Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

This combo pairs Intel's flagship mobile Core Ultra 9 275HX with NVIDIA's top-tier RTX 4090, and the measured frame rates in Lockdown Protocol show a system that scales predictably from 1080p to 4K, with the CPU becoming increasingly relevant as resolution drops. The dataset covers 12 measured configurations across three resolutions and four quality presets, giving a complete picture of how this pairing behaves in this FPS title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound curve at higher resolutions, but with enough headroom at 1080p to suggest the CPU is doing meaningful work. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 162 at 1920x1080 to 119 at 2560x1440, then down to 77 at 3840x2160. That is a 26.5% reduction going from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 35.3% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is nearly linear in pixel count, which points to the GPU being the primary limiter once you exceed 1080p.

Looking at Low settings, the story changes. At 1920x1080 Low, the system produces 262 FPS average. Dropping to 2560x1440 Low yields 192 FPS, a 26.7% decrease. At 4K Low, the average sits at 124 FPS, which is 35.4% lower than 1440p. These percentage drops are almost identical to the High preset scaling, indicating that even at Low settings, the rendering load scales predictably with resolution. However, the absolute numbers are much higher at Low, showing that the RTX 4090 has substantial headroom when graphical features are dialed back.

The Medium preset provides the only complete data with min and max FPS recorded. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 186 FPS with a min of 158 and max of 214. Moving to 2560x1440 Medium drops the average to 136 FPS (min 116, max 157). At 3840x2160 Medium, the average falls to 88 FPS with min 75 and max 101. The frame time consistency, as indicated by the spread between min and max, stays relatively tight across all three resolutions for Medium, with roughly a 30% delta between min and max at each step.

Ultra settings show the steepest resolution penalty. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 122 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 89 FPS, a 27% reduction. At 4K Ultra, the average falls to 58 FPS, which is 34.8% below the 1440p figure. This Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that dips below the 60 FPS threshold, making it marginal for high-refresh displays.

The pattern across all presets shows that the RTX 4090 scales almost exactly with pixel throughput from 1440p to 4K, losing roughly one-third of performance. The 1080p to 1440p step is slightly less punishing, losing about a quarter of performance, which suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is starting to become a co-limiting factor. This is further evidenced by the fact that the 1080p Low result of 262 FPS is substantially higher than the 1440p Low result, but the gap between 1440p and 4K at Low settings (192 to 124 FPS) is proportionally larger, indicating the GPU is fully saturated at those higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX is a 24-core, 24-thread mobile processor based on Arrow Lake-HX architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 2.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a 36 MB shared L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 per core. The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 67469. Its nearest rivals in synthetic testing include the Intel Xeon w5-3525 at 67673 (0.3% higher), the AMD EPYC 4484PX at 67822 (0.5% higher), and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5955WX at 67868 (0.6% higher), with the Intel Xeon 6515P trailing at 67006 (0.7% lower). These are all desktop or workstation-class parts, which puts the mobile 275HX in elite company.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role becomes most apparent at 1080p Low, where the system hits 262 FPS. This high frame rate indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU with well over 250 frames per second in this title when the GPU load is light. The fact that the 1080p Low result is more than double the 4K High result (262 vs 77 FPS) demonstrates that the CPU is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions, but rather the GPU's rendering workload is what limits performance.

The single-core performance of the 275HX, as measured by Cinebench R23 single-core at 2204 points and Geekbench single-core at 2458, is strong enough to handle game logic and draw calls without issue. The multi-core scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core result of 35589 and a Passmark multithread score of 55759, show substantial headroom for background tasks or streaming workloads while gaming. The 24 threads with no hyper-threading (24 cores, 24 threads) means each physical core handles one thread, which can be beneficial for gaming latency compared to designs with hyper-threading overhead.

The CPU's 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth, delivered via dual-channel DDR5, is ample for feeding the GPU in this game. The fact that the measured frame rates at 1080p Low reach 262 FPS suggests that memory bandwidth is not a limiting factor, as frame production at that rate requires efficient data movement. The 3 nm process node and 55 W TDP indicate a power-efficient design, though the boost clock of 5.40 GHz on a mobile chip is notable for pushing high single-threaded performance in games.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is built on the AD102 chip with Ada Lovelace architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It has 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs, with 128 ray tracing cores and 512 tensor cores. The GPU runs at a base clock of 2235 MHz with a boost clock of 2520 MHz, and its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory operates across a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. The FP32 compute throughput is 82.58 TFLOPS, which places it among the most powerful graphics cards available.

In the GPU benchmark database, the RTX 4090 holds the 88th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 60347. Its nearest rivals in synthetic tests are the Intel Arc Pro A60 at 60326 (0% difference), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 at 60140 (0.3% higher), and the AMD Radeon PRO V710 at 58657 (2.9% lower). The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M scores slightly higher at 61896, which is 2.5% above the 4090's average. These comparisons are based on aggregate benchmark scores, not gaming-specific performance, so the 4090's actual gaming results in Lockdown Protocol are what matter here.

The 4090's 24 GB of VRAM is far beyond what Lockdown Protocol requires at any resolution, so memory capacity is not a concern. The 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and high-resolution assets are not bottlenecks. The boost clock of 2520 MHz is moderately high, and the 128 ray tracing cores suggest that enabling ray tracing would be feasible, though the measured data does not include ray tracing settings.

Looking at the measured results, the GPU shows clear scaling with settings changes. At 4K, the average FPS goes from 124 at Low to 88 at Medium, then 77 at High, and finally 58 at Ultra. This represents a 53% reduction from Low to Ultra at 4K, which is a substantial settings penalty. At 1080p, the same comparison shows 262 FPS at Low down to 122 FPS at Ultra, a 53.4% reduction. The consistency of this percentage drop across resolutions indicates the GPU is the dominant factor in settings scaling.

