Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol, a 2024 FPS, presents an interesting stress profile for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT combo. The measured frame rates reveal a system that is heavily influenced by resolution and preset, with the GPU acting as the primary scaling factor. The data suggests that the 16 GB of VRAM and the RDNA 2 architecture are sufficient to handle the game's demands, but the performance headroom at lower resolutions indicates a potential CPU bottleneck. This analysis will break down the measured results to understand where the limits of this pairing lie.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K produces a dramatic shift in performance, indicating a clear GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 148.2 FPS at 1920x1080 to 111.2 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 71.4 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 52% decrease in performance from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, suggesting that the pixel throughput demands of 4K are taxing the RX 6800 XT significantly more than the computational load at 1080p.

The pattern is consistent across all settings presets. With Low settings, the frame rate falls from 239.7 FPS at 1080p to 178.7 FPS at 1440p, and then to 114.7 FPS at 4K. This indicates that even when the graphical load is minimized, the resolution increase still costs a substantial amount of performance. The fact that the 4K Low preset (114.7 FPS) is higher than the 1080p Ultra preset (111.4 FPS) is particularly telling; it shows that the GPU has enough raw power to handle high frame rates at 4K when the visual effects are reduced, but the Ultra preset’s additional effects are what cripple 4K performance.

This scaling behavior points to the GPU as the limiting component at 1440p and 4K. The RX 6800 XT’s 512.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 20.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are being saturated by the increasing pixel count. At 1080p, the gap between the Low and Ultra presets (239.7 FPS vs. 111.4 FPS) suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU enough data to reach very high frame rates, but the GPU’s rendering pipeline becomes the bottleneck as the resolution climbs.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, with its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, shows it has ample VRAM for Lockdown Protocol. The data does not indicate any memory capacity-related stutters or frame drops, even at the 4K Ultra preset which is the most demanding configuration. The memory clock of 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) provides a bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s, which appears sufficient for the game's texture streaming needs at all tested settings.

The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 1825 MHz and a boost of 2250 MHz, are standard for the RDNA 2 architecture. The benchmark results show that the card is performing as expected, with the 4K Ultra preset yielding 51.7 FPS. This is a playable frame rate for many, but it is significantly below the 60 FPS threshold that many competitive FPS players aim for. The 4K High preset at 71.4 FPS is a more comfortable experience, suggesting that the Ultra preset’s marginal visual gains come at a steep performance cost.

The GPU's 72 RT cores are interesting to consider, but the measured data does not provide specific ray tracing performance metrics for this game. The raw rasterization performance, as measured by the PassMark G3D score of 24980, places it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs. This is a strong showing, but the data shows that Lockdown Protocol's Ultra preset is demanding enough to push the card to its limits at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance is achieved at the High preset. At 1920x1080, High settings deliver 148.2 FPS, which is more than enough for a smooth competitive experience on a high-refresh-rate monitor. Moving to 2560x1440, the High preset still maintains a solid 111.2 FPS, making it the best choice for high-resolution gaming without sacrificing fluidity.

The Low preset offers the highest frame rates, with 239.7 FPS at 1080p and 178.7 FPS at 1440p. This is the clear choice for players who prioritize maximum responsiveness and have a 240Hz monitor. However, the visual compromise may be too significant for some. The Medium preset provides a middle ground, with 171.9 FPS at 1080p and 125.4 FPS at 1440p, but it does not offer a significant enough advantage over High to justify the drop in visual fidelity.

At 3840x2160, the High preset is the recommended setting, delivering 71.4 FPS. The Ultra preset's 51.7 FPS is playable but may feel less responsive in fast-paced firefights. The data suggests that for a 4K experience, High settings are the sweet spot, offering a substantial improvement over Medium (81.5 FPS) without the performance penalty of Ultra. The Ultra preset is only recommended for players who prioritize visual detail over frame rate and are willing to accept a sub-60 FPS experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete FPS data reveals a consistent hierarchy across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are as follows: Low (239.7 FPS), Medium (171.9 FPS), High (148.2 FPS), and Ultra (111.4 FPS). The gap between Low and Ultra is 128.3 FPS, demonstrating the significant impact of the preset on performance.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are: Low (178.7 FPS), Medium (125.4 FPS), High (111.2 FPS), and Ultra (83.1 FPS). The drop from Low to Ultra is 95.6 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a performance decrease of approximately 25-30% for each preset, which is a typical cost of increasing pixel count by 78%.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are: Low (114.7 FPS), Medium (81.5 FPS), High (71.4 FPS), and Ultra (51.7 FPS). The drop from Low to Ultra is 63 FPS. The performance cost of moving from 1440p to 4K is more severe, with a roughly 35-40% decrease for each preset. This confirms that the RX 6800 XT is the primary bottleneck at this resolution, as the demands of 4K rendering are overwhelming the GPU's capabilities, particularly with higher settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT combination ranks 579 out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the upper third of all tested configurations, indicating a strong overall performance. The rank is a composite measure that takes into account all the measured FPS data across the various settings and resolutions.

This ranking suggests that while the combo is not at the absolute top tier, it outperforms a majority of other CPU-GPU pairings. The data shows that the RX 6800 XT is a capable card, but it is not the fastest available. The CPU, which ranks in the 97th percentile of all CPUs, is providing a solid foundation, but the overall in-game performance is limited by the GPU. The 579th rank out of 1637 is a respectable position, indicating that this combo is well-suited for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1080p and 1440p, and can handle 4K gaming with adjusted settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture. With a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, it provides substantial single-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7060. This is crucial for FPS games like Lockdown Protocol, which often rely heavily on a few fast cores for game logic and physics.

The data shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 239.7 FPS. This high frame rate suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with a massive amount of draw calls and game state updates. The 30 MB of shared L3 cache and the dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s are likely contributing factors to this performance.

However, the CPU's role becomes less dominant as the resolution increases. The fact that the 4K Low preset (114.7 FPS) is lower than the 1080p Ultra preset (111.4 FPS) is interesting, but it shows that at 4K, the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU is likely not fully utilized at 4K, as the GPU’s rendering time increases, giving the CPU more time to prepare frames. The CPU’s high PassMark multithread score of 58838 ensures that it will not be a bottleneck in any scenario, but the measured data clearly indicates that the GPU is the primary determinant of frame rate in this game, especially at higher resolutions and settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest average FPS is 239.7, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Lockdown Protocol?

A: Yes, it can. At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 114.7 FPS, the High preset achieves 71.4 FPS, and the Ultra preset achieves 51.7 FPS.

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

A: The High preset offers a good balance, delivering 111.2 FPS at 2560x1440.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its closest rival?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K has an average benchmark score of 79102, which is 0.2% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF and the Intel Core i9-14900KF, and 0.9% lower than the Intel Core i9-14900K.

Q: What is the performance drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the frame rate drops from 148.2 FPS at 1080p to 71.4 FPS at 4K, a 52% decrease.

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

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, as the performance scales significantly with resolution and preset, while the CPU is likely underutilized at such high resolutions.