Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination delivers a compelling 1080p and 1440p experience in Lockdown Protocol, but the data reveals a clear performance ceiling at 4K. The measured frame rates show a system where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution climbs, while the CPU’s substantial multi-core headroom ensures consistent performance at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K produces a dramatic and predictable drop in frame rates across all settings presets, indicating that the rendering load scales heavily with pixel count. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 180 FPS at 1920x1080 to 132 FPS at 2560x1440, a 26.7% reduction, and then further down to 85 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a cumulative 52.8% decrease from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario where the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are increasingly taxed by the larger framebuffer.

The Low preset shows a similar trajectory but with larger absolute values. The 290 FPS at 1080p drops to 212 FPS at 1440p (26.9% decline) and then to 137 FPS at 4K (52.8% decline from 1080p). Interestingly, the percentage decrease from 1080p to 4K is nearly identical between High and Low settings, suggesting that the resolution scaling penalty is consistent regardless of the graphical complexity. This consistency points to a fixed cost associated with pixel throughput rather than shader or texture complexity.

The Ultra preset reveals the most severe scaling, with frame rates falling from 135 FPS at 1080p to 99 FPS at 1440p (26.7% drop) and finally to 64 FPS at 4K (52.6% drop). The 4K Ultra result of 64 FPS is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset, indicating that the RTX 4070 SUPER is reaching its practical limit when combining maximum settings with 8.3 million pixels. The data suggests that at 4K, the GPU is the limiting component, as the CPU’s performance headroom at lower resolutions (290 FPS at 1080p Low) is far beyond what the GPU can deliver at 4K.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Lockdown Protocol?*

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At Medium settings, the combo delivers 151 FPS at 1440p, which is 46 FPS higher than the 4K Medium result of 97 FPS, while still maintaining a smooth frame rate. The 1080p results are higher but the visual fidelity gain from 1440p is substantial.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 SUPER perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the measured average frame rate is 64 FPS. This is the lowest result in the dataset and falls below the 85 FPS High setting at the same resolution. The data indicates that Ultra settings at 4K are only viable for players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No. At 1920x1080 Low settings, the combo reaches 290 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the dataset. This indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU effectively at high frame rates, and the GPU becomes the limiting factor well before the CPU’s capabilities are exhausted.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at 1440p Medium?

A: The 2560x1440 Medium preset shows an average of 151 FPS with a minimum of 128 FPS and a maximum of 173 FPS. This 45 FPS range suggests moderate frame time variance, but the minimum of 128 FPS remains well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The comboRankInGame places this configuration at rank 407 out of 2828 tested combos, placing it in the top 14.4% of all tested systems for Lockdown Protocol. This is a strong result that puts it ahead of roughly 85% of all configurations tested.

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for 4K?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory. The measured data shows playable frame rates at 4K High (85 FPS) and Medium (97 FPS), suggesting that the 12 GB capacity is sufficient for this game at these settings, though the Ultra preset’s 64 FPS result indicates that the GPU’s compute capacity, rather than VRAM, is likely the limiting factor.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, featuring 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1980 MHz and boosts up to 2475 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The 12 GB GDDR6X memory is connected via a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. This memory configuration is a key spec for Lockdown Protocol, which appears to be sensitive to memory bandwidth given the scaling patterns observed.

Benchmark results show the GPU achieving an average score of 43223, placing it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (avg score 43262, deltaPct -0.1%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (43268, -0.1%), and the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 (43301, -0.2%). The RTX 4070 SUPER is essentially tied with these competitors, with all deltas within 0.2%, indicating that its raw compute performance is well established in this performance class.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU demonstrates a clear performance hierarchy across settings. The measured FPS data shows that the difference between Low and Ultra settings is substantial: at 4K, the spread is 73 FPS (from 137 FPS at Low to 64 FPS at Ultra), while at 1080p the spread is 155 FPS (from 290 FPS to 135 FPS). This suggests that the GPU has significant headroom at lower settings, but the Ultra preset introduces effects that heavily tax the Ada Lovelace architecture’s capabilities.

The GPU’s 7168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units provide the raw throughput needed for high frame rates. The 56 ray tracing cores and 224 tensor cores contribute to the feature set, though their specific impact on Lockdown Protocol is not directly measured in the data. The GPU’s FP32 performance of 35.48 TFLOPS gives it substantial compute capability, which is reflected in the High preset’s 85 FPS at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 4070 SUPER delivers exceptional performance across all settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 290 FPS, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. Medium settings produce 206 FPS with a minimum of 175 FPS and a maximum of 237 FPS, showing good frame time consistency. High settings yield 180 FPS, while Ultra drops to 135 FPS. The 155 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p indicates that the GPU has significant headroom to push high refresh rate displays even with maximum settings.

