Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol is a 2024 FPS that responds predictably to the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and RTX 4060 pairing, with the data showing a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate across the three tested resolutions. The measured results indicate that the most balanced experience is found at 2560x1440 on Medium settings, where the combo delivers an average of 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS and a maximum of 113 FPS. This is the only configuration in the entire dataset that provides both a triple-digit average and a minimum frame rate above 60, making it the sweet spot for consistent competitive play. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset also impresses with 134 FPS average and a 114 FPS minimum, but the 1440p Medium result offers a sharper image with only a 36 FPS average penalty, which is a worthwhile trade for most users. The Ultra preset at any resolution is not recommended, as it drops to 88 FPS at 1080p, 64 FPS at 1440p, and 42 FPS at 4K, with the latter two falling below the threshold for smooth high-refresh-rate gaming.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark rows reveal a consistent hierarchy across all resolutions: Low produces the highest frame rates, followed by Medium, then High, with Ultra consistently last. At 1920x1080, the spread is significant, with Low hitting 189 FPS average, Medium at 134 FPS, High at 117 FPS, and Ultra at 88 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs 55 FPS on average, but the visual improvement is substantial, while the step from Medium to High only costs 17 FPS, making High a viable alternative for those who prioritize image quality over raw speed. However, the data indicates that the Medium preset at 1080p is the best overall choice for this combo, as it maintains a 114 FPS minimum, ensuring no dips below the 60 FPS mark even during intense firefights. At 2560x1440, the pattern repeats, with Low at 138 FPS, Medium at 98 FPS, High at 86 FPS, and Ultra at 64 FPS. Here, Medium is again the standout, as it is the only preset that keeps the minimum above 80 FPS while still delivering near-100 FPS averages. High at 1440p is acceptable for slower-paced gameplay, but the 86 FPS average and lack of a reported minimum make it riskier for fast-paced FPS action. For 4K, the situation is more constrained, with Medium delivering 63 FPS average and a 54 FPS minimum, which is borderline playable but not ideal. Low at 4K achieves 89 FPS, which is smooth but visually compromised, and High at 55 FPS or Ultra at 42 FPS are not viable for a competitive shooter. The measured data strongly suggests that players should default to Medium settings at 1080p or 1440p, and only drop to Low if they need absolute maximum frame rates at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the primary driver of frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, and its 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 272.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for the game’s demands at the tested settings. The GPU’s 1830 MHz base clock and 2460 MHz boost clock, paired with 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, provide the raw compute power needed for the game’s rendering workload. The data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the dramatic frame rate drops when moving from 1440p to 4K. At 1440p Medium, the 4060 delivers 98 FPS, but at 4K Medium, that figure falls to 63 FPS, a 36% reduction that correlates with the increased pixel count. The RTX 4060’s 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores are present but not heavily utilized in this title, as Lockdown Protocol does not appear to rely on ray tracing or DLSS based on the measured rows. The GPU’s 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 performance is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K results show that it struggles to maintain high frame rates even on Medium settings. The 4060 sits at the 61st percentile among all GPUs in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 17639, placing it just behind the AMD Radeon HD 7790 by 0.2% and just ahead of the AMD Radeon 780M by 0.3%. This close grouping suggests that the 4060 is a mid-range performer, and the Lockdown Protocol data reflects that positioning, with strong 1080p performance but diminishing returns as resolution increases. The GPU’s 8 GB VRAM is adequate for the game’s textures, as no memory-related stuttering is evident in the measured FPS data, but it is a consideration for future titles with larger asset pools.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for a competitive advantage in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The data indicates that 1920x1080 on Medium settings provides the best balance, with a 134 FPS average and a 114 FPS minimum, ensuring no drops below the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining decent visual quality.

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

A: Yes, but with compromises. At 4K Medium, the combo achieves a 63 FPS average with a 54 FPS minimum, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. For smoother 4K performance, dropping to Low yields 89 FPS average, but at a significant visual cost.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest rivals in terms of overall GPU performance?

A: The RTX 4060 has an average benchmark score of 17639, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD Radeon HD 7790’s 17666, but 0.3% higher than the AMD Radeon 780M’s 17588. It also outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro 560 by 0.5% and the AMD Radeon Pro 460 by 0.7%.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for frame rates in this game?

A: The measured data shows that frame rates scale heavily with resolution, which indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At 1080p Medium, the combo hits 134 FPS, but at 4K Medium, it drops to 63 FPS, a 53% reduction that is attributable to the GPU’s workload.

