Lockdown Protocol

# FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS for this combo at 1080p with Low settings?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 delivers 131 FPS on average at 1920x1080 with Low settings, which is the highest measured result across all resolution and settings combinations in the dataset.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1070's average benchmark score of 9780 places it just below the AMD FirePro W5000 (9803, -0.2%) and the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M (9832, -0.5%), while it sits slightly above the NVIDIA Tesla M10 (9724, +0.6%) and the NVIDIA Tesla C2070 (9716, +0.7%). These delta values indicate near-identical performance among these four GPUs.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking among all tested processors?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 ranks in the 93rd percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 64640. This places it in the upper tier of desktop processors, though its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 4464P, scores 64823, a -0.3% delta.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the measured minimum FPS is 58, with an average of 68 FPS and a maximum of 78 FPS. This is the only resolution in the dataset where a min/max range is provided for the Medium preset.

Q: How does the combo rank overall in this game?

A: The combo ranks 2342 out of 2828 tested combinations for Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the lower portion of the performance distribution. This rank reflects the GPU's age more than the CPU's capability.

Q: What are the CPU's core and thread counts?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 features 20 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. Its TDP is 65 watts, and it uses the Intel Socket 1851.

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GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is the primary bottleneck in this configuration for Lockdown Protocol. Based on the Pascal architecture and fabricated on a 16 nm process at TSMC, this GPU carries 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die. It features 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 256.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The memory operates at 2002 MHz, which translates to 8 Gbps effective.

The GPU's clock speeds are modest by modern standards: a base clock of 1506 MHz and a boost clock of 1683 MHz. With 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units, the GTX 1070 achieves a pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 202.0 GTexel/s. Its FP32 performance sits at 6.463 TFLOPS, while FP16 performance is severely limited at 101.0 GFLOPS due to a 1:64 ratio, which is irrelevant for most gaming workloads.

The GPU's synthetic benchmark scores reveal its mid-range standing. Its Passmark G3D score is 13498, while its Geekbench OpenCL score is 44700 and its Vulkan score is 22121. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1082 indicates limited modern API performance. The GTX 1070 ranks in the 47th percentile versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 9780. Its nearest rivals—the AMD FirePro W5000, NVIDIA Quadro M2000M, NVIDIA Tesla M10, and NVIDIA Tesla C2070—all sit within 0.7% delta of this score, confirming that the GTX 1070 occupies a tightly contested performance band.

For Lockdown Protocol specifically, the GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for the tested presets, but the architectural age shows. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 29, which is below playable thresholds. The GPU's 150 W TDP and dual-slot design, with a single 8-pin power connector and a suggested 450 W PSU, indicate it was designed for mainstream systems. The PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, while older, does not appear to be a limiting factor in the measured results given the GPU's overall performance ceiling.

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Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance for this combo varies by resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 81 FPS average, which is smooth for an FPS title. However, the Medium preset at 93 FPS average (with a min of 79 and max of 107) provides a more substantial performance buffer while still offering reasonable visual fidelity. The Low preset reaches 131 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play if maximum frame rates are prioritized.

At 2560x1440, the High preset yields 59 FPS average, which is playable but close to the edge of smoothness for fast-paced gameplay. The Medium preset at 68 FPS average (min 58, max 78) is the recommended choice here, as it maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while preserving moderate visual quality. The Low preset at 96 FPS is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors at this resolution, though it sacrifices significant visual detail.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset achieves 62 FPS average, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the only 4K preset with acceptable performance. The Medium preset drops to 44 FPS average (min 37, max 50), which is noticeably less smooth, while High falls to 38 FPS and Ultra to 29 FPS. For 4K gaming with this GPU, the Low preset is the only viable option for maintaining fluid motion, and even then, the experience may not be consistently smooth during intense scenes.

The data suggests that the Medium preset at either 1080p or 1440p offers the best compromise between visual quality and frame rate stability for most users. The min/max ranges recorded at Medium settings (79-107 at 1080p, 58-78 at 1440p, 37-50 at 4K) show moderate frame pacing variance, but the averages remain sufficient for enjoyable gameplay at the two lower resolutions.

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Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance hierarchy across presets is clear. The Low preset delivers 131 FPS average, representing the maximum achievable frame rate with this combo. The Medium preset drops to 93 FPS average, with a recorded range of 79 to 107 FPS. The High preset further reduces to 81 FPS average, while the Ultra preset bottoms out at 61 FPS average. This progression shows a 70 FPS spread between the lowest and highest quality presets at 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same pattern emerges but with compressed absolute values. The Low preset achieves 96 FPS average, which is only a 35 FPS drop from the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset averages 68 FPS, with a range of 58 to 78 FPS. The High preset delivers 59 FPS average, while the Ultra preset falls to 45 FPS average. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 51 FPS, smaller than at 1080p due to the GPU becoming more resolution-bound.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly across all presets. The Low preset manages 62 FPS average, which is the only 4K result above 60 FPS. The Medium preset averages 44 FPS, with a range of 37 to 50 FPS. The High preset falls to 38 FPS average, and the Ultra preset reaches only 29 FPS average. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 33 FPS, indicating that the GPU is heavily constrained at this resolution regardless of settings.

