Lockdown Protocol

# CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K pairs 20 cores with 20 threads, a configuration that relies on a single-thread-per-core design rather than hyperthreading. Base clock sits at 3.90 GHz with a boost ceiling of 5.50 GHz, and the chip is built on TSMC's 3 nm process within the Arrow Lake-S architecture. This processor's L3 cache totals 30 MB shared, 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.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is primarily about maintaining frame pacing at lower resolutions where the graphics card is not the bottleneck. The 265K's single-core performance, evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 2713 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2020, provides the per-thread responsiveness that FPS titles demand. Multi-core throughput is equally robust—Cinebench R23 multi-core reaches 35850, and Geekbench multi-core hits 23085—which helps with background tasks and game logic threads. The processor's PassMark multithread score of 58594 and single-thread score of 4928 further underscore its balanced profile.

Relative to its nearest rivals, the 265K sits within a tight performance band. It trails the Intel Xeon 6511P by 0.2% in average benchmark score, and the Xeon Platinum 8270 by 0.7%. Against the Intel Core i7-14700KF, the 265K leads by 1%, and it edges the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F by 1.3%. These deltas are small, indicating that the 265K's CPU-side capabilities are competitive with top-tier alternatives, though not decisively ahead in synthetic workloads.

For Lockdown Protocol specifically, the CPU's 20 threads ensure that even heavily populated game sessions—where multiple agents, AI enemies, and physics calculations run concurrently—do not starve the render thread. The boost clock of 5.50 GHz is particularly relevant for single-threaded game logic, as higher frequency translates directly to faster decision-making in the game's simulation loop. The 125 W TDP and active production status suggest sustained performance is reliable, but the data does not indicate thermal throttling behavior in this title.

# How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and Intel Arc B580 achieves a combo rank of 2795 out of 3714 tested configurations in Lockdown Protocol. This places the pairing in the lower-middle tier of all combos, which is notable given the strong standalone performance of both components. The CPU's percentile versus all CPUs is 94, meaning it outperforms 94% of processors in general benchmarks. The GPU, however, sits at the 68th percentile versus all GPUs, which drags the overall combo ranking down.

The discrepancy between CPU and GPU percentile rankings suggests that the Intel Arc B580 is the limiting factor in this pairing. While the 265K is a top-tier processor, the B580's average benchmark score of 23021 places it near the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (23061, delta -0.2%), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (22895, delta 0.6%), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (23172, delta -0.7%). The GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA P106-100, scores 23249, a 1% delta. These tight margins indicate the B580 performs in the same league as older high-end cards, but not at the level of current flagship GPUs.

In Lockdown Protocol's measured results, the combo's rank reflects the GPU's mid-tier positioning. At 1080p Ultra, the pairing produces 72 FPS, which is playable but not exceptional for a high-end CPU. The rank of 2795 out of 3714 means roughly 75% of tested combos perform better in this game. This is a direct consequence of GPU-bound frame rates at higher settings, where the B580's 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 456.0 GB/s memory bandwidth cap performance.

# Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals clear resolution scaling trends for this combo in Lockdown Protocol. Moving from 1080p to 1440p to 4K at each settings level shows consistent frame rate drops, but the magnitude varies by preset.

At High settings, average FPS falls from 95 at 1080p to 70 at 1440p (a 26.3% drop) and then to 45 at 4K (a 35.7% drop from 1440p). The 4K High result of 45 FPS indicates the GPU is heavily taxed, while the 1080p High result of 95 FPS shows the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at lower pixel counts. Low settings follow a similar pattern: 154 FPS at 1080p, 113 at 1440p (26.6% drop), and 73 at 4K (35.4% drop). The 4K Low figure of 73 FPS suggests that even at minimal graphical load, the GPU's raw throughput limits performance.

Medium settings provide the only rows with min and max FPS data. At 1080p Medium, the combo averages 109 FPS with a minimum of 93 and maximum of 126. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 80 FPS with a range of 68 to 92. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 52 FPS with a range of 44 to 59. The narrowing of the min-max spread at higher resolutions (from 33 FPS spread at 1080p to 15 FPS at 4K) indicates that the GPU becomes the consistent bottleneck, reducing frame time variance as resolution increases.

Ultra settings are the most demanding: 72 FPS at 1080p, 52 at 1440p, and 34 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 34 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and even 1440p Ultra struggles to maintain fluid motion. The resolution scaling analysis points to the Intel Arc B580 as the limiting component across all settings—the CPU's performance headroom is not the constraint, as evidenced by the 1080p Low result of 154 FPS, which is well above what a CPU-bound scenario would produce.

# FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall rank in Lockdown Protocol?

A: This Intel Core Ultra 7 265K + Intel Arc B580 pairing ranks 2795 out of 3714 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all configurations.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The 265K is 0.2% behind the Intel Xeon 6511P, 0.7% behind the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270, 1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-14700KF, and 1.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F in average benchmark scores.

