Lockdown Protocol

Intel Core Ultra 7 265 pairs with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER in Lockdown Protocol, a combination that lands in the lower portion of the tested field. The measured results show a system capable of smooth 1080p play at medium settings, but the GPU becomes the decisive bottleneck as resolution climbs. This pairing sits at rank 2425 out of 2828 tested combos in this game, placing it in the bottom 15% of the database—a reflection of the GPU’s age rather than the CPU’s capability.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 brings substantial processing power to this pairing, with 20 cores and 20 threads running at a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This Arrow Lake-S architecture part, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC, carries 30 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory through a dual-channel bus delivering 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The CPU’s benchmark results confirm its strength: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42216 and a single-core score of 5960 place it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs tested. PassMark multi-thread performance reaches 49682, with single-thread scoring 4689.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU’s headroom is evident in the FPS data. At 1080p Low settings, the combo delivers 123 FPS average, which is the highest measured result across all configurations. This suggests the Ultra 7 265 is not the limiting factor at lower resolutions; it has ample single-thread and multi-thread capacity to feed the GTX 1660 SUPER. The CPU’s nearest rivals in overall benchmark average—AMD EPYC 4464P at 64823, Intel Core Ultra 7 265F at 64438, AMD EPYC 7343 at 64202, and AMD EPYC 9124 at 65104—all sit within 0.7% of the 265’s 64640 average score, but none of those server-oriented chips would change the gaming outcome here because the GPU is the bottleneck.

The CPU’s 20 threads and high boost clock matter for Lockdown Protocol’s engine, which can leverage multiple cores for physics and AI. However, benchmark results indicate that even at 4K Ultra, where the combo drops to 27 FPS, the CPU is not the constraint—the GPU is. The data shows that moving from 1080p Low (123 FPS) to 1080p Ultra (57 FPS) costs 66 FPS, a 54% drop that aligns with GPU rendering load rather than CPU limits. Cinebench R20 scores of 6268 multi-core and 884 single-core reinforce that this processor is far above the threshold needed for this game.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is the older component in this pairing, built on the Turing architecture at 12 nm with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus. Its memory clock runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), yielding 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s base clock is 1530 MHz with a boost of 1785 MHz, and it carries 1408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. Compute performance measures 5.027 TFLOPS FP32, with a pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s and texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s.

This GPU holds a 53rd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 12986. Its nearest rivals are NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (12940, 0.4% slower), AMD Radeon RX 580 (12928, 0.4% slower), NVIDIA Tesla M2090 (13075, 0.7% faster), and AMD Radeon 740M (12870, 0.9% slower). The 6 GB VRAM is a limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings in Lockdown Protocol, a fast-paced FPS where texture streaming and draw distances tax memory capacity.

The measured FPS data clearly shows the GPU’s influence. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 123 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra it falls to 57 FPS—a 54% reduction. At 4K, the gap widens dramatically: 58 FPS at Low versus 27 FPS at Ultra. The GTX 1660 SUPER’s 6 GB VRAM and 192-bit bus struggle with the higher resolution and quality presets, causing the frame rate to collapse. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 12699 and DirectX 12 score of 50 indicate modest modern API performance, which aligns with the observed scaling in this game.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured rows provide clear guidance for this combo. At 1080p, Medium settings deliver 87 FPS average with a minimum of 74 FPS and maximum of 100 FPS, which is a comfortable experience for a competitive FPS. High settings drop to 76 FPS, still playable but with less headroom for frame time spikes. Low settings hit 123 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors but sacrifices visual quality. Ultra settings fall to 57 FPS, which is marginal for fast-paced gameplay.

At 1440p, Medium settings yield 64 FPS average (minimum 54, maximum 73), which is acceptable but not ideal for competitive play. High settings drop to 56 FPS, and Low settings reach 90 FPS. Ultra at 1440p produces 42 FPS, which is too low for a shooter. At 4K, all settings produce sub-60 FPS results: Low 58 FPS, Medium 41 FPS (minimum 35, maximum 47), High 36 FPS, and Ultra 27 FPS. None of these are recommended for Lockdown Protocol, as the game’s fast movement and aiming require consistent frame delivery.

