Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol pairs the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus with the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, a combination that yields a measured combo rank of 1950 out of 3714 tested configurations. The data shows a system that is firmly capable of competitive play at lower resolutions, but which requires careful settings management to maintain high frame rates at 4K. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS results, component roles, and scaling behavior based exclusively on the provided benchmark data.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average FPS this combo achieves at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo reaches an average of 191 FPS. This is the highest measured average across all tested resolutions and settings in the data.

Q: How does the combo rank overall in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The measured combo rank is 1950 out of 3714 tested combinations. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the field, indicating that while it performs adequately, many other configurations deliver higher frame rates in this title.

Q: What is the only settings preset at 4K that provides an average above 60 FPS?

A: At 3840x2160, only the Low preset achieves an average above 60 FPS, with a measured 90 FPS. The Medium preset falls to 64 FPS, while High and Ultra drop to 56 FPS and 42 FPS, respectively.

Q: How much faster is the 1080p Low result compared to the 4K Ultra result?

A: The difference is substantial. The 1080p Low average of 191 FPS is over 4.5 times higher than the 4K Ultra average of 42 FPS, highlighting the extreme performance cost of running maximum settings at the highest resolution.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking compared to all other GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT sits in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score is 27425, placing it near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, which scores 27565 with a delta of -0.5%.

Q: What is the CPU's single-thread performance score in Cinebench R23?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus scores 7303 points in Cinebench R23 single-core. Its multi-core score in the same test is 51731 points.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is the primary driver of frame rate scaling in Lockdown Protocol, particularly as resolution increases. The GPU is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture and features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s. Its boost clock is rated at 2581 MHz, with a game clock of 2424 MHz. These specifications translate into a pixel rate of 165.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 413.0 GTexel/s.

In the context of this game's measured results, the GPU's load becomes evident in the FPS deltas between settings. At 4K, moving from Low to Medium drops the average from 90 FPS to 64 FPS, a 26 FPS reduction. The step from Medium to High brings another 8 FPS loss to 56 FPS. This consistent degradation as settings increase indicates that the RX 6700 XT is the limiting factor at this resolution, struggling to maintain high throughput as shader and texture complexity rises.

The GPU's overall standing is solid but not elite. It holds a 72nd percentile position among all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, has an average score of 27565, which is only 0.5% higher than the RX 6700 XT's 27425. This near-parity in synthetic benchmarks, however, does not fully reflect the measured in-game performance, where the RX 6700 XT shows clear limits at 4K Ultra. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for the tested presets, as no out-of-memory issues are indicated by the data, but the raw compute power of 13.21 TFLOPS FP32 caps performance at higher settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. For players with a 1080p display, the High preset delivers an average of 118 FPS, which is smooth for most competitive scenarios. However, the Low preset at 191 FPS is the clear choice for esports-focused play, providing nearly 62% more frames than High. The Medium preset offers a balanced 135 FPS, but the jump from Low to Medium costs 56 FPS, making Low the most effective for pure performance.

At 1440p, the situation becomes more nuanced. The Low preset still leads with 140 FPS, but the High preset at 87 FPS is more viable here than at 4K. The Medium preset at 99 FPS offers a good middle ground, with a measured minimum of 84 FPS and maximum of 114 FPS, ensuring relatively stable frame times. For a 1440p high-refresh monitor, Low is recommended to stay above the 140 FPS mark, while Medium is acceptable for those prioritizing visual quality over maximum frame rate.

At 4K, the recommendations are more restrictive. The Low preset at 90 FPS is the only setting that provides a consistently playable experience above 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 64 FPS is borderline, with a minimum of 54 FPS that could cause noticeable stutter in fast-paced scenes. High and Ultra at 56 FPS and 42 FPS respectively are not recommended for competitive play, as the frame rates drop below the threshold for smooth motion. The data clearly shows that 4K Ultra is not a viable target for this combination.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT achieves a rank of 1950 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places the system in the 47th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning it outperforms slightly less than half of the field. This rank is somewhat surprising given the strength of the CPU, but it underscores the GPU's role as the bottleneck in this specific game.

The CPU is a top-tier processor, sitting in the 96th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 84003. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, scores 83807, a delta of only 0.2%. The GPU, however, is in the 72nd percentile, which pulls the overall combo rank down. The data indicates that pairing this high-end CPU with a mid-range GPU results in a system that is GPU-limited in Lockdown Protocol, especially at higher resolutions.

The gap between the combo's rank and the CPU's percentile is telling. While the CPU can handle thousands of threads and complex physics calculations, the GPU's 2560 shading units and 40 ray accelerators are insufficient to push frame rates higher at 4K. For a system ranked 1950th, the performance is respectable but not outstanding, and users should temper expectations for maximum settings at high resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 36 MB L3 cache. This configuration supports a memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s via dual-channel DDR5 memory.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game logic. The measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 191 FPS, which is a high frame rate that suggests the CPU is capable of keeping up with the GPU's output. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and single-core score of 7303 indicate strong overall performance, with the single-core result being particularly relevant for gaming workloads.

However, the CPU's high performance does not translate into superior frame rates at higher resolutions. The data shows that as resolution increases, the FPS drops proportionally, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with a PassMark single-thread score of 4823, ensures that it is not holding back the GPU in this title. The bottleneck shifts entirely to the graphics card, as evidenced by the steep FPS declines from 1080p to 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields an average of 191 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 135 FPS, with a minimum of 115 FPS and maximum of 156 FPS. High settings produce 118 FPS, while Ultra settings fall to 89 FPS. This shows a clear hierarchy where each step up in settings costs between 16 and 56 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 140 FPS. Medium settings deliver 99 FPS, with a range of 84 to 114 FPS. High settings achieve 87 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 65 FPS. The relative performance gap between Low and Ultra narrows at this resolution, from a 102 FPS difference at 1080p to a 75 FPS difference at 1440p. This suggests that the GPU is becoming more saturated, reducing the impact of settings changes.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 90 FPS. Medium settings fall to 64 FPS, with a minimum of 54 FPS and maximum of 74 FPS. High settings produce 56 FPS, and Ultra settings bottom out at 42 FPS. The 4K results show the most dramatic scaling, with Low being the only preset above 60 FPS. The data indicates that at 4K, the GPU is fully utilized, and even the Low preset struggles to maintain high frame rates in demanding scenes.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the system's limiting component. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 191 at 1080p to 140 at 1440p, a 26.7% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the FPS drops from 140 to 90, a 35.7% reduction. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 101 FPS, or 52.9%. This significant decline is a strong indicator that the GPU is the bottleneck, as a CPU-limited system would show less FPS variation across resolutions.

The scaling pattern is even more pronounced at High settings. At 1080p, the average is 118 FPS. This drops to 87 FPS at 1440p, a 26.3% reduction, and then to 56 FPS at 4K, a 35.6% reduction from 1440p. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 62 FPS, or 52.5%. The consistency of these percentage drops across different settings presets confirms that resolution scaling is uniform, driven by the GPU's pixel processing capabilities.

At Ultra settings, the scaling steepens. The 1080p average of 89 FPS drops to 65 FPS at 1440p, a 27.0% reduction, and then to 42 FPS at 4K, a 35.4% reduction from 1440p. The total drop is 47 FPS, or 52.8%. This uniform scaling across all presets indicates that the CPU is not introducing any variability; the frame rate is purely limited by the GPU's ability to render pixels at higher resolutions. The RX 6700 XT's 165.2 GPixel/s pixel rate is simply insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K, regardless of the CPU's processing power.