Lockdown Protocol

The pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 in Lockdown Protocol produces a dataset that is clearly segmented by graphics load. The RTX 2060, built on the 12nm Turing architecture with 1920 shading units and 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock of 1680 MHz and base clock of 1365 MHz define its compute ceiling. The Core Ultra 7 265K, with 20 cores and 20 threads, boosts to 5.50 GHz, offering substantial headroom. The measured frames per second across all resolutions indicate that the GPU becomes the primary constraint as settings increase, while the CPU’s high single-thread performance—evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7060—ensures it does not bottleneck at lower graphical loads.

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

The RTX 2060’s memory configuration is a central factor in this game’s performance scaling. With 6 GB of GDDR6 RAM, the card operates within a 192-bit memory interface, yielding a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. In Lockdown Protocol, the impact of this VRAM capacity is observable in the frame rate deltas between Low and Ultra presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 145.8 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 65.8 FPS—a difference of 80 FPS that reflects both compute and memory pressure. The 14 Gbps effective memory speed helps maintain throughput, but the 6 GB capacity is a limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings, where texture data exceeds what the card can efficiently cache.

The GPU’s clock behavior also matters. The base clock of 1365 MHz and boost clock of 1680 MHz are modest by modern standards, and the measured results show that the card’s 6.451 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is adequate for 1080p gaming but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset yields just 33.1 FPS, indicating that the GPU is saturated. The 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores present in the TU106 chip do not appear to provide a meaningful advantage in this title, as the benchmark results show no evidence of ray tracing or DLSS being engaged. The 160 W TDP and dual-slot design are consistent with a card that is thermally capable but architecturally dated for the demands of 2024’s FPS titles.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Core Ultra 7 265K and RTX 2060 ranks 1334 out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places the pairing in the 81st percentile of all configurations, meaning roughly 81% of tested setups outperform it. The rank is heavily influenced by the GPU, as the CPU’s benchmark percentile is much higher. The Core Ultra 7 265K sits in the 97th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79102. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF, which scores 79240 (a delta of -0.2%), and the Intel Core i9-14900KF at 79245 (also -0.2% delta). This indicates the CPU is not the bottleneck in this combo.

Conversely, the RTX 2060 ranks in the 58th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16074. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (score 15996, delta 0.5%), the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (score 16351, delta -1.7%), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (score 15786, delta 1.8%). The GPU’s mid-pack standing explains why the combo ranks low overall: the CPU is high-end, but the GPU drags the combination down. The data shows that pairing a top-tier processor with a mid-range graphics card yields a system that is CPU-rich but GPU-poor, resulting in a rank that reflects the weakest link.

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

For a balanced experience, the Medium preset is the most sensible choice, particularly at 1080p and 1440p. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 105.5 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold and close to the High preset’s 88.3 FPS. The jump from Medium to Ultra at 1080p costs 39.7 FPS, dropping to 65.8 FPS—a significant loss for marginal visual gains. At 2560x1440, Medium yields 74.8 FPS, which is playable, while High drops to 69.2 FPS and Ultra falls to 48.6 FPS. The Low preset at 1440p produces 108.3 FPS, but the visual quality trade-off is substantial for a 33.5 FPS gain over Medium.

At 4K, the recommendations shift. The Medium preset at 3840x2160 produces 48.3 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay. The Low preset at 4K yields 71.4 FPS, making it the only 4K setting that approaches a comfortable frame rate. High at 4K (44.4 FPS) and Ultra at 4K (33.1 FPS) are both below playable thresholds. The data suggests that for the best experience, users should prioritize Medium at 1080p or 1440p, and only use Low at 4K if resolution is non-negotiable. The High preset is a middle ground that offers 88.3 FPS at 1080p but degrades quickly at higher resolutions.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a clear hierarchy across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 145.8 FPS, the highest of any configuration tested. Medium follows at 105.5 FPS, High at 88.3 FPS, and Ultra at 65.8 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 80 FPS, demonstrating that the GPU’s compute units are the primary driver of performance at this resolution. The CPU’s 5.50 GHz boost clock ensures that even the Low preset, which is less GPU-bound, does not expose a CPU limitation.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop proportionally. Low yields 108.3 FPS, Medium 74.8 FPS, High 69.2 FPS, and Ultra 48.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 59.7 FPS, indicating that the GPU is becoming more saturated as pixel count increases. At 3840x2160, the performance collapse is evident. Low produces 71.4 FPS, Medium 48.3 FPS, High 44.4 FPS, and Ultra 33.1 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread here is 38.3 FPS, but the absolute values are low, confirming that the RTX 2060’s 6 GB VRAM and 192-bit bus are insufficient for 4K gaming at any preset above Low. The data shows a consistent pattern: each resolution step from 1080p to 1440p to 4K reduces frame rates by roughly 20-30%, with the most severe impact at Ultra settings.

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

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals the scaling behavior of this combo. At the Low preset, FPS drops from 145.8 at 1080p to 108.3 at 1440p, a 25.7% reduction, and then to 71.4 at 4K, a further 34.1% reduction from 1440p. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 51.0%. At the Medium preset, the drop is from 105.5 to 74.8 to 48.3, a cumulative 54.2% reduction. High preset shows a drop from 88.3 to 69.2 to 44.4, totaling 49.7%. Ultra preset drops from 65.8 to 48.6 to 33.1, a 49.7% reduction.

These percentages are remarkably consistent across settings, hovering around 50% from 1080p to 4K. This consistency indicates that the limiting component is the GPU, as a CPU bottleneck would show diminishing FPS drops at higher resolutions (since the CPU would become less relevant). The RTX 2060’s fillrate and memory bandwidth are the constraints. The pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s and texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s are simply too low for 8.3 million pixels at 4K. The 336.0 GB/s bandwidth is also insufficient for the increased data transfer required at 4K, particularly with 6 GB of VRAM that may spill over to system memory. The CPU’s 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth and 30 MB of L3 cache are more than adequate, as evidenced by the fact that the frame rate scaling is nearly linear with pixel count. This data confirms that the Core Ultra 7 265K is not the limiting factor; rather, the RTX 2060’s Turing architecture, despite its 30 RT cores, is outclassed by the demands of Lockdown Protocol at high resolutions.