Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core Ultra 5 245 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER produces a 1080p experience that ranges from playable at Ultra to very fast at Low, but the frame rate curve across resolutions reveals a system that is firmly GPU-bound in this FPS title. At 4K the RTX 2070 SUPER becomes the clear limiting factor, while at 1080p the CPU has enough headroom to let the GPU stretch its legs. The measured data shows a steady, predictable scaling pattern that makes this combo easy to characterize: it delivers strong 1080p performance, acceptable 1440p performance, and struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K, especially at higher settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a consistent and predictable drop as resolution increases, which is characteristic of a system where the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 175 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 129 FPS, a 26% reduction, and at 4K Low the average falls to 83 FPS, a further 36% drop from 1440p. This scaling pattern is typical for a GPU-bound scenario — the CPU has enough performance to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but the RTX 2070 SUPER's rendering throughput becomes the limiting factor as pixel count rises.

The High settings curve tells a similar story. At 1080p High the combo produces 109 FPS, which drops to 80 FPS at 1440p (a 27% decrease) and then to 51 FPS at 4K (a 36% decrease from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings — roughly 26-27% from 1080p to 1440p and 36% from 1440p to 4K — indicates that resolution scaling is uniform and not affected by specific settings choices. This suggests the game's rendering pipeline scales linearly with pixel count, and the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the determining factors.

At Ultra settings the pattern shifts slightly. From 1080p Ultra at 82 FPS, the drop to 1440p Ultra is 60 FPS (a 27% reduction), and the drop to 4K Ultra is 39 FPS (a 35% reduction from 1440p). The Ultra preset adds enough shading complexity that the GPU is even more stressed, but the relative scaling remains consistent. The notable observation is that the gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution is substantial: at 1080p the difference is 93 FPS (175 vs 82), at 1440p it is 69 FPS (129 vs 60), and at 4K it is 44 FPS (83 vs 39). This widening gap at lower resolutions indicates that the GPU has more headroom to handle additional settings at 1080p, whereas at 4K the pixel throughput limit dominates regardless of settings.

The data strongly suggests that this system is GPU-limited across all tested resolutions. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller FPS differences between resolutions, particularly at 1080p where CPU-bound systems tend to plateau. Instead, the consistent 26-36% drops at each resolution step confirm that the RTX 2070 SUPER's rendering capabilities are the limiting component.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the TU104 chip with Turing architecture and manufactured on a 12 nm process. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a crucial factor for this game's performance at higher resolutions. The measured data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 39, which is below the 50 FPS minimum recorded for 4K Medium (the only resolution/settings combination with a reported min FPS). This indicates that the 8 GB frame buffer and the GPU's compute throughput are stretched thin at 4K with maximum settings.

The GPU's clock speeds are 1605 MHz base and 1770 MHz boost. These clocks, combined with 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, produce a pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 9.062 TFLOPS. These specifications place the RTX 2070 SUPER in the 65th percentile of all GPUs in the benchmark database, and its average benchmark score of 20282 puts it within 1.5% of rivals like the Intel Arc A750, Intel Arc B570, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's role is clearly dominant. The 4K High result of 51 FPS versus the 1080p High result of 109 FPS shows that the GPU's fill rate is the primary constraint. The RTX 2070 SUPER's 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present, but for this FPS title, the traditional rasterization performance appears to matter more. The data does not include any ray tracing or DLSS measurements, so the impact of those features cannot be assessed from the measured results.

The GPU's memory subsystem deserves attention. With 8 GB of GDDR6, the RTX 2070 SUPER has enough capacity for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but 4K Ultra settings may push against the memory limit. The fact that 4K Ultra yields only 39 FPS, while 4K Medium yields 59 FPS, suggests that the combination of higher texture detail and resolution is taxing both the memory bandwidth and capacity.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested CPU-GPU combinations for Lockdown Protocol, this pairing ranks 1634 out of 2828 combos. This places it in the bottom half of all tested configurations, which is consistent with the RTX 2070 SUPER's age and its 65th percentile standing among all GPUs. The CPU, by contrast, ranks in the 90th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48995.

The ranking position indicates that while the CPU is a strong performer — its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (0.5% faster), AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (0.4% faster), Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (0.6% slower), and Intel Core i5-14600K (0.8% slower) — the GPU holds the combo back. The 1634 rank out of 2828 combos means that roughly 42% of tested configurations perform better, and the vast majority of those better-performing combos likely pair stronger GPUs with similar or weaker CPUs.