The GPU's end-of-life production status is noted, but it remains a top-tier performer in this game. The 450 W TDP and triple-slot cooler design are substantial, but the performance per frame justifies the power draw in this context. The measured frame rates show that the 4090 can handle 4K High at 77 FPS, which is playable, and 1440p Ultra at 89 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh monitors.

How This Combo Ranks

This Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX + RTX 4090 combo ranks 806th out of 3714 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol. That places it in the top 21.7% of all tested systems, which is notable given that the database includes many desktop configurations with higher-power components. The rank reflects the mobile nature of the CPU, though the GPU is the same flagship desktop-class chip.

The rank of 806 out of 3714 means there are 805 combos that perform better in this game. Given that the RTX 4090 is the top consumer GPU in the database, the combos ranked above this one likely feature desktop CPUs with higher sustained clock speeds or larger cache configurations. The 275HX, despite being a 24-core mobile part with a 5.40 GHz boost, may not sustain those clocks as effectively as a desktop CPU with higher TDP allowances.

This ranking is specifically for Lockdown Protocol, and the game's engine appears to favor high single-threaded performance given the CPU's strong showing at 1080p. The fact that this combo still reaches 262 FPS at 1080p Low suggests that the CPU is not severely limiting, but the gap between this rank and the top combos indicates there is some headroom for improvement with different CPU choices. The 94th percentile CPU ranking and 88th percentile GPU ranking combine to produce a result that is better than the 78th percentile in this specific game, showing that the combo's synergy is solid but not exceptional.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear progression across settings. Low settings produce an average of 262 FPS, with no min or max recorded. Medium settings average 186 FPS, with a min of 158 and max of 214, giving a frame time range of 56 FPS. High settings drop to 162 FPS average, and Ultra settings fall to 122 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 76 FPS drop, while the step from Medium to High is 24 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 40 FPS. This suggests that Low to Medium has the largest performance impact, and Ultra carries a significant penalty over High.

At 2560x1440, the numbers scale down accordingly. Low settings average 192 FPS, Medium averages 136 FPS with min 116 and max 157, High averages 119 FPS, and Ultra averages 89 FPS. The delta between Low and Medium is 56 FPS, Medium to High is 17 FPS, and High to Ultra is 30 FPS. The Medium preset shows a tighter min-max range at 1440p (41 FPS spread) compared to 1080p (56 FPS spread), indicating more consistent frame pacing at higher resolution.

At 3840x2160, the results are significantly lower. Low settings average 124 FPS, Medium averages 88 FPS with min 75 and max 101, High averages 77 FPS, and Ultra averages 58 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 36 FPS, Medium to High is 11 FPS, and High to Ultra is 19 FPS. The min-max spread at 4K Medium is 26 FPS, which is the tightest of all Medium presets, showing that 4K actually provides more consistent frame times relative to the average.

Comparing across resolutions at the same settings, the data shows that Medium at 1080p (186 FPS) outperforms Low at 1440p (192 FPS) by a small margin, but High at 1080p (162 FPS) falls short of Low at 1440p (192 FPS). This indicates that the GPU load from resolution scaling is roughly equivalent to the load from settings changes at certain points. For instance, 1440p Medium at 136 FPS is close to 1080p Ultra at 122 FPS, suggesting that resolution and settings interact in ways that can be traded off.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting 4K, the data shows that High settings at 77 FPS is the best balance for smooth gameplay, as it stays above the 60 FPS threshold while providing good visual quality. Ultra at 58 FPS is technically playable but dips below 60, which can cause noticeable stutter on standard 60 Hz displays. Medium at 88 FPS offers a significant framerate boost with only a moderate visual reduction compared to High. For competitive play at 4K, Low at 124 FPS provides the highest performance, though it sacrifices most graphical features.

At 1440p, the recommendation is Ultra at 89 FPS if visual quality is the priority, since it stays well above 60 FPS. High at 119 FPS is the sweet spot for high-refresh 1440p monitors, providing a 30 FPS improvement over Ultra with minimal visual difference in most scenes. Medium at 136 FPS is better for esports-style play, and Low at 192 FPS will satisfy the most demanding competitive players. The Medium preset's min of 116 FPS ensures that even in heavy scenes, the framerate stays above 100.

At 1080p, the system has enough headroom to run Ultra at 122 FPS, which is excellent for 1440p-class monitors that are running at 1080p, or for high-refresh 1080p displays. High at 162 FPS is ideal for 165 Hz monitors, providing near-maximum refresh rates. Medium at 186 FPS and Low at 262 FPS are overkill for most displays, but Low at 262 FPS is the choice for 240 Hz panels or for players who want maximum responsiveness. The Medium preset's min of 158 FPS ensures no drops below 144 FPS, making it a safe choice for 144 Hz displays.

Overall, the best experience per the measured rows depends on the display's refresh rate and resolution. For 4K 60 Hz displays, High settings provide the best visual quality at a playable framerate. For 1440p 144 Hz displays, High at 119 FPS is the optimal choice, as it delivers near-refresh-rate performance with high fidelity. For 1080p 240 Hz displays, Low at 262 FPS is the only way to fully utilize the panel, though Medium at 186 FPS is a reasonable compromise if visual quality matters more than maximum framerate. The data consistently shows that dropping from High to Medium yields a larger framerate gain than dropping from Medium to Low, making Medium the most efficient preset for balancing quality and performance.