Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol, a 2024 FPS title, presents a demanding workload for the integrated graphics of the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H paired with the AMD Radeon 890M. The measured data from this combination reveals a system that is playable only at specific settings and resolutions, with performance heavily influenced by the GPU's capabilities. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, the combo's ranking, and the roles of both the processor and the graphics solution in delivering the final experience.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear picture of how different quality presets impact performance across the tested resolutions. The primary goal is to identify the preset that offers a playable experience without sacrificing more performance than necessary. At 1920x1080, the data shows a clear hierarchy of performance. The Low preset achieves an average of 78 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo. The Medium preset delivers an average of 56 FPS, with a minimum of 47 and a maximum of 64 FPS. The High preset drops to an average of 49 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages only 36 FPS.

For a smooth experience in a fast-paced FPS, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 appears to be the optimal choice. The 56 FPS average is significantly more fluid than the 49 FPS of High, and the minimum of 47 FPS suggests a relatively stable experience. While the Low preset offers a higher average of 78 FPS, the visual quality reduction is substantial. The Medium preset represents the best compromise between visual fidelity and performance, ensuring the frame rate stays within a playable range. At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more constrained. The Low preset averages 58 FPS, making it the only playable option at this resolution. The Medium preset drops to 41 FPS, which is borderline, while High (36 FPS) and Ultra (27 FPS) fall below acceptable levels for a competitive shooter. At 3840x2160, all presets are below 40 FPS, with Ultra at just 17 FPS, making this resolution unsuitable for playable frame rates.

The data suggests that the "best experience" is found at 1080p with the Medium preset. It provides a playable frame rate, a minimum FPS that is still above 30, and better visual quality than Low. The higher resolutions are either limited to Low settings for acceptable performance or are entirely unplayable. The 1440p Medium preset, while lower in average FPS, is still within a range that some players might tolerate, but 1080p Medium is the most balanced choice based on the measured numbers.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and AMD Radeon 890M combination was measured in Lockdown Protocol, and its performance is near the bottom of the tested field. The combo ranks 2675 out of 2828 total tested combinations. This places it in the bottom 5.4% of all systems tested, indicating that it is a low-performance configuration for this particular game. This rank is a holistic measure that accounts for the combined capabilities of the CPU and GPU in this specific workload.

The ranking is a direct reflection of the measured FPS data. With the integrated GPU being the primary bottleneck, the combo is unable to compete with systems that feature dedicated graphics cards. The rank of 2675 signals that this is not a system built for high-end gaming, but rather one where the user must make significant compromises to achieve playable performance. The data suggests that this pairing is suitable for esports titles at lower settings or for less demanding games, but for a title like Lockdown Protocol, it is at the lower end of the performance spectrum. The fact that only 153 other combos perform worse highlights how challenging this game is for the integrated Radeon 890M.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 890M is the dominant factor in determining the gaming performance of this combo in Lockdown Protocol. This integrated GPU, based on the RDNA 3.5 architecture, operates with a base clock of 400 MHz and a boost clock of 2900 MHz. It features 1024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. The GPU's memory is "System Shared," meaning its bandwidth is "System Dependent," which is a significant limitation for a graphics-intensive task. The GPU's overall performance, as measured by its average benchmark score of 9210, places it in the 45th percentile of all GPUs.

In the context of Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's role is clear. The measured FPS scales directly with resolution, a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p, the GPU can manage an average of 78 FPS on Low settings. When the resolution is increased to 1440p, the same Low preset drops to 58 FPS. At 4K, it further drops to 37 FPS. This consistent drop with resolution demonstrates that the GPU's processing power and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors. The GPU's 32 ROPs and the system-shared memory configuration are likely bottlenecks, preventing higher pixel fill rates and limiting the effectiveness of higher resolutions and quality settings. The integrated nature of the GPU, with its 15 W TDP, inherently caps its performance compared to discrete solutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed view of the system's performance across various configurations.

