Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core Ultra 7 265 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D

The benchmark data for Lockdown Protocol reveals a system that scales predictably across resolutions, with the RTX 5090 D's immense raw compute taking center stage at 4K while the Core Ultra 7 265 keeps pace at lower resolutions. The measured FPS spans from 88 at 4K Ultra to 369 at 1080p Low, indicating a setup where GPU load dominates at higher settings and the CPU's 20-core architecture prevents bottlenecking at high framerates. The combo ranks 7th out of 2,828 tested combinations, placing it in the top 0.25% of all systems evaluated for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At High settings, the system delivers 249 FPS at 1080p, 183 FPS at 1440p, and 118 FPS at 4K — a decline of 26.5% from 1080p to 1440p, then another 35.5% from 1440p to 4K. This steep falloff at higher resolutions strongly indicates that the GPU is the limiting component; the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are being saturated by the pixel throughput demands of 4K rendering.

The Low settings curve is even more revealing. At 1080p Low, the system hits 369 FPS, which drops to 295 FPS at 1440p (a 20.1% reduction) and then to 190 FPS at 4K (a 35.6% reduction from 1440p). The fact that 1080p Low exceeds 360 FPS suggests the CPU can push framerates far beyond what most displays can show, but the GPU still governs the scaling curve. The Core Ultra 7 265's 20 cores and 20 threads, with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, appear sufficient to feed the GPU at these extreme rates.

Medium settings show the most balanced scaling with available min/max data. At 1080p Medium, the average is 285 FPS with a range of 243 to 328. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 209 FPS (a 26.7% reduction) with a range of 178 to 241. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 135 FPS (a 35.4% reduction) with a range of 115 to 155. The consistent ~26-35% reductions across resolution steps suggest a smooth, predictable workload scaling that is characteristic of GPU-bound rendering.

Ultra settings produce the lowest framerates across the board, with 187 FPS at 1080p, 137 FPS at 1440p (a 26.7% reduction), and 88 FPS at 4K (a 35.8% reduction). The near-identical percentage drops across all four settings presets — roughly 26-27% from 1080p to 1440p and 35-36% from 1440p to 4K — indicate that the game's rendering pipeline scales resolution consistently regardless of quality level. This uniformity suggests the limiting factor is pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth, both of which are GPU attributes.

FAQ

Q: How does the system perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 88, with no min/max data provided. This is the lowest measured result in the dataset, indicating that even the RTX 5090 D is challenged by the combination of 4K resolution and maximum quality presets in Lockdown Protocol.

Q: What is the best-performing settings preset at 1080p?

A: Low settings at 1920x1080 yields 369 FPS average, the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium settings produce 285 FPS, High produces 249 FPS, and Ultra produces 187 FPS, showing a clear performance hierarchy across presets.

Q: Does the CPU limit performance at any resolution?

A: The data shows no evidence of CPU bottlenecking. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 369 FPS, which is an extremely high framerate that would typically expose CPU limitations. The Core Ultra 7 265's 5.30 GHz boost clock and 20 threads appear to handle even the lightest GPU workload without becoming the limiting factor.

Q: How does the 4K Medium result compare to 1440p Ultra?

A: 4K Medium averages 135 FPS, while 1440p Ultra averages 137 FPS — a difference of only 2 FPS (1.5%). This suggests that at these two configurations, the system is delivering nearly identical performance despite the resolution difference, likely because the quality preset reduction compensates for the pixel count increase.

Q: What is the system's overall ranking for this game?

A: The combo ranks 7th out of 2,828 tested combinations, placing it in the top 0.25% of all systems evaluated in Lockdown Protocol. This is consistent with the high FPS measurements across all resolution and settings combinations.

Q: Are there any framerate consistency data points?

A: Only the Medium settings rows include min/max data. At 1080p Medium, the range is 243-328 FPS (a 35% spread). At 1440p Medium, the range is 178-241 FPS (a 35.4% spread). At 4K Medium, the range is 115-155 FPS (a 34.8% spread). The consistent spread percentage across resolutions suggests stable frame pacing relative to the average.

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. Its base clock of 2.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz provide a wide operating range, and the 30 MB of shared L3 cache helps feed the demanding frame rates observed in the data. The processor's 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 64,640, places it just below the AMD EPYC 4464P (64,823, -0.3%) and slightly above the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (64,438, +0.3%).

