Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core Ultra 5 245 + AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT delivers a well-balanced 1080p and 1440p experience in Lockdown Protocol, with the combo ranking in the 68th percentile of all tested configurations (897th out of 2,828). The data shows that this pairing excels at high refresh rates at 1440p, while 4K Ultra remains the only setting where the frame rate dips below the 60 FPS threshold. This analysis draws exclusively from measured results for this specific game and hardware combination.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The measured average frame rate at 1920x1080 with High settings is 146 FPS. This represents a substantial margin over the 60 FPS target, indicating that the combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT handles this popular resolution and preset configuration comfortably.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations in this game?

A: This specific CPU-GPU pairing ranks 897th out of 2,828 total tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. That places it in the upper portion of the distribution, suggesting it outperforms a majority of the benchmarked systems while still leaving headroom for higher-tier hardware above it.

Q: What is the lowest measured average FPS across all tested settings and resolutions?

A: The lowest average frame rate recorded is 52 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings. This is the only configuration in the measured data where the average frame rate falls below 60 FPS, highlighting the limits of this combo at maximum graphical fidelity in 4K.

Q: Is there a significant FPS difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: Yes, the data shows a 15 FPS difference. At 2560x1440, Medium settings produce an average of 122 FPS, while High settings yield 107 FPS. The gap between these two presets narrows at higher resolutions, but at 1440p it remains a meaningful trade-off between visual quality and frame rate.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU appear to be the limiting factor at 1080p Low settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 235 FPS average. This very high frame rate, combined with the CPU's 14 cores and 14 threads at a 5.10 GHz boost clock, suggests the processor is keeping pace with the GPU's output at this low graphical load, though the specific bottleneck cannot be determined from the FPS data alone.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the components in this combo?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 has a launch MSRP of $270, and the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT has a launch MSRP of 499 USD. These figures represent the original suggested retail prices at the time of each product's release.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a desktop processor built on the Arrow Lake architecture, featuring 14 cores and 14 threads. It operates with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with 24 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark scores reflect a strong mid-range performer: its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,924 and single-core score of 4,648 indicate solid all-around capability, while its PassMark single-thread score of 4,394 supports responsive gaming performance.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role becomes most apparent at lower graphical settings where the GPU has headroom. The measured data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 235 FPS, while at 1080p Ultra it drops to 109 FPS. This 126 FPS swing between the lowest and highest settings suggests that the GPU becomes more of a limiting factor as graphical load increases, but the CPU's 14 threads and high boost clock are sufficient to feed the GPU at high frame rates.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 90th among all tested CPUs places it well above average, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (with a delta of -0.4% in average benchmark score) and the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (delta of -0.5%). This proximity to higher-tier processors in synthetic benchmarks suggests the Ultra 5 245 does not hold back the RX 7800 XT in most scenarios, particularly at 1440p where the measured average FPS remains above 100 on High settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data reveals that Medium settings provide the best balance of visual fidelity and performance across all three tested resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo achieves 167 FPS with a minimum of 142 FPS and a maximum of 192 FPS, offering a smooth experience with minimal frame drops. At 1440p Medium, the average is 122 FPS with a minimum of 104 FPS and maximum of 141 FPS, which remains well above the 60 FPS threshold for competitive play.

For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, Low settings at 1440p deliver 172 FPS average, which is only 63 FPS less than the 1080p Low result of 235 FPS. This suggests that at Low settings, the resolution scaling penalty is relatively modest, making 1440p Low a viable option for high-refresh-rate monitors. However, Medium settings at 1440p offer a 50 FPS improvement over High settings at the same resolution, with the visual trade-off likely being acceptable for most players.

The Ultra preset is the least recommended option based on the data. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 52, which falls below the standard 60 FPS target and may result in noticeable stuttering. At 1080p Ultra, the average of 109 FPS is playable but represents a 58 FPS reduction compared to Medium settings at the same resolution. Given that Medium settings at 1440p produce 122 FPS, users seeking high visual quality should prefer 1440p Medium over 1080p Ultra, as the former provides both higher resolution and higher frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT ranks 897th out of 2,828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the 68th percentile of all configurations. This ranking indicates that the combo sits comfortably above the median performer, with roughly two-thirds of tested systems delivering lower frame rates and one-third delivering higher ones.