1920x1080 (1080p):

At this resolution, the system shows its best performance. The Low preset achieves an average of 78 FPS. The Medium preset yields an average of 56 FPS, with a minimum of 47 FPS and a maximum of 64 FPS. The High preset averages 49 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 36 FPS.

2560x1440 (1440p):

Performance at this resolution is more demanding. The Low preset averages 58 FPS. The Medium preset averages 41 FPS, with a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 47 FPS. The High preset drops to an average of 36 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 27 FPS.

3840x2160 (4K):

At 4K, the system is heavily strained. The Low preset averages 37 FPS. The Medium preset averages 26 FPS, with a minimum of 22 FPS and a maximum of 30 FPS. The High preset averages 23 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 17 FPS.

The data shows a consistent pattern. For each resolution, the difference between Low and Ultra is significant. At 1080p, the Low preset is 42 FPS higher than Ultra (78 vs 36), a 116% improvement. At 1440p, the difference is 31 FPS (58 vs 27), a 114% improvement. At 4K, the difference is 20 FPS (37 vs 17), a 117% improvement. This consistent percentage gap indicates that the GPU's performance scales predictably with the graphical load, and the Ultra preset is consistently too demanding for playable performance at any resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is a critical indicator of the system's bottleneck. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 represents a 78% increase in pixel count. The measured FPS on Low settings drops from 78 to 58, a 25.6% decrease. This is a significant drop, but not a perfect linear correlation with pixel count, suggesting the GPU is not the only factor at play, though it is the primary one.

The jump from 1440p to 4K (3840x2160) is even more severe. This is a 125% increase in pixel count from 1440p. The FPS on Low settings drops from 58 to 37, a 36.2% decrease. The FPS drop is larger in absolute terms and percentage terms, confirming that the GPU is increasingly overwhelmed as the resolution increases. The Radeon 890M's memory bandwidth, being "System Dependent," is likely a major constraint here. As the resolution increases, the amount of data that needs to be read and written to memory grows exponentially, and the shared memory interface simply cannot keep pace. The data clearly shows that the limiting component is the GPU, as the CPU is not likely to be a bottleneck at these low frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Lockdown Protocol with this hardware?

A: The measured data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where consistently playable frame rates are achievable. At this resolution, the Low preset averages 78 FPS and the Medium preset averages 56 FPS.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at any resolution?

A: No. The highest average FPS for the Ultra preset is 36 FPS at 1080p. At higher resolutions, it drops to 27 FPS at 1440p and 17 FPS at 4K, all of which are below a playable threshold for a FPS.

Q: How much of a performance difference is there between Low and Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, the Low preset is 42 FPS higher than Ultra (78 vs 36). This represents a 116% improvement in average FPS by using the lowest settings.

Q: What is the performance drop from 1080p to 4K on Low settings?

A: On Low settings, the average FPS drops from 78 at 1080p to 37 at 4K. This is a 41 FPS decrease, or a 52.6% reduction in performance.

Q: How does this system rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: This combination of Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and AMD Radeon 890M ranks 2675 out of 2828 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the bottom 5.4% of all systems.

Q: What is the limiting component for this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate the AMD Radeon 890M is the primary bottleneck. The drastic FPS drops with increasing resolution are characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a 24 MB shared L3 cache. Its benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14551 and a single-core score of 1759. This performance places the CPU in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 34083.

Given the GPU's performance levels, the CPU is not the limiting factor in this gaming configuration. The measured FPS in Lockdown Protocol is heavily constrained by the integrated GPU's inability to render frames quickly enough. At the frame rates observed, the CPU has ample headroom to handle the game's logic and physics. The CPU's strong multi-threaded performance, evidenced by its passmark multithread score of 25933, is largely irrelevant when the GPU is only producing 30-50 FPS. The data suggests that the CPU is more than capable of supporting a much more powerful discrete GPU, but in this specific pairing, its potential is untapped due to the GPU bottleneck. The CPU's role is to feed the GPU with data, and at these low frame rates, it has no trouble doing so.