Lockdown Protocol

Resolution Scaling

Lockdown Protocol shows a pronounced resolution-dependent performance curve with this combination. At 1920x1080, the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER delivers 307 FPS on Low settings, which drops to 218 FPS on Medium, 191 FPS on High, and 143 FPS on Ultra. Moving to 2560x1440, the same settings produce 225 FPS, 160 FPS, 140 FPS, and 105 FPS respectively. At 3840x2160, the numbers fall further to 145 FPS on Low, 103 FPS on Medium, 90 FPS on High, and 68 FPS on Ultra.

The scaling pattern reveals that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as resolution rises. From 1080p Low to 4K Low, the frame rate drops by 162 FPS, a reduction of roughly 53%. The gap between 1080p Ultra and 4K Ultra is 75 FPS, indicating a similar proportional decline. Notably, the 1080p Low result of 307 FPS suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at very high rates, but the 4K Ultra figure of 68 FPS shows the GPU struggling under maximum pixel load.

The medium settings row provides min/max data that helps contextualize frame pacing. At 1080p Medium, the range spans 186 FPS to 251 FPS, a 65 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range narrows to 136 FPS to 184 FPS, a 48 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the range tightens further to 88 FPS to 119 FPS, a 31 FPS spread. This compression of variance at higher resolutions indicates that GPU-bound scenarios produce more consistent frame delivery, whereas lower resolutions expose more variable performance, likely due to CPU scheduling or driver overhead.

The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 27% of performance across all settings, while the move from 1440p to 4K costs an additional 35-38%. This suggests the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER has sufficient bandwidth and processing power to handle 1440p comfortably, but 4K Ultra pushes it to its limits. The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 672.3 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for the memory demands, yet the 68 FPS at 4K Ultra indicates the rendering pipeline, not memory capacity, is the bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER achieves a rank of 273 out of 2828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places the pairing in the top 10% of all combinations tested, a strong showing for a game that appears to favor high-end hardware. The percentile data for the individual components corroborates this: the CPU sits at the 96th percentile among all processors, while the GPU sits at the 76th percentile among all graphics cards.

The CPU's benchmark average of 84003 places it slightly ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, which scores 83807, a delta of 0.2%. It also edges out the AMD EPYC 4584PX (83090, delta 1.1%) and AMD EPYC 9135 (82980, delta 1.2%). The only near rival ahead of it is the AMD EPYC 7F72 at 85072, which leads by 1.3%. These margins are small, indicating that the 290K Plus is firmly in the top tier of desktop processors without a clear single leader.

For the GPU, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's average benchmark score of 31087 places it just behind the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 (31206, delta -0.4%) and NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q (31220, delta -0.4%). It trails the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell (31532, delta -1.4%) and NVIDIA TITAN RTX (31676, delta -1.9%) by slightly larger margins. These rival GPUs are not typical gaming cards, so the practical comparison in Lockdown Protocol favors the 4070 Ti SUPER given its measured frame rates.

The rank of 273 out of 2828 means there are 272 combinations that outperform this pairing in this specific game. Given that the CPU is near the top of its class and the GPU is mid-to-high tier, the limiting factor in the ranking is likely the GPU rather than the CPU. The data shows the CPU can push well over 300 FPS at 1080p Low, so any combination with a faster GPU would likely rank higher simply by virtue of superior graphics throughput.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC, with a chip design of AD103. It carries 8448 shading units, 264 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output pipelines. The GPU also includes 66 ray tracing cores and 264 tensor cores, which are relevant for Lockdown Protocol's rendering features if the game utilizes RT or DLSS. The base clock runs at 2340 MHz with a boost clock of 2610 MHz, and memory operates at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed.

The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 672.3 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a substantial amount of memory bandwidth, and the measured FPS data suggests it is sufficient for all tested settings in Lockdown Protocol. At 4K Ultra, the game still manages 68 FPS, which indicates the memory subsystem is not starving the GPU. The pixel rate of 250.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 689.0 GTexel/s give a sense of the GPU's raw fill rate capabilities.

In benchmark tests, the GPU scores 31811 in Passmark G3D, 18372 in Passmark GPU Compute, and 5569 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. The Geekbench scores show 199267 in OpenCL and 53683 in Vulkan. These synthetic numbers place the GPU at the 76th percentile among all graphics cards, which is respectable but not elite. The measured performance in Lockdown Protocol reflects this positioning: it handles 1080p and 1440p with ease, but 4K Ultra drops below the 70 FPS threshold.

The GPU's power draw is rated at 285 W TDP, with a suggested power supply of 600 W