Lockdown Protocol

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

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread desktop processor built on the Arrow Lake-S architecture, fabricated on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The chip includes 30 MB of shared L3 cache, with 3 MB of L2 per core and 192 KB of L1 per core. Memory support is DDR5 over a dual-channel bus, delivering 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The processor also integrates Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 32 execution units, though the measured gaming results here rely on the discrete GPU.

Benchmark data places this CPU in the 93rd percentile among all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 64,640. Its nearest rivals in overall CPU performance are the AMD EPYC 4464P (average score 64,823, which is 0.3% higher), the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (average score 64,438, which is 0.3% lower), the AMD EPYC 7343 (average score 64,202, which is 0.7% lower), and the AMD EPYC 9124 (average score 65,104, which is 0.7% higher). These delta values are small, indicating that the Core Ultra 7 265 sits in a tightly contested performance band.

In multi-threaded workloads, the Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 42,216, while the single-core score is 5,960. The Cinebench R20 multi-core score is 6,268, and single-core is 884. The Cinebench R15 multi-core score is 4,255, with single-core at 600. PassMark results show a multithread score of 49,682, a single-thread score of 4,689, and a physics score of 2,923. These numbers indicate strong computational throughput, which matters for game logic, physics simulation, and background tasks in Lockdown Protocol.

For an FPS title like Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls, handle entity updates, and manage collision detection. The 20-core configuration is far more than the game likely requires, but the high boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensures that single-threaded performance remains competitive. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5,960 is robust, suggesting that the CPU will not bottleneck the GPU in most scenarios. However, the measured frame rates in this analysis reveal that at higher resolutions and settings, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, not the CPU. The data shows that the CPU's capabilities are sufficient to maintain frame delivery across the tested configurations, as the FPS drops are more closely tied to resolution and graphics preset than to CPU load.

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

The measured FPS data for Lockdown Protocol with this combo spans four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) across three resolutions (1080p, 1440p, 4K). At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 112 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded in the entire dataset. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 80 FPS, with a minimum of 68 and a maximum of 92. The High preset at 1080p averages 70 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 52 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 82 FPS, Medium averages 59 FPS (minimum 50, maximum 67), High averages 51 FPS, and Ultra averages 38 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 53 FPS, Medium averages 38 FPS (minimum 32, maximum 43), High averages 33 FPS, and Ultra averages 25 FPS.

The best experience for smooth gameplay, particularly in a competitive FPS, is the Low preset at 1920x1080, which achieves 112 FPS. This is the only configuration that breaks the 100 FPS barrier, providing headroom above typical 60 Hz or 144 Hz display refresh rates. If visual fidelity is prioritized, the Medium preset at 1080p (80 FPS) offers a reasonable compromise, with the minimum of 68 FPS still above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 1080p (70 FPS) is also viable, but the step from Medium to High costs 10 FPS on average. The Ultra preset at 1080p (52 FPS) dips below 60 FPS, which may introduce noticeable stutter in fast-paced gameplay.

For users with 1440p displays, the Low preset (82 FPS) is the only option that maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p (59 FPS) is borderline, with the minimum of 50 FPS indicating potential drops during intense scenes. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p, at 51 and 38 FPS respectively, are less suitable for competitive play.

At 4K, none of the presets achieve 60 FPS. The Low preset (53 FPS) is the closest, but even this requires a significant compromise in visual quality. Based on the measured rows, the recommended configuration is Low at 1080p for maximum frame rate, with Medium at 1080p as the balanced option for users who prefer moderate visual enhancements without sacrificing too much performance.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern across resolutions. At the Low preset, the average frame rate drops from 112 FPS at 1080p to 82 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 30 FPS, and then to 53 FPS at 4K, a further reduction of 29 FPS. This represents a 53% decrease from 1080p to 4K. At the Medium preset, the averages are 80 FPS at 1080p, 59 FPS at 1440p, and 38 FPS at 4K, which is a 53% drop from 1080p to 4K as well. The High preset shows 70 FPS at 1080p, 51 FPS at 1440p, and 33 FPS at 4K, a 53% decrease. The Ultra preset drops from 52 FPS at 1080p to 38 FPS at 1440p and then to 25 FPS at 4K, a 52% decline.

The consistency of this scaling pattern, with roughly a 50-53% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K across all presets, indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting component. The number of pixels at 4K is four times that at 1080p, and the measured FPS at 4K is approximately half that at 1080p. This ratio is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering workload scales with resolution and the CPU has sufficient headroom to keep up.

Further evidence comes from the fact that the FPS differences between presets at the same resolution are relatively small compared to the differences between resolutions. For example, at 1080p, the spread from Low to Ultra is 60 FPS (112 to 52), while at 4K, the spread is 28 FPS (53 to 25). The diminishing returns at higher resolutions suggest that the GPU's pixel processing capacity is being saturated, and the CPU's role becomes less significant.

The GPU's memory bandwidth of 192.0 GB/s and 4 GB of GDDR6 memory also play a role. At 4K with Ultra settings, the average FPS of 25 indicates that the GPU is struggling to maintain playable performance, likely due to both compute limitations and memory capacity constraints. The data strongly supports the conclusion that the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is not the bottleneck in this configuration; the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is the component that dictates the frame rates.

# FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The highest average FPS is 112, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset. This is the only measured configuration that exceeds 100 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or the GPU the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 53 at Low settings to 25 at Ultra settings. The consistent FPS drop pattern across resolutions, with roughly a 50% reduction from 1080p to 4K, indicates the GPU's rendering capacity is the constraint, not the CPU.