The gap between the CPU's high percentile (90th) and the GPU's lower percentile (65th) is the key takeaway. This is a system where the processor has significant headroom, and upgrading the GPU would likely yield substantial FPS gains in Lockdown Protocol. The measured FPS data supports this interpretation: at 1080p Low, the system achieves 175 FPS, which is high but not exceptional for a CPU with this level of performance. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and single-core score of 4648 indicate it can handle high frame rate scenarios, but the GPU's 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 performance limits what can be delivered.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 175 FPS, Medium produces 125 FPS with a minimum of 106 and maximum of 143, High produces 109 FPS, and Ultra produces 82 FPS. The 1080p results show a clear hierarchy where each settings tier costs roughly 15-20% performance. The difference between Low and Ultra is 93 FPS, which represents a 53% reduction in frame rate for the highest visual quality.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 129 FPS for Low, 91 FPS for Medium (with a minimum of 78 and maximum of 105), 80 FPS for High, and 60 FPS for Ultra. The 1440p results show that even at Medium settings, the system maintains a playable frame rate above 90 FPS, and High stays at 80 FPS. Ultra dips to 60 FPS, which is still technically playable but at the lower bound of what most competitive FPS players would accept.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. Low settings produce 83 FPS, Medium produces 59 FPS (with a minimum of 50 and maximum of 68), High produces 51 FPS, and Ultra produces 39 FPS. The 4K results are the weakest for this combo. Only Low settings maintain an average above 60 FPS, and Ultra falls below 40 FPS, which would be a poor experience for a fast-paced FPS game.

The Medium settings results at each resolution include min/max values, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the range is 106 to 143 FPS, a spread of 37 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 78 to 105 FPS, a spread of 27 FPS. At 4K Medium, the range is 50 to 68 FPS, a spread of 18 FPS. The narrowing spread at higher resolutions suggests that frame pacing becomes more consistent as the GPU becomes more saturated, which is a counterintuitive but observable pattern in the data.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and the player's frame rate preferences. At 1080p, the High preset at 109 FPS offers a strong balance of visual quality and performance. For players who prioritize frame rate over visuals, Low at 175 FPS provides a substantial competitive advantage, while Medium at 125 FPS is a middle ground. Ultra at 82 FPS is playable but represents a significant performance cost for marginal visual gains over High.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 91 FPS is the recommended choice for most players, as it maintains a frame rate above 90 while providing better visuals than Low. High at 80 FPS is also viable, and Ultra at 60 FPS is at the edge of playability. Low at 129 FPS offers the best performance for competitive play, but the visual compromise may be too significant for some players.

At 4K, the options are limited. Low at 83 FPS is the only preset that delivers a smooth experience above 60 FPS. Medium at 59 FPS is borderline, and High at 51 FPS and Ultra at 39 FPS are not recommended for a game where quick reaction times matter. Players who want to play at 4K should stick with Low settings, or consider lowering the resolution to 1440p for a better experience.

The data suggests that the "sweet spot" for this combo is 1080p High or 1440p Medium, depending on the player's resolution preference. Both configurations deliver frame rates above 90 FPS, which is sufficient for smooth gameplay in an FPS title. The 4K resolution is only viable with Low settings, and even then, the 83 FPS average may not be stable enough for competitive play.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows the best balance of frame rate and visual quality at 2560x1440 with Medium settings, which produces an average of 91 FPS. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the system achieves 109 FPS, which is also excellent.

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

A: At 3840x2160, only Low settings maintain an average above 60 FPS at 83 FPS. Medium drops to 59 FPS, High to 51 FPS, and Ultra to 39 FPS. 4K is playable only with Low settings.

Q: How does the CPU performance compare to the GPU performance?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 ranks in the 90th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 48995, while the RTX 2070 SUPER ranks in the 65th percentile among GPUs with an average score of 20282. The CPU is significantly stronger relative to its peers than the GPU.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 82 FPS. This is the lowest 1080p result but remains playable.

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

A: It ranks 1634 out of 2828 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the lower half of all configurations.

Q: Is the frame rate consistent at 1440p Medium?

A: The measured data shows an average of 91 FPS with a minimum of 78 FPS and a maximum of 105 FPS, indicating a spread of 27 FPS across the sample.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU has 192 KB of L1 cache per core, 3 MB of L2 cache per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and a memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The measured FPS data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 175 FPS, which is high enough that the GPU is likely the constraint even at this resolution. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and single-core score of 4648 are strong, and its PassMark single-thread score of 4394 places it among the better gaming CPUs.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, Intel Xeon Gold 5318H, and Intel Core i5-14600K, with performance deltas of -0.5%, -0.4%, 0.6%, and 0.8%, respectively. This clustering within 1% shows that the Ultra 5 245 is competitively positioned for gaming workloads.

Given that the combo ranks 1634 out of 2828, the CPU's 90th percentile standing suggests that pairing this processor with a more powerful GPU would yield significantly better results in Lockdown Protocol. The CPU has 14 threads and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, which provides ample headroom for future GPU upgrades. The data indicates that the bottleneck is squarely on the GPU side, and players looking to improve performance in this game should focus on upgrading the graphics card rather than the processor.