Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol’s performance with the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and AMD Radeon RX 7700 shows a combination that scales predictably with resolution and settings. The measured data indicates a system where the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s strong single-threaded performance keeps frame rates high at lower settings. The overall ranking places this combo in the 45th percentile of all tested configurations, suggesting a balanced but not top-tier pairing for this FPS title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, with the average FPS falling by roughly 70% across all settings. At High settings, the transition from 1920x1080 (124 FPS) to 3840x2160 (59 FPS) represents a 52.4% reduction in performance. This steep decline indicates that the Radeon RX 7700’s rendering capabilities become the limiting factor as pixel count increases, rather than the CPU holding the system back.

The gap between 1080p and 1440p is less severe but still significant. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 142 at 1920x1080 to 104 at 2560x1440, a 26.8% decrease. Moving from 1440p to 4K at the same settings yields a further drop to 67 FPS, a 35.6% reduction. The scaling pattern suggests that the GPU’s 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256-bit bus width are sufficient for 4K capacity, but the raw compute throughput (25.18 TFLOPS FP32) begins to struggle with the increased pixel workload.

At Low settings, the trend is even more pronounced: 200 FPS at 1080p drops to 147 FPS at 1440p (26.5% lower), then to 95 FPS at 4K (35.4% lower than 1440p). The fact that Low settings at 4K still achieves nearly 100 FPS indicates that the CPU is not a limiting factor even at lower resolutions, as the frame rate remains high. The 24-core, 24-thread configuration with a 5.80 GHz boost clock provides ample headroom for the game’s logic and physics, allowing the GPU to be the sole determinant of performance at higher resolutions.

The data reveals that the system is GPU-bound at 4K across all settings, while at 1080p the frame rates are high enough that the CPU’s role becomes more relevant. The average FPS at 1080p Low (200) approaches the refresh rate limits of many displays, suggesting that the CPU can push well beyond what the GPU can render at higher resolutions. This behavior is consistent with a well-balanced pairing where the CPU’s 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 115.2 GB/s memory bandwidth do not create a bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows show a clear hierarchy across all resolutions, with Low settings providing the highest average FPS and Ultra the lowest. At 1920x1080, Low achieves 200 FPS, Medium 142 FPS, High 124 FPS, and Ultra 93 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs 58 FPS (29%), while the jump from High to Ultra costs 31 FPS (25%). For competitive play where frame rate is paramount, Low settings at 1080p offer the best experience, but the 200 FPS average comes at the cost of visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the pattern is similar: Low at 147 FPS, Medium at 104 FPS, High at 91 FPS, and Ultra at 68 FPS. The Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot for this resolution, providing a 104 FPS average while maintaining a minimum of 88 FPS and a maximum of 120 FPS. This suggests that Medium offers a playable experience with acceptable visual quality, as the frame rate stays above the 60 FPS threshold even in demanding scenes.

For 3840x2160, the options are more constrained. Low settings achieve 95 FPS, Medium 67 FPS, High 59 FPS, and Ultra 44 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K is the only configuration that maintains a minimum of 57 FPS, making it the only viable choice for consistent 60 FPS gameplay. High settings dip to 59 FPS average, which is borderline, while Ultra falls below the playable threshold. The data indicates that for 4K, Medium is the recommended preset to balance frame rate and visual quality, as it provides a 67 FPS average with a minimum above 57 FPS.

The minimum FPS values only recorded for Medium settings across all resolutions (57 at 4K, 88 at 1440p, 121 at 1080p) suggest that this preset offers the most stable performance. The lack of min/max data for other presets makes direct comparison difficult, but the Medium values indicate consistent frame pacing. For players prioritizing smoothness, Medium is the safest choice across all resolutions, offering the best combination of average FPS and minimum frame rate stability.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1275 out of 2828 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the 45th percentile. This mid-pack ranking indicates that while the system performs adequately, it is not exceptional for this title. The CPU’s percentile vs all CPUs is 96, meaning it outperforms 96% of all processors, while the GPU’s percentile vs all GPUs is 58, showing it is slightly above average but not a top-tier graphics card.

The CPU’s average benchmark score of 84003 places it just 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (83807) and 1.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4584PX (83090). However, it trails the AMD EPYC 7F72 by 1.3% (85072). These deltas are minimal, indicating that the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is competitively positioned among its nearest rivals, but the differences are within a small margin. The 96th percentile CPU ranking suggests that processor performance is not the limiting factor in this combo’s overall rank.

