Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol is a fast-paced FPS where frame pacing and headroom matter more than absolute maximums. The pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus with the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT produces a distinctive performance curve that shifts its bottleneck character dramatically depending on resolution and quality settings. The data shows a system that is exceptionally strong at 1080p, capable at 1440p, but clearly constrained by the graphics card at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern as resolution increases, but with an unusual twist at the High preset. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings, average frame rate drops from 124 FPS to 91 FPS—a 27% reduction. This is a significant hit, but the real cliff appears when jumping to 3840x2160, where the average falls to 59 FPS. That represents a 35% drop from 1440p and a 52% drop from 1080p. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at High settings shows the RX 6750 XT is being pushed to its limits, with the pixel count quadrupling while frame rate barely holds above half.

At Low settings, the resolution scaling tells a different story. The 1080p Low result is 200 FPS, dropping to 147 FPS at 1440p (a 26.5% reduction) and then to 95 FPS at 4K (a 35% reduction from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and High presets indicates the GPU is the primary limiter in both cases, but the absolute headroom at 1080p Low suggests the CPU is still feeding frames efficiently. The gap between 1080p Low and 4K Low is 105 FPS, showing how much performance is lost to pixel throughput.

The Medium preset provides the most complete data set with min and max frames recorded. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 142 FPS with a minimum of 121 and maximum of 164. At 1440p Medium, this drops to 104 average (89 min, 120 max), and at 4K Medium it falls to 67 average (57 min, 77 max). The frame time consistency, as indicated by the min-max spread, actually tightens at higher resolutions—the 1080p spread is 43 FPS, 1440p is 31 FPS, and 4K is 20 FPS. This suggests that as resolution increases, the GPU becomes more uniformly saturated, reducing variance but also reducing playability at the top end.

Ultra settings reveal the most punishing scenario. The 1080p Ultra average is 93 FPS, which dips to 68 FPS at 1440p and collapses to 44 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is below the 60 FPS threshold generally considered smooth for competitive FPS play, and the data indicates this is entirely a GPU limitation. The scaling from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra shows a 53% performance loss, nearly identical to the High preset's 52% loss, confirming that the RX 6750 XT's memory bandwidth and compute resources are the binding constraint in all quality modes at 4K.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is a Navi 22 chip built on RDNA 2.0 architecture, featuring 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus. This configuration delivers 432.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth, which is a critical factor in Lockdown Protocol's texture-heavy environments. The GPU operates with a base clock of 2150 MHz and a boost clock of 2600 MHz, with a game clock of 2495 MHz that represents the sustained frequency during typical gaming loads. The 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs handle rasterization, while 40 RT cores provide ray tracing capability, though the game's performance profile suggests rasterization is the dominant workload.

The benchmark results show the GPU sits at the 71st percentile versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26011. Its nearest rivals in aggregate performance are the AMD Radeon R9 M395X (delta 0.5%), AMD FirePro W7100 (delta 0.6%), and AMD FirePro D700 (delta 0.7%), with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile trailing at 1.1% behind. These are all older or mobile parts, which contextualizes the RX 6750 XT's position as a mid-range desktop card. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is ample for Lockdown Protocol at 1440p and even 4K on lower presets, but the 4K Ultra average of 44 FPS indicates the GPU's compute throughput, not memory capacity, is the limiting factor.

The FP32 performance of 13.31 TFLOPS and texture rate of 416.0 GTexel/s provide the raw numbers behind the frame rates. At 4K High, the GPU produces 59 FPS average, which is roughly half the 1080p High result of 124 FPS. This halving aligns with the pixel count quadrupling, suggesting the GPU is scaling as expected with fill-rate-bound workloads. The pixel rate of 166.4 GPixel/s is the theoretical ceiling, and the measured results show the card approaching that limit at 4K Ultra where 44 FPS at 3840x2160 translates to roughly 365 million pixels per second—about 55% of the theoretical pixel rate, accounting for other pipeline bottlenecks.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 1275th out of 2828 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the 55th percentile of all combinations tested, meaning the system sits slightly above the median but well below the top tier of configurations. The rank is a composite measure that accounts for both the CPU's significant processing power and the GPU's mid-range position.

The CPU alone is a top-tier performer, ranking in the 96th percentile versus all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 84003. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (0.2% ahead), AMD EPYC 4584PX (1.1% ahead), and AMD EPYC 9135 (1.2% ahead), while the AMD EPYC 7F72 trails at 1.3% behind. The GPU's 71st percentile ranking is considerably lower, creating a mismatch that pulls the combo rank down. The data indicates that pairing this CPU with a stronger GPU would likely yield significantly better Lockdown Protocol performance, as the CPU has substantial headroom at higher resolutions.