Q: Are there any settings that should be avoided entirely?

A: The Ultra preset at 4K is the worst performer, with a 42 FPS average, which is unplayable for an FPS. Similarly, 4K High at 55 FPS is not recommended. At 1440p and 1080p, Ultra is usable but not optimal, with 64 FPS and 88 FPS averages respectively.

Q: How does the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus rank among all CPUs?

A: The CPU sits at the 96th percentile among all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 84003. It is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and 1.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4584PX, but 1.3% behind the AMD EPYC 7F72.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 1514th out of 2828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. This ranking is somewhat surprising given the CPU’s high performance, but it underscores the fact that the RTX 4060 is the limiting factor in this pairing. The combo’s percentile position suggests that while it is not a top-tier performer, it is far from the bottom, and the measured FPS data shows that it can deliver playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p. The ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU’s mid-range position, as the CPU is capable of far more than the 4060 can feed it. For context, the CPU alone ranks at the 96th percentile, while the GPU sits at the 61st percentile, indicating a significant mismatch in capability. This imbalance means that in CPU-bound scenarios, the combo will perform exceptionally well, but in GPU-bound scenarios like high-resolution gaming, the 4060 holds the system back. The 1514th rank out of 2828 combos places it just above the median, which is consistent with a mid-range GPU paired with a high-end CPU. Users looking to improve this ranking would need to upgrade the GPU, as the CPU is already near the top of the performance curve. The data also shows that the combo’s performance is consistent across the board, with no anomalous spikes or drops in the measured FPS, indicating a stable pairing that does not suffer from bottlenecking issues at lower resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The CPU features 192 KB of L1 cache per core, 3 MB of L2 cache per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache, which provides ample memory for game logic and physics calculations. In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU’s role is to handle the game’s simulation, AI, and physics, while the GPU renders the frames. The measured data shows that the CPU is more than capable of keeping up with the GPU, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates scale almost entirely with resolution and settings, not with CPU load. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 189 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s maximum frame output for this game, as the GPU is not heavily taxed at this resolution. The CPU’s benchmark scores are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303, along with a Passmark multi-thread score of 60860 and a single-thread score of 4823. These scores place the CPU at the 96th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84003. The CPU is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, which has an average score of 83807, and 1.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4584PX at 83090. It also leads the AMD EPYC 9135 by 1.2% but trails the AMD EPYC 7F72 by 1.3%. This performance level means that in Lockdown Protocol, the CPU is never the bottleneck, even at the highest frame rates measured. The dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 115.2 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for the game’s data transfer needs, and the PCIe Gen 5 interface with 20 lanes provides ample bandwidth for the GPU, although the RTX 4060 uses PCIe 4.0 x8. Overall, the CPU’s role in this combo is to provide a solid foundation that allows the GPU to perform to its full potential, and the data confirms that it does so without any issues.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Lockdown Protocol covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a comprehensive view of the combo’s performance. At 3840x2160 (4K), the results show a clear progression from Low to Ultra. Low settings deliver an average of 89 FPS, which is the only 4K preset above 60 FPS. Medium settings produce a 63 FPS average with a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 73 FPS, making it playable but with occasional dips. High settings drop to 55 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 42 FPS, both of which are below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Moving to 2560x1440 (1440p), the performance improves significantly. Low settings achieve 138 FPS average, Medium delivers 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS and a maximum of 113 FPS, High reaches 86 FPS, and Ultra manages 64 FPS. The 1440p Medium result is the standout, as it is the only 1440p preset with a minimum frame rate above 80 FPS. At 1920x1080 (1080p), the combo reaches its peak performance. Low settings produce 189 FPS average, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. Medium settings deliver 134 FPS with a minimum of 114 FPS and a maximum of 154 FPS, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. High settings achieve 117 FPS, and Ultra hits 88 FPS. The data shows a consistent pattern: each resolution step up from 1080p to 1440p to 4K reduces frame rates by roughly 30-40% at the same settings. For example, Medium at 1080p is 134 FPS, at 1440p it is 98 FPS, and at 4K it is 63 FPS. This scaling is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, confirming that the RTX 4060 is the primary performance limiter. The minimum FPS values are only reported for Medium settings, and they show that the combo maintains reasonable frame time consistency, with the 1080p Medium minimum of 114 FPS being particularly strong. Overall, the measured FPS breakdown illustrates that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K reserved for less demanding settings or slower-paced gameplay.