Q: Which settings preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 averages 59 FPS, with a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 67. While the Low preset achieves 82 FPS, the Medium preset offers improved visuals while staying close to the 60 FPS target.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K in Lockdown Protocol?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 53 FPS, which is the highest 4K result. All other presets at 4K are lower, with Medium at 38 FPS, High at 33 FPS, and Ultra at 25 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: The Cinebench R23 single-core score is 5,960, while the multi-core score is 42,216. The single-core score is approximately 14% of the multi-core score, reflecting the 20-core configuration. For gaming, the single-core performance is relevant for game logic, but the measured FPS data shows the GPU is the bottleneck in this title.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset at 1080p?

A: The minimum FPS is 68, with an average of 80 and a maximum of 92. This minimum is still above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that the Medium preset at 1080p provides a reasonably stable experience.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is built on the Ampere architecture with the GA107 chip, fabricated on an 8 nm process by Samsung. It features 2,048 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, 32 ROPs, 16 ray tracing cores, and 64 tensor cores. The base clock is 1,545 MHz with a boost clock of 1,740 MHz. Memory consists of 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, providing 192.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock is 1,500 MHz, which translates to 12 Gbps effective. The card's pixel rate is 55.68 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 111.4 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 7.127 TFLOPS. The GPU has a 90 W TDP and is rated in the 50th percentile among all GPUs.

The 4 GB VRAM capacity is a significant factor in Lockdown Protocol's performance at higher resolutions and settings. At 4K with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 25, which suggests that the GPU is not only compute-limited but also potentially memory-limited. The 128-bit memory bus and 192.0 GB/s bandwidth are modest for 4K workloads, and the 4 GB capacity may be insufficient for high-resolution textures, leading to reduced performance.

The GPU's performance percentile of 50 places it in the middle of the range for all graphics cards. This aligns with the measured FPS results, which show that the card can handle 1080p gaming at Low to Medium settings effectively (112 FPS and 80 FPS, respectively) but struggles at higher resolutions. The boost clock of 1,740 MHz is relatively low compared to higher-tier cards, and the 7.127 TFLOPS FP32 performance limits the card's ability to process complex shaders and effects at high settings.

The ray tracing cores and tensor cores are present, but the measured data does not include specific ray tracing benchmarks. The DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) indicates the card can handle modern graphics APIs, but the actual frame rates in Lockdown Protocol suggest that the GPU is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming at lower presets. The 4 GB VRAM is the most likely bottleneck at 4K, as even the Low preset at that resolution only achieves 53 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 25 FPS.

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

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows:

• Low: 112 FPS
• Medium: 80 FPS (minimum 68, maximum 92)
• High: 70 FPS
• Ultra: 52 FPS

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 82 FPS
• Medium: 59 FPS (minimum 50, maximum 67)
• High: 51 FPS
• Ultra: 38 FPS

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 53 FPS
• Medium: 38 FPS (minimum 32, maximum 43)
• High: 33 FPS
• Ultra: 25 FPS

The data shows a consistent pattern where each increase in settings preset reduces the average FPS by a similar margin. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Medium is 32 FPS, between Medium and High is 10 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 18 FPS. At 1440p, the differences are 23 FPS (Low to Medium), 8 FPS (Medium to High), and 13 FPS (High to Ultra). At 4K, the differences are 15 FPS (Low to Medium), 5 FPS (Medium to High), and 8 FPS (High to Ultra).

The minimum FPS values are only provided for the Medium preset at each resolution. At 1080p, the minimum of 68 FPS is 85% of the average. At 1440p, the minimum of 50 FPS is 85% of the average. At 4K, the minimum of 32 FPS is 84% of the average. This consistency suggests that the frame pacing is stable across resolutions, with the GPU maintaining a relatively constant variance.

The maximum FPS values follow a similar pattern. At 1080p Medium, the maximum is 92 FPS, which is 115% of the average. At 1440p Medium, the maximum is 67 FPS, which is 114% of the average. At 4K Medium, the maximum is 43 FPS, which is 113% of the average. These ratios indicate that the GPU's performance scaling is predictable, with no unexpected spikes or drops.

# How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB achieves a combo rank of 2,492 out of 2,828 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol. This places the combo in the 12th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning that 88% of tested combos perform better in this game. The rank of 2,492 is relatively low, reflecting the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions and settings.

This ranking is consistent with the GPU's overall performance percentile of 50, which is the median for all graphics cards. However, the combo rank in this specific game is lower than the GPU's general percentile, suggesting that Lockdown Protocol is particularly demanding on the GPU. The CPU's percentile of 93 is much higher, indicating that the processor is well above average, but the combo's overall performance is dragged down by the GPU.

Compared to other combos, this configuration is best suited for 1080p gaming at Low to Medium settings, where it can achieve frame rates above 80 FPS. At 1440p, the combo drops to the lower end of playable performance, and at 4K, it is not viable for competitive play. The rank of 2,492 out of 2,828 suggests that users with this combo should prioritize lower resolutions and settings to get acceptable performance, or consider a GPU upgrade if higher fidelity is desired.

The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo, as evidenced by the high CPU percentile and the consistent FPS scaling with GPU load. If the GPU were upgraded, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 would likely support significantly higher frame rates, given its strong single-thread and multi-thread performance. However, as configured, the combo ranks in the bottom 12% of tested systems for Lockdown Protocol, making it a budget-oriented solution for this title.