The combo rank of 1275 out of 2828 suggests that roughly 1553 tested combinations outperform it in this specific game. This is not a poor result, but it does indicate that the RX 6750 XT is the component holding the system back from higher standing. The 1080p Low result of 200 FPS demonstrates the CPU's ability to push very high frame rates when the GPU is not the bottleneck, but the 4K Ultra result of 44 FPS shows how far the GPU drags the overall package down at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers strong performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 200 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. Medium settings yield 142 FPS average with a tight range of 121 to 164 FPS. High settings drop to 124 FPS average, and Ultra settings produce 93 FPS average. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 107 FPS, showing a wide performance envelope that allows players to prioritize visual quality or competitive frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains playable but with reduced headroom. Low settings deliver 147 FPS average, which is still excellent for competitive play. Medium settings produce 104 FPS average (89 min, 120 max), and High settings yield 91 FPS average. Ultra settings drop to 68 FPS average, which is below the 144 Hz refresh rate that many competitive players target but still above the 60 FPS minimum for smooth gameplay. The 1440p results show a 79 FPS spread from Low to Ultra, indicating the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings produce 95 FPS average, which is playable but not competitive. Medium settings drop to 67 FPS average (57 min, 77 max), and the minimum of 57 FPS shows the system can dip below 60 FPS. High settings produce 59 FPS average, and Ultra settings fall to 44 FPS average. The 4K results show a 51 FPS spread from Low to Ultra, with none of the settings achieving the 100+ FPS that would be ideal for a fast-paced FPS. The Medium preset's min of 57 FPS at 4K is particularly notable, as it indicates frame drops below the 60 FPS threshold even at moderate quality settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, based on Arrow Lake Refresh architecture and manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It features a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, with 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core. The processor supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration and a memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s, which provides ample data throughput for feeding the GPU in Lockdown Protocol.

The CPU's benchmark scores indicate exceptional single-thread and multi-thread performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 51731 multi-core and 7303 single-core, while in R20 it scores 21727 multi-core and 3067 single-core. The PassMark multi-thread score of 60860 and single-thread score of 4823 further confirm its strong gaming credentials. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking versus all CPUs places it among the top processors available, with its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, scoring only 0.2% higher on average.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is clearly demonstrated by the 1080p Low result of 200 FPS. This high frame rate indicates the CPU can process game logic and feed frames to the GPU faster than the GPU can render them at that resolution and quality level. The 4K results, where all settings produce lower frame rates, show that the CPU is not the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The data suggests that this CPU has sufficient headroom to support a more powerful GPU, as the frame rates are consistently GPU-limited above 1080p. The 24 cores and 24 threads provide robust multitasking capability, though the game's performance profile indicates it primarily uses a handful of cores for its main thread, where the 5.80 GHz boost clock is most valuable.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 2560x1440 as the sweet spot. At Medium settings, the system delivers 104 FPS average (89 min, 120 max), which balances visual quality with playable frame rates. At 1080p, all settings exceed 93 FPS, but 1440p offers better image clarity while staying above 60 FPS even at Ultra (68 FPS average).

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

A: Yes, but with significant compromises. At 4K Low settings, the average is 95 FPS, which is playable. However, at 4K High the average drops to 59 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 44 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 57 FPS, indicating frame drops below 60 FPS are possible.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84003, which is 0.2% behind the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and 1.1% behind the AMD EPYC 4584PX. It is 1.3% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7F72. This puts it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: Is the GPU the limiting factor in this system?

A: Yes, particularly at higher resolutions. The GPU ranks in the 71st percentile versus all GPUs with an average score of 26011, while the CPU ranks in the 96th percentile. The 1080p Low result of 200 FPS shows CPU headroom, but the 4K Ultra result of 44 FPS demonstrates GPU constraint.

Q: What is the frame rate consistency at 1440p Medium?

A: The measured data shows an average of 104 FPS with a minimum of 89 FPS and a maximum of 120 FPS. This 31 FPS spread indicates relatively stable performance, with the minimum staying well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 1275th out of 2828 tested combinations for Lockdown Protocol. This places it slightly above the median, reflecting the strong CPU but mid-range GPU. The rank indicates that upgrading the GPU would likely improve the system's standing significantly.