The GPU’s average benchmark score of 15852 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15862, -0.1% delta) and slightly behind the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (16014, -1.0%) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129, -1.7%). The RX 7700 outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 by 1.1% (15679). The GPU’s 58th percentile ranking places it firmly in the mid-range, which aligns with the combo’s overall mid-pack position. The data suggests that the GPU is the more significant contributor to the combo’s rank, as its percentile is substantially lower than the CPU’s.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Lockdown Protocol with this combo?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 at Medium settings achieves 104 FPS average with a minimum of 88 FPS, providing a balanced experience. At 1920x1080, Low settings reach 200 FPS for maximum frame rate, while 4K at Medium is the only preset that maintains a minimum above 57 FPS.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus scores 84003 on average, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (83807), 1.1% higher than the AMD EPYC 4584PX (83090), and 1.2% higher than the AMD EPYC 9135 (82980). It is 1.3% lower than the AMD EPYC 7F72 (85072).

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

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700 scores 15852 on average, which is 0.1% lower than the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15862), 1.0% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (16014), and 1.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129). It is 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15679).

Q: Is this combo better for 1080p or 4K gaming?

A: At 1080p, the combo achieves 200 FPS on Low settings and 93 FPS on Ultra, making it well-suited for high-refresh-rate displays. At 4K, the best average FPS is 95 on Low settings, with Ultra dropping to 44 FPS, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the combo’s overall ranking in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The combo ranks 1275 out of 2828 tested combinations, placing it in the 45th percentile. This indicates a mid-pack performance level for this specific game.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The card’s boost clock is 2459 MHz, with a game clock of 2041 MHz and a base clock of 1900 MHz. The 40 ray tracing cores and 96 ROPs contribute to its rendering capabilities, while the 2560 shading units and 160 TMUs handle pixel and texture processing. The GPU’s FP32 performance of 25.18 TFLOPS is a key indicator of its raw compute power.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU’s role is evident in the resolution scaling. The 16 GB memory capacity ensures that even at 4K Ultra, there is no texture thrashing, but the compute throughput limits performance. The average FPS at 4K Ultra is 44, which is 56% lower than at 1080p Ultra (93 FPS). This drop aligns with the four-fold increase in pixel count, suggesting that the GPU’s fill rate and shading capabilities are the primary constraints.

The GPU’s 58th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with a Passmark G3D score of 20974, indicates it is a mid-range performer. The nearest rival, the AMD Radeon R9 370X, has a nearly identical average score (15862 vs 15852), showing that the RX 7700 offers comparable synthetic performance to an older generation card. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2865 further contextualizes its gaming performance, though Lockdown Protocol’s specific engine demands are unique.

The RX 7700’s 5 nm process node and 28,100 million transistors on a 346 mm² die suggest efficient power delivery, but the 200 W TDP and 2x 8-pin power connectors indicate it requires substantial power. The 550 W suggested PSU provides headroom for the rest of the system. The GPU’s boost clock of 2459 MHz is relatively high, allowing for good performance at lower resolutions where the CPU can feed frames quickly.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has 24 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. The 36 MB of shared L3 cache, along with 3 MB per core L2 cache and 192 KB per core L1 cache, provides substantial on-die storage for game data. The CPU’s memory support for DDR5 with a dual-channel bus and 115.2 GB/s bandwidth ensures fast data transfer to the GPU.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU’s role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game logic. The high boost clock of 5.80 GHz and 24 threads provide ample single-threaded performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303 and multi-core score of 51731. The Passmark single-thread score of 4823 further confirms the CPU’s strength in lightly-threaded workloads common in FPS games.

The CPU’s 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84003, demonstrates that it is a top-tier processor. The nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, scores 0.2% lower, showing that the 290K Plus is marginally faster in synthetic tests. The CPU’s performance in Lockdown Protocol is never a bottleneck, as even at 1080p Low (200 FPS), the CPU can sustain frame rates well above typical display refresh rates.

The 24 cores and 24 threads are more than sufficient for the game’s demands, and the lack of hyperthreading (24 threads for 24 cores) does not hinder performance in this title. The CPU’s TDP of 125 W and support for DDR5 memory indicate a modern platform that can handle the game’s data streaming requirements. The Arc Xe-LPG integrated graphics are present but not utilized for gaming, as the discrete RX 7700 handles all rendering tasks.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 200 on Low settings to 93 on Ultra. The Medium preset achieves 142 FPS with a minimum of 121 and a maximum of 163, while High settings reach 124 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 107 FPS, highlighting the significant impact of settings on performance at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS ranges from 147 on Low to 68 on Ultra. Medium settings achieve 104 FPS with a minimum of 88 and a maximum of 120, while High settings reach 91 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 79 FPS, showing a slightly narrower spread than at 1080p due to the GPU becoming more of a limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 95 on Low to 44 on Ultra. Medium settings achieve 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 and a maximum of 77, while High settings reach 59 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 51 FPS, indicating that the GPU’s rendering limits compress the range of achievable performance at this resolution.

The data shows a consistent pattern: Low settings provide the highest frame rates at every resolution, while Ultra provides the lowest. The Medium preset consistently offers a playable frame rate above 60 FPS at all resolutions except 4K, where it averages 67 FPS. The minimum FPS values for Medium settings show that even at 4K, the frame rate does not drop below 57 FPS, making it the most stable preset for consistent performance.