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU, given the resolution scaling patterns. The fact that 1080p Low reaches 369 FPS without apparent CPU limitation indicates that the processor's single-thread performance — evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5,960 — is more than adequate for the game's logic and draw call processing. The multi-core capability, demonstrated by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42,216, provides headroom for background tasks and any game systems that leverage multiple threads.

The 20-thread configuration is notable because Lockdown Protocol is an FPS title that may not fully utilize all cores. However, the Passmark multithread score of 49,682 and the floating point math score of 172,776 suggest robust general-purpose compute that can handle the game's physics and AI workloads without becoming a bottleneck. The processor's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s via dual-channel DDR5 is sufficient to keep the GPU fed, as evidenced by the high framerates at lower resolutions where CPU-to-GPU data transfer rates matter most.

The lack of any resolution at which the FPS plateaus or shows diminishing returns due to CPU limits is telling. Even at 1080p Low, where GPU load is minimal, the system pushes 369 FPS — a value that likely approaches the game engine's internal limits or the GPU's geometry throughput rather than a CPU constraint. This aligns with the processor's 5.30 GHz boost clock and its performance relative to the AMD EPYC 4464P, which is only 0.3% faster in average benchmark score.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D achieves a rank of 7 out of 2,828 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol. This places the system in the top 0.25% of all configurations evaluated, which is remarkable given the breadth of the comparison pool. The rank reflects the synergy between a top-tier CPU (93rd percentile among all CPUs) and a top-tier GPU (92nd percentile among all GPUs), though the GPU's percentile ranking is slightly lower than the CPU's.

The RTX 5090 D's average benchmark score of 77,712 places it very close to several competitors. The AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT scores 76,904 (1.1% faster than the 5090 D), while the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78,940 (1.6% slower). The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB and 16 GB variants score 79,396 and 79,605 respectively, both about 2% slower than the 5090 D. These narrow deltas in synthetic benchmarks do not translate to the game's measured performance, where the 5090 D's 32 GB VRAM and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth likely provide advantages in real-world gaming workloads.

The rank of 7th out of 2,828 is consistent with the measured FPS data showing no weak points. At 4K Ultra, the system still delivers 88 FPS, which is playable for most users. At 1440p Ultra, 137 FPS is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. At 1080p High, 249 FPS exceeds the refresh rate of all but the most extreme gaming displays. The combination never drops below 88 FPS in any measured configuration, which reflects the hardware's capability.

Compared to the CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks, the Core Ultra 7 265's 0.3% deficit to the AMD EPYC 4464P and 0.7% advantage over the AMD EPYC 7343 are unlikely to produce meaningful differences in Lockdown Protocol, given that the game appears GPU-bound at most settings. The 265F variant, which scores 0.3% lower on average, would likely perform nearly identically in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full dataset spans three resolutions and four settings presets, yielding twelve measured configurations. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 369 FPS on Low, 285 FPS on Medium (with a 243-328 range), 249 FPS on High, and 187 FPS on Ultra. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 49.3% performance drop, indicating that quality settings have a substantial impact on GPU load even at the lowest resolution tested.

At 2560x1440, the framerates are 295 FPS on Low, 209 FPS on Medium (178-241 range), 183 FPS on High, and 137 FPS on Ultra. The Low-to-Ultra drop at 1440p is 53.6%, slightly steeper than at 1080p, which suggests that the combination of higher resolution and Ultra settings compounds the GPU workload. The Medium preset's min/max range at 1440p (178-241) shows a 63 FPS spread, which is proportionally similar to the 85 FPS spread observed at 1080p Medium.

At 3840x2160, the system produces 190 FPS on Low, 135 FPS on Medium (115-155 range), 118 FPS on High, and 88 FPS on Ultra. The Low-to-Ultra drop at 4K is 53.7%, nearly identical to the 1440p drop. This consistency suggests that the game's quality settings affect GPU load in a linear fashion across resolutions, with Ultra roughly doubling the rendering cost compared to Low.

The Medium settings rows are the only ones with complete min/max data. At 1080p, the spread is 85 FPS (243-328); at 1440p, the spread is 63 FPS (178-241); at 4K, the spread is 40 FPS (115-155). The absolute spread decreases with resolution, but the percentage spread remains remarkably consistent at approximately 35% of the average. This indicates that frame time variance scales proportionally with the average, suggesting a stable rendering pipeline without unexpected hitches or stutters.