The 2560x1440 resolution shows a step down in performance but remains highly playable. Low settings deliver 212 FPS, while Medium produces 151 FPS with a minimum of 128 FPS and a maximum of 173 FPS. High settings achieve 132 FPS, and Ultra settles at 99 FPS. The 1440p results show that the combo can comfortably drive 144Hz monitors at Medium settings (151 FPS) and 100Hz+ monitors at High settings (132 FPS). The Ultra preset’s 99 FPS is still above 60 FPS, making it viable for players who prefer maximum visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its limits. Low settings produce 137 FPS, which is still smooth, but Medium drops to 97 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS and a maximum of 112 FPS. High settings yield 85 FPS, and Ultra drops to 64 FPS. The 4K results indicate that the RTX 4070 SUPER can handle 4K gaming at Medium to High settings, but Ultra settings push it to the edge of playability. The data shows a consistent pattern where each settings tier at 4K corresponds to a roughly 20-30 FPS drop, with the Ultra preset’s 64 FPS being the only result that approaches the 60 FPS threshold.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 2.40 GHz and boosts up to 5.30 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The CPU features 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core, with a dual-channel DDR5 memory interface providing 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The processor supports PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes and includes integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 32 execution units.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Core Ultra 7 265 demonstrates strong multi-core performance with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42216 and a single-core score of 5960. The PassMark multi-thread score of 49682 and single-thread score of 4689 further confirm its capability. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 64640 places it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 4464P (avg score 64823, deltaPct -0.3%), the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (64438, +0.3%), the AMD EPYC 7343 (64202, +0.7%), and the AMD EPYC 9124 (65104, -0.7%). These deltas are all within 0.7%, indicating that the Core Ultra 7 265 is tightly clustered with these competing processors in overall performance.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU’s role is evident from the 1080p Low result of 290 FPS. This high frame rate indicates that the processor can handle the game’s physics, AI, and game logic without becoming a bottleneck. The 20 cores and 20 threads provide ample parallelism for modern game engines, and the 5.30 GHz boost clock ensures strong single-thread performance for tasks that are not easily parallelized. The data shows that even at 1080p, the GPU becomes the limiting factor before the CPU, as evidenced by the fact that the RTX 4070 SUPER cannot exceed 290 FPS even at the lowest settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that Medium settings offer the best balance of visual quality and performance for most players. At Medium, the combo delivers 206 FPS at 1080p, 151 FPS at 1440p, and 97 FPS at 4K. These frame rates are all comfortably above 60 FPS, and the Medium preset provides a significant visual upgrade over Low while maintaining high headroom. The frame time data for Medium shows a minimum of 175 FPS at 1080p and 128 FPS at 1440p, indicating that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate stays well above playable thresholds.

For players with high refresh rate monitors (144Hz or higher), the Low preset at 1080p (290 FPS) or 1440p (212 FPS) provides the highest possible frame rates, though the visual quality trade-off may not be worth it for all users. The High preset offers a middle ground, with 180 FPS at 1080p and 132 FPS at 1440p, which is sufficient for 144Hz displays at 1080p and 120Hz displays at 1440p.

The Ultra preset is only recommended for players who prioritize maximum visual fidelity over frame rate. At 4K Ultra, the 64 FPS average is just above the 60 FPS threshold, but the lack of minimum frame rate data suggests potential dips below this level in demanding scenes. At 1440p Ultra (99 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (135 FPS), the preset is viable for 60-120Hz displays, but the performance cost over High settings may not be justified by the incremental visual improvements.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination ranks 407th out of 2828 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol. This places the system in the top 14.4% of all configurations tested, a strong result that confirms its high-end positioning. The ranking reflects the combined capabilities of both components, with the CPU’s 93rd percentile and GPU’s 83rd percentile benchmark standings contributing to an overall performance profile that excels in this game.

The rank of 407 out of 2828 means that approximately 2421 tested combos perform worse, while 406 perform better. This places the system in the upper echelon of gaming configurations, though not at the very top. The gap between this combo and the highest-ranked systems is likely driven by GPU performance, as the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 83rd percentile ranking is lower than the CPU’s 93rd percentile. This suggests that upgrading to a higher-tier GPU would yield a more significant performance improvement than a CPU upgrade, particularly at 4K where the GPU is the primary bottleneck.

The data shows that this combo is well-suited for Lockdown Protocol at 1080p and 1440p across all settings, with the capability to handle 4K at Medium to High settings. The 407th rank out of 2828 combos confirms that users of this configuration have a system that outperforms the vast majority of tested hardware, making it a capable choice for this FPS title.