Ultra preset at 4K falls to 64 FPS average, which may be too low for competitive play where high refresh rates are preferred.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 132 FPS, making it the recommended setting for gamers with 144 Hz monitors. For those seeking maximum visual fidelity, the Ultra preset at 99 FPS is also viable, though it sacrifices some smoothness. The Low preset at 212 FPS is excessive for most displays but could be used for esports-style play where every frame matters.

At 1080p, the data shows that even the Ultra preset achieves 135 FPS, which is excellent. However, the Medium preset at 206 FPS offers a better experience for high-refresh-rate monitors (240 Hz and above). The Low preset at 290 FPS is the absolute maximum performance available but comes with significant visual compromises that may not be worth the extra frames.

The measured rows indicate that the Medium preset provides the most consistent experience across all resolutions, with the smallest gap between average and minimum FPS. At 4K Medium, the difference is 14 FPS (97 vs 83), while at 1440p Medium it is 23 FPS (151 vs 128), and at 1080p Medium it is 31 FPS (206 vs 175). This consistency suggests that Medium settings avoid the sharp dips in performance that can occur with higher presets, making it the safest choice for a smooth gaming session.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance is exceptionally high across all presets. The Low preset achieves an average of 290 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium follows at 206 FPS, with a minimum of 175 and a maximum of 237. High drops to 180 FPS, and Ultra rounds out the options at 135 FPS. At this resolution, the CPU's 14 cores are likely well-utilized, but the GPU still has enough headroom to push very high frame rates.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong. Low settings produce an average of 212 FPS, which is a 26.9% drop from 1080p. Medium averages 151 FPS with a minimum of 128 and a maximum of 173. High settings deliver 132 FPS, and Ultra falls to 99 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is more pronounced at higher presets, with Ultra losing 36 FPS (26.7%) compared to Low's 78 FPS loss (26.9%), indicating that the GPU's pixel throughput is becoming a factor.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the dominant constraint. Low settings average 137 FPS, which is a 52.8% reduction from 1080p. Medium averages 97 FPS with a minimum of 83 and a maximum of 112. High settings drop to 85 FPS, and Ultra falls to 64 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 73 FPS, which is larger than the 58 FPS gap at 1440p and the 155 FPS gap at 1080p. This widening gap highlights how the RTX 4070 SUPER's raw performance is increasingly taxed as pixel count rises.

The Medium preset at all resolutions shows the most complete data, with minimum and maximum FPS recorded. At 1080p, the 206 FPS average with a 175 FPS minimum provides a 31 FPS buffer. At 1440p, the 151 FPS average with a 128 FPS minimum offers a 23 FPS buffer. At 4K, the 97 FPS average with an 83 FPS minimum leaves only 14 FPS of headroom, which is tighter but still acceptable for most players.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for a 144 Hz monitor?

A: The 1440p High preset is ideal, as it delivers an average of 132 FPS, which is close to the 144 Hz refresh rate. The 1080p Medium preset at 206 FPS is also suitable but exceeds most 144 Hz displays' capabilities.

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

A: Yes, at 4K Medium settings, the average FPS is 97 with a minimum of 83, which is playable. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 64 FPS, which may feel less smooth but is still technically playable.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 SUPER compare to its nearest GPU rival in synthetic tests?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 43223, which is 0.1% behind the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (43262) and 0.1% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (43268). It is 1% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile (43667).

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No, the data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 290 FPS average, indicating that the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is not limiting performance. The CPU's 14 threads provide sufficient throughput for this game.

Q: What is the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 180 at 1080p to 132 at 1440p and then to 85 at 4K. This represents a 52.8% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

Q: How does the CPU rank compared to other processors?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. It scores within 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and is 0.1% behind the Intel Core i9-13900HX in average benchmark scores.