Within this ranking context, the individual components show contrasting positions. The CPU ranks in the 90th percentile among all CPUs tested, while the GPU ranks in the 51st percentile among all GPUs. This discrepancy suggests that the GPU is the more limiting component in this pairing, as its percentile ranking is significantly lower than the CPU's. The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (with a delta of -0.5% in average benchmark score) and the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT (delta of -1.8%), which are notably older or lower-tier products, yet the RX 7800 XT's average benchmark score of 11,627 places it in the middle of the GPU distribution.

The combo's overall rank of 897 suggests that while the CPU is a strong performer relative to other processors, the GPU's mid-pack position pulls the combined result down somewhat. Nevertheless, the measured FPS data shows that this pairing is well-matched for Lockdown Protocol at 1440p, where it consistently delivers above 80 FPS even at Ultra settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 32 chip, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1295 MHz, a game clock of 2124 MHz, and a boost clock of 2430 MHz. Its 3,840 shading units and 96 ROPs contribute to a pixel rate of 233.3 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 583.2 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 37.32 TFLOPS.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's role is clearly defined by the measured FPS scaling across settings. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra reduces the average frame rate from 235 FPS to 109 FPS, a 126 FPS drop that indicates the GPU is increasingly stressed as graphical settings rise. At 4K, the same settings change produces a drop from 111 FPS to 52 FPS, a 59 FPS reduction. These numbers demonstrate that the GPU's 16 GB VRAM and 256-bit memory interface are sufficient for high resolutions, but the raw compute power becomes a limiting factor at 4K Ultra.

The GPU's benchmark scores support its mid-range positioning. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4,157 and PassMark G3D score of 24,176 indicate solid DirectX 12 performance, while its Geekbench Vulkan score of 54,228 shows strong API versatility. The GPU's percentile ranking of 51st among all GPUs, however, suggests that in a broader context, the RX 7800 XT is an average performer, which aligns with the measured FPS results showing it struggles at 4K Ultra but excels at 1440p and below.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are 235 FPS on Low, 167 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 142 FPS and maximum of 192 FPS), 146 FPS on High, and 109 FPS on Ultra. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a consistent decline, with the largest single-step drop occurring between Medium and High at 21 FPS, and the smallest between High and Ultra at 37 FPS. The minimum FPS recorded at 1080p Medium is 142, which is still far above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, the measured average frame rates are 172 FPS on Low, 122 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 104 FPS and maximum of 141 FPS), 107 FPS on High, and 80 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Medium is 50 FPS, while the drop from Medium to High is 15 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 27 FPS. The minimum FPS at 1440p Medium is 104, which remains comfortably playable.

At 3840x2160, the measured average frame rates are 111 FPS on Low, 79 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 67 FPS and maximum of 91 FPS), 69 FPS on High, and 52 FPS on Ultra. The step from Low to Medium is 32 FPS, from Medium to High is 10 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 17 FPS. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 67, which is still above 60, but the 4K Ultra average of 52 FPS falls below the standard target.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important insights about the limiting component in this combo. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 235 FPS at 1080p to 172 FPS at 1440p (a 27% reduction) and then to 111 FPS at 4K (a 53% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is still able to feed the GPU adequately, and the frame rate drop is primarily due to increased pixel workload on the GPU.

At High settings, the FPS progression is 146 FPS at 1080p, 107 FPS at 1440p, and 69 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 27% from 1080p to 1440p and 53% from 1080p to 4K, nearly identical to the Low settings scaling. This consistency across settings indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at all resolutions, as the frame rate scales predictably with pixel count regardless of graphical fidelity.

The Ultra settings data tells a slightly different story. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 109 FPS; at 1440p Ultra, it drops to 80 FPS; and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 52 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 27%, and from 1080p to 4K is 52%, again showing a consistent pixel-driven scaling. However, the absolute numbers at 4K Ultra indicate that the GPU's compute resources are exhausted at this extreme configuration, as the 52 FPS average falls below the 60 FPS target. The data suggests that while the CPU maintains its end of the bargain across all settings, the GPU's mid-range positioning becomes the clear bottleneck at 4K Ultra, making 1440p Medium or High the optimal balance for this pairing.