Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core Ultra 7 265 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060

This pairing combines a 20-core Intel Core Ultra 7 265 with the older Turing-based RTX 2060, and the benchmark results for Lockdown Protocol show a system that is clearly limited by the graphics card at every resolution tested. The CPU sits in the 93rd percentile among all processors, while the GPU lands in the 58th percentile, creating a lopsided matchup where the RTX 2060 becomes the bottleneck even at 1080p. The measured frame rates across four presets and three resolutions tell a consistent story: this is a GPU-bound configuration, and the settings you choose matter far more than the resolution for achieving playable performance.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all presets, confirming that the RTX 2060 is the limiting component. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 90 at 1920x1080 to 66 at 2560x1440, then to 43 at 3840x2160. That represents a 26.7% loss moving from 1080p to 1440p, and another 34.8% loss from 1440p to 4K. The Low preset shows a similar pattern: 145 FPS at 1080p, 106 at 1440p, and 69 at 4K. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is nearly identical in percentage terms across presets, which points to pure pixel-throughput limits on the GPU.

The Medium preset provides the only complete data with min and max FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 103 FPS with a minimum of 88 and maximum of 119. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 76 FPS with a range of 64 to 87. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 49 FPS with a range of 41 to 56. The min-to-max spread narrows as resolution increases, which indicates that the GPU is becoming saturated and frame time variance is compressing — the lows are closer to the averages at higher resolutions because the GPU is fully utilized.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling: 67 FPS at 1080p, 49 at 1440p, and 32 at 4K. That 4K Ultra result is below the threshold for comfortable play in a fast-paced FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution is substantial — 78 FPS at 1080p, 57 at 1440p, and 37 at 4K — which suggests that the preset selection has a larger impact on performance than resolution changes within the 1440p to 4K range. The data indicates that this combo can handle 1440p reasonably well on lower presets, but 4K is only viable on Low settings, and even then at 69 FPS average.

GPU Role

The RTX 2060 uses the TU106 chip on a 12 nm process with 10,800 million transistors and a die size of 445 mm². Its memory configuration is 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, providing 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock runs at 1365 MHz with a boost of 1680 MHz, and the memory operates at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). These specifications place the GPU in the 58th percentile of all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 15290 from tests including 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 1242 and PassMark G3D at 14111.

The nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark database show how tightly grouped this performance tier is. The RTX 2060 sits within 0.8% of the AMD Radeon RX 7600 (deltaPct 0.8), within 0.6% of the RTX 3050 OEM (deltaPct 0.6), and essentially tied with the GTX 580 (deltaPct 0) and AMD Radeon 680M (deltaPct 0.1). This means the RTX 2060 is competitive with much newer hardware in raw compute, but the 6 GB VRAM capacity and older architecture limit its ability to handle high settings at high resolutions in modern games like Lockdown Protocol.

The VRAM situation is critical. At 4K Ultra, the game demands more memory bandwidth and capacity than the 2060 can provide, resulting in a 32 FPS average. The 192-bit bus and 336 GB/s bandwidth are the same figures that defined mid-range GPUs in 2019, and Lockdown Protocol's texture workloads at 4K simply exceed what this card can deliver. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1242 and PassMark DirectX 12 score of 53 both indicate that the card's modern API performance is modest, which aligns with the measured FPS results showing that even 1080p Ultra only reaches 67 FPS. The GPU's compute capabilities (6.451 TFLOPS FP32) are sufficient for 1080p gaming, but the card is clearly end-of-life for high-resolution play in this title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy for this combo. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers 103 FPS average with a minimum of 88 FPS, which is smooth for a competitive FPS. The High preset at 1080p drops to 90 FPS average, still playable but with less headroom. The Ultra preset at 1080p produces 67 FPS, which is borderline for fast-paced gameplay. The Low preset at 1080p hits 145 FPS, but the visual quality trade-off is significant for only a modest gain over Medium.

For 1440p, the Medium preset is the sweet spot: 76 FPS average with a minimum of 64 FPS. This keeps the game fluid while maintaining reasonable visual fidelity. The High preset at 1440p averages 66 FPS, which is acceptable but risks dips below 60 in busy scenes. The Low preset at 1440p achieves 106 FPS, but the visual downgrade is substantial. The Ultra preset at 1440p falls to 49 FPS, which is too low for a shooter.