The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows diminishing returns in frame rate cost as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 70 FPS. At 1440p, it narrows to 51 FPS. At 4K, it further narrows to 33 FPS. This trend is consistent with the GPU becoming the dominant bottleneck at higher resolutions, where pixel throughput limits performance more than settings-induced shading complexity.

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Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals important insights about the limiting component in this system. At Low settings, the average FPS decreases from 131 at 1080p to 96 at 1440p, then to 62 at 4K. This represents a 26.7% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 35.4% further drop from 1440p to 4K. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 52.7% of the original frame rate.

At High settings, the progression is from 81 FPS at 1080p to 59 FPS at 1440p, then to 38 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 27.2% and 35.6% respectively, showing a nearly identical scaling pattern to the Low preset. This consistency across settings suggests that the GPU's pixel processing capability is the primary limiter, rather than any specific setting configuration.

The scaling behavior at Ultra settings shows 61 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p, and 29 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 26.2% and 35.6%, again matching the pattern. This uniformity in resolution scaling across all presets is a strong indicator that the GTX 1070's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the constraining factors, as these resources scale directly with pixel count.

The fact that the CPU is not the limiting component is evident from the relatively high frame rates at 1080p Low (131 FPS) and the consistent scaling pattern. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller FPS differences between 1440p and 4K, and larger differences between 1080p and 1440p, as the CPU load remains constant while GPU load increases. Instead, the near-linear scaling with pixel count points to the GPU as the definitive performance ceiling.

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CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 provides substantial processing headroom for Lockdown Protocol. With 20 cores and 20 threads, this Arrow Lake-S architecture CPU (built on a 3 nm process at TSMC with 17,800 million transistors) offers far more compute capability than this game requires at the measured settings. The base clock of 2.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz provide strong single-thread performance, which is critical for FPS game logic and physics.

The CPU's benchmark results confirm its high-end positioning. In Cinebench R23, it scores 42216 in multicore and 5960 in single-core tests. The Passmark multithread score is 49682, while the single-thread score is 4689. The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 64640, places it firmly in the enthusiast tier. Its nearest rivals—the AMD EPYC 4464P (64823, -0.3%), Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (64438, +0.3%), AMD EPYC 7343 (64202, +0.7%), and AMD EPYC 9124 (65104, -0.7%)—all sit within 0.7% delta, showing that this CPU is competitive with top-end server and workstation parts.

The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 cache per core, 3 MB of L2 cache per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache. This substantial cache allocation helps keep frequently accessed game data close to the cores, reducing memory latency. The dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth provides ample data throughput for the GTX 1070's needs.

Critically, the measured FPS data shows no signs of CPU limitation. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 131 FPS, which is still well below what this CPU could theoretically feed. The consistent resolution scaling patterns also indicate that the GPU is the bottleneck at all settings and resolutions tested. The CPU is effectively waiting for the GPU at every measurement point, meaning that upgrading the GPU would yield direct FPS gains in Lockdown Protocol.

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How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 ranks 2342 out of 2828 tested combinations for Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the bottom 17% of all tested systems. This low ranking is primarily attributable to the GPU, which sits in the 47th percentile versus all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 93rd percentile.

The disparity between the CPU's high percentile ranking and the combo's low game ranking highlights the GPU-bound nature of this title at the tested settings. A CPU in the 93rd percentile paired with a GPU in the 47th percentile results in a combo that underperforms relative to what the CPU alone would suggest. This imbalance is typical of older GPU models paired with modern processors.

Compared to other tested combos, this system would be outclassed by any configuration featuring a GPU with significantly higher benchmark scores. The GTX 1070's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks—the AMD FirePro W5000, NVIDIA Quadro M2000M, NVIDIA Tesla M10, and NVIDIA Tesla C2070—all have average scores within 0.7% of the GTX 1070, indicating that combos using these GPUs would perform similarly in Lockdown Protocol.

The rank of 2342 out of 2828 means that approximately 486 tested combinations performed worse than this system. This places the combo in the lower third of the distribution, but not at the very bottom. Systems with older or lower-tier GPUs would still rank below this configuration. However, for an FPS game like Lockdown Protocol, the practical takeaway is that this combo can achieve playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p with appropriate settings, but it cannot handle 4K at high quality presets.