Comparing settings presets within each resolution, the step from Low to Medium costs 84 FPS at 1080p (22.8%), 86 FPS at 1440p (29.2%), and 55 FPS at 4K (28.9%). The step from Medium to High costs 36 FPS at 1080p (12.6%), 26 FPS at 1440p (12.4%), and 17 FPS at 4K (12.6%). The step from High to Ultra costs 62 FPS at 1080p (24.9%), 46 FPS at 1440p (25.1%), and 30 FPS at 4K (25.4%). These consistent percentage drops across resolutions suggest that each quality tier imposes a predictable rendering cost.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 285 FPS with a range of 243-328, which exceeds the refresh rate of virtually all gaming monitors. At 1440p Medium, 209 FPS with a 178-241 range remains well above 144 Hz displays. At 4K Medium, 135 FPS with a 115-155 range is suitable for high-refresh-rate 4K monitors.

The High preset is also viable, particularly for users prioritizing visual fidelity. At 1080p High, 249 FPS still exceeds 240 Hz displays. At 1440p High, 183 FPS comfortably supports 165 Hz monitors. At 4K High, 118 FPS is playable but falls short of 120 Hz displays, making it a borderline choice for competitive play.

Ultra settings are only recommended for 1080p and 1440p users. At 1080p Ultra, 187 FPS is excellent, and at 1440p Ultra, 137 FPS is solid for 144 Hz displays. However, at 4K Ultra, the system drops to 88 FPS, which may be acceptable for cinematic single-player experiences but is insufficient for fast-paced competitive FPS gameplay. The 53.7% performance penalty from Low to Ultra at 4K is substantial, and the 88 FPS result suggests that even the RTX 5090 D cannot fully saturate 4K Ultra in this title.

Low settings are only recommended for users with very high refresh rate displays (240 Hz or above) at 1440p or below. At 1080p Low, 369 FPS is extraordinary, and at 1440p Low, 295 FPS also exceeds 240 Hz. At 4K Low, 190 FPS is excellent but the visual compromises may not be worth the performance gain for most users.

The Medium preset's min/max data shows the most consistent frame pacing relative to its average. The 35% spread between min and max FPS is uniform across resolutions, suggesting that Medium settings produce a predictable experience without severe frame drops. This makes Medium the safest recommendation for competitive play where consistency matters more than peak framerates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant component in this system's Lockdown Protocol performance. With 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, the GPU delivers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for 4K rendering at high settings. The 21,760 shading units and 176 ROPs provide the raw pixel throughput needed for the resolution scaling observed in the data, and the boost clock of 2407 MHz ensures high compute density.

The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77,712, places it near several competitors. The nearest rival, AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, is only 1.1% faster in average score, while the RX 6850M XT is 1.6% slower. This clustering in synthetic benchmarks is interesting because the measured game performance suggests the 5090 D is exceptionally well-suited to Lockdown Protocol's rendering demands, likely due to its memory bandwidth and capacity.

In the game data, the GPU's role becomes clear through the resolution scaling patterns. The consistent 26-27% FPS reduction from 1080p to 1440p and 35-36% reduction from 1440p to 4K across all settings presets indicates that pixel count is the primary driver of performance. The 4K pixel count is 2.25 times that of 1440p, and the observed 35% FPS drop aligns with the additional fill rate requirements. The GPU's 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate provide the theoretical capacity, and the measured results confirm that these resources are being fully utilized.

The 32 GB VRAM capacity is noteworthy for Lockdown Protocol, as the game may load substantial texture data at Ultra settings. The fact that 4K Ultra still achieves 88 FPS suggests that memory capacity is not a limiting factor; if VRAM were exhausted, the performance would likely show severe drops or stuttering, which is not evident in the average FPS data. The 1.79 TB/s bandwidth appears sufficient to feed the GPU's compute units at all tested configurations.

Comparing the GPU to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks, the 5090 D's performance in Lockdown Protocol is likely enhanced by its architecture-specific features. The Blackwell 2.0 architecture, built on a 5 nm process with 92,200 million transistors, provides 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. This raw compute power, combined with the memory subsystem, makes the GPU the clear performance driver in this system, with the CPU playing a supporting role that never constrains the frame rate.