At 4K, the data suggests that only the Low preset is viable, delivering 69 FPS average. The Medium preset at 4K drops to 49 FPS, High falls to 43 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 32 FPS. For a game like Lockdown Protocol, where reaction time matters, the 4K Low setting is the only reasonable choice, and even then, the 69 FPS average leaves little margin for demanding scenes. The recommendation based on measured rows is to run Medium at 1080p or 1440p for the best balance of performance and visual quality, and to accept Low settings if 4K output is required.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Lockdown Protocol at 4K?

A: Yes, but only on Low settings, which produce a 69 FPS average. Medium, High, and Ultra at 4K yield 49, 43, and 32 FPS respectively, all below smooth gameplay thresholds for a FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for this GPU and CPU pairing?

A: The data shows 1440p Medium as the highest resolution with a comfortable frame rate, averaging 76 FPS with a minimum of 64 FPS. At 1080p, Medium pushes to 103 FPS average, but the visual gain from 1440p is worth the 27 FPS sacrifice.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The RTX 2060's average benchmark score of 15290 is within 0.8% of the AMD Radeon RX 7600, 0.6% of the RTX 3050 OEM, and 0% of the GTX 580. This means performance in Lockdown Protocol should be nearly identical to those cards.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this configuration?

A: The GPU is clearly the bottleneck. The CPU scores in the 93rd percentile among all processors, while the GPU sits in the 58th percentile. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a consistent drop that tracks pixel count, not CPU workload.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1080p Ultra settings?

A: The measured average is 67 FPS at 1080p Ultra. This is playable but not ideal for competitive play, and the Medium preset at 103 FPS provides a much larger safety margin.

Q: Does the 6 GB VRAM limit this game's performance?

A: The evidence suggests yes at higher resolutions. The 4K Ultra result of 32 FPS, combined with the GPU's 192-bit memory bus and 336 GB/s bandwidth, indicates that memory capacity and bandwidth are strained beyond what the card can efficiently manage.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 2234 out of 2828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. That places it in the bottom 21% of all configurations tested, which is a direct consequence of the GPU's age and performance tier. The CPU is far more capable than the GPU, and the ranking reflects the lowest common denominator. The 20-core, 20-thread Ultra 7 265 has a boost clock of 5.30 GHz and 30 MB of shared L3 cache, but none of that matters when the RTX 2060 cannot feed frames fast enough.

The combo rank of 2234 out of 2828 means there are roughly 594 tested configurations that perform worse, but also over 2200 that perform better. This is not a high-performance pairing for Lockdown Protocol; it is a workable one for 1080p and 1440p Medium settings. The delta between this CPU and its nearest rivals in the processor benchmark database is small — within 0.7% of the AMD EPYC 7343 and 0.3% of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F — but the GPU's nearest rivals are all similarly matched, meaning there is no easy upgrade within the same performance tier that would change the ranking dramatically.

The data indicates that this combo's ranking is driven almost entirely by the GPU. If the same CPU were paired with a stronger graphics card, the ranking would improve substantially, since the CPU's 93rd percentile standing shows it has headroom to drive faster GPUs. As it stands, the 2234 rank is a reflection of the RTX 2060's 58th percentile GPU status and its inability to push high frame rates at demanding settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die. It has a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 30 MB of shared L3. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel 102.4 GB/s bandwidth. The CPU's benchmark performance is strong: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42216, single-core score of 5960, and PassMark multi-thread score of 49682. The PassMark single-thread score of 4689 demonstrates solid per-core performance.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic, and the data shows it is more than adequate. The frame rates at 1080p Low (145 FPS) are close to what the CPU can sustain, but at higher resolutions and settings, the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The CPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database — the AMD EPYC 4464P at -0.3%, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F at +0.3%, the AMD EPYC 7343 at +0.7%, and the AMD EPYC 9124 at -0.7% — all perform within a fraction of a percent, meaning any of these would deliver nearly identical results in this game.

The 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates that the Ultra 7 265 is a high-end processor by any measure. Its 20 threads and 5.30 GHz boost clock ensure that even CPU-intensive scenes in Lockdown Protocol will not cause frame drops. The measured FPS data shows no signs of CPU bottlenecking: the frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings, which is the signature of a GPU-limited system. If the CPU were the constraint, we would expect to see similar FPS across different resolutions at the same settings, but the data shows FPS dropping by roughly 30% at each resolution step, confirming the GPU is the ceiling. This CPU has ample headroom for future GPU upgrades, and the 20-core configuration is overkill for a game like Lockdown Protocol, but it ensures consistent frame pacing and eliminates any possibility of CPU-related stutter.