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

A: Based on measured data, 1080p provides the most playable experience across all settings, with average FPS ranging from 72 at Ultra to 154 at Low. At 1440p, only Low (113 FPS) and Medium (80 FPS) remain consistently smooth.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The GPU is the limiting component. The CPU ranks in the 94th percentile versus all CPUs, while the GPU sits at the 68th percentile. This is confirmed by frame rate scaling: 1080p Low reaches 154 FPS, but 4K Low drops to 73 FPS, indicating GPU throughput limits.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Arc B580 is 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP, 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, 0.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, and 1% behind the NVIDIA P106-100 in average benchmark scores.

Q: What settings provide the smoothest 4K experience?

A: At 4K, Low settings produce 73 FPS average, which is the only preset above 60 FPS. Medium yields 52 FPS, High drops to 45 FPS, and Ultra falls to 34 FPS. Low is the recommended 4K preset for playable frame rates.

# GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture with the BMG-G21 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process. It packs 19,600 million transistors into a 272 mm² die. The GPU features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units, along with 20 ray tracing cores. Clock speeds are fixed at 2670 MHz for both base and boost, with memory clocked at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The 12 GB GDDR6 memory operates over a 192-bit bus, providing 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

In Lockdown Protocol, the B580's role is to render scenes at the target resolution and settings. Its FP32 throughput of 13.67 TFLOPS and texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s determine how quickly geometry and textures are processed. The pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s directly impacts fill-rate-heavy scenes. The GPU's 12 GB VRAM is ample for this title, as even at 4K Ultra, the measured FPS of 34 indicates the bottleneck is compute throughput rather than memory capacity.

The B580's benchmark results show a PassMark G3D score of 15748 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 109672, with OpenCL at 92821. These place it in the 68th percentile versus all GPUs. The nearest rivals are tightly clustered, with the RTX 3080 being 0.7% ahead and the RX 580 2048SP 0.2% behind. This positioning explains why the combo ranks lower than the CPU's potential would suggest—the GPU is a mid-to-upper-mid-tier part that cannot fully leverage the 265K's high-end CPU capabilities in GPU-bound scenarios.

The GPU's memory bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s is critical at higher resolutions. At 4K, the data shows a 39.3% drop from Low to High settings (73 to 45 FPS), indicating that increased texture and shader complexity overwhelms the GPU's compute resources. The 190 W TDP and dual-slot design are consistent with this performance class, but the measured data does not include thermal or power consumption figures for this specific game.

# Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and frame rate preference.

At 1080p, all presets are playable. Medium settings provide 109 FPS average with a 93 to 126 FPS range, which is the best balance of visual quality and performance. High settings drop to 95 FPS, still smooth, while Ultra yields 72 FPS—adequate for most players. Low pushes to 154 FPS for competitive play, but sacrifices visual fidelity for speed.

At 1440p, Low settings (113 FPS) and Medium (80 FPS) are the only presets that maintain 60+ FPS averages. High drops to 70 FPS, which is borderline, and Ultra falls to 52 FPS. For a consistent experience, Medium is the recommended preset at 1440p, offering 80 FPS average with a range of 68 to 92 FPS, though users prioritizing smoothness over visuals may prefer Low.

At 4K, only Low settings (73 FPS) clear the 60 FPS threshold. Medium averages 52 FPS with a 44 to 59 FPS range, which is below ideal but playable for less demanding users. High (45 FPS) and Ultra (34 FPS) are not recommended for fluid gameplay. The data indicates that 4K Gaming on this combo requires Low settings, and even then, the 73 FPS average leaves little headroom for demanding scenes.

The best experience per the measured rows is 1080p Medium, which delivers 109 FPS average with a tight 93 to 126 FPS range, providing both smoothness and reasonable visual quality. For players prioritizing frame rate above all, 1080p Low at 154 FPS is the maximum performance option.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 154 FPS average
• Medium: 109 FPS average, 93 min, 126 max
• High: 95 FPS average
• Ultra: 72 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 113 FPS average
• Medium: 80 FPS average, 68 min, 92 max
• High: 70 FPS average
• Ultra: 52 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 73 FPS average
• Medium: 52 FPS average, 44 min, 59 max
• High: 45 FPS average
• Ultra: 34 FPS average

The data shows a consistent pattern of frame rate degradation as resolution increases, with the largest relative drops occurring between 1440p and 4K. For example, at High settings, the 1440p to 4K drop is 35.7%, compared to a 26.3% drop from 1080p to 1440p. This nonlinear scaling is characteristic of GPU-bound performance, where the pixel count increase from 1440p (3.69 million pixels) to 4K (8.29 million pixels) more than doubles the fill rate demand.

The Medium preset rows are the only ones with min and max FPS data, revealing frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the 93-126 FPS range shows a 33 FPS spread, indicating some frame pacing variance. At 1440p Medium, the 68-92 FPS range narrows to 24 FPS, and at 4K Medium, the 44-59 FPS range tightens further to 15 FPS. This pattern suggests that as the GPU becomes more saturated, frame times stabilize, reducing both peaks and valleys in FPS. The 4K Medium minimum of 44 FPS is the lowest recorded value across all rows, confirming that 4K gaming pushes this combo to its limits.