The best experience per the measured rows is 1080p Medium. It provides 87 FPS average with a minimum of 74 FPS, keeping frames above the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining visual fidelity. The 1080p Low preset at 123 FPS is the strongest for pure performance, but Medium is the sweet spot for balancing image quality and responsiveness. At 1440p, Medium is the only setting that stays above 60 FPS average, though its 54 FPS minimum means occasional dips below that threshold. For players with 1440p monitors, Low settings at 90 FPS is the safer choice for consistent performance.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This CPU-GPU pairing ranks 2425 out of 2828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the 14th percentile of the database. This low ranking is primarily attributable to the GTX 1660 SUPER, which was already an end-of-life product when this data was collected. The CPU, by contrast, is a current-generation part with a 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs. The mismatch in generation and capability between the two components creates a system where the GPU is the clear performance ceiling.

The ranking indicates that this combo is outperformed by 2424 other pairings, which mostly feature more modern or higher-tier GPUs. The GTX 1660 SUPER’s 53rd percentile GPU ranking and its position near the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile and RX 580 in benchmark scores suggest it is competitive with mid-range parts from several years ago, but not with the current generation. In Lockdown Protocol, which appears to scale well with GPU compute and memory bandwidth, the 6 GB VRAM and 192-bit bus limit performance at higher presets.

Looking at the combo ranking relative to the CPU’s rivals, it is clear that swapping the GPU would dramatically improve the rank. The CPU’s nearest rivals in benchmark scores—AMD EPYC 4464P, Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, AMD EPYC 7343, and AMD EPYC 9124—all fall within 0.7% of the 265’s average score, meaning the CPU is not the differentiator here. The ranking is a GPU-driven outcome, and the data suggests that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming at medium settings, where it can deliver playable frame rates.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS scaling across resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario. At Low settings, the combo delivers 123 FPS at 1080p, 90 FPS at 1440p, and 58 FPS at 4K. That is a 27% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 53% drop from 1080p to 4K. At Medium settings, the numbers are 87 FPS, 64 FPS, and 41 FPS respectively—a 26% drop to 1440p and a 53% drop to 4K. At High settings, 76 FPS at 1080p falls to 56 FPS at 1440p (26% drop) and 36 FPS at 4K (53% drop). Ultra settings show 57 FPS, 42 FPS, and 27 FPS, with a 26% drop to 1440p and a 53% drop to 4K.

This consistent pattern—roughly a quarter reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a half reduction from 1080p to 4K—indicates that the GPU is the limiting component. The percentage drops are nearly identical across all settings presets, which is characteristic of a system where the GPU’s rendering throughput is the bottleneck. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would remain relatively flat as resolution increases, since the CPU workload does not scale with pixel count. Instead, the GTX 1660 SUPER’s 5.027 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth are being saturated at higher resolutions.

The 6 GB VRAM also plays a role in this scaling. At 1080p, the VRAM allocation is manageable, but at 4K, texture data exceeds the 6 GB capacity, causing the GPU to spill into system memory over the PCIe 3.0 x16 interface. This further reduces performance, as evidenced by the 4K Medium minimum FPS of 35 versus the 1080p Medium minimum of 74. The GTX 1660 SUPER’s 192-bit memory bus, while adequate at 1080p, becomes a constraint at higher resolutions where bandwidth demand increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 123 FPS, with no minimum or maximum reported. Medium settings average 87 FPS, with a minimum of 74 and maximum of 100. High settings average 76 FPS, with no min/max reported. Ultra settings average 57 FPS, with no min/max reported. The spread from Low to Ultra is 66 FPS, showing the GPU is heavily taxed by the higher presets.

At 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably. Low settings average 90 FPS, with no min/max reported. Medium settings average 64 FPS, with a minimum of 54 and maximum of 73. High settings average 56 FPS, with no min/max reported. Ultra settings average 42 FPS, with no min/max reported. The Low to Ultra spread is 48 FPS, and the Medium minimum of 54 FPS indicates frame time variability that could affect gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles. Low settings average 58 FPS, with no min/max reported. Medium settings average 41 FPS, with a minimum of 35 and maximum of 47. High settings average 36 FPS, with no min/max reported. Ultra settings average 27 FPS, with no min/max reported. The Low to Ultra spread is 31 FPS, and the Medium minimum of 35 FPS is well below playable thresholds for a competitive FPS.

The data shows that 1080p Medium is the only configuration that offers both a high average (87 FPS) and a reasonable minimum (74 FPS). At 1440p, Low settings at 90 FPS is the playable option, while Medium’s 64 FPS average with 54 FPS minimum is borderline. At 4K, even Low settings at 58 FPS is marginal, and the 27 FPS at Ultra is unplayable. The GTX 1660 SUPER’s end-of-life status and 6 GB VRAM limit this combo to 1080p gaming, where it performs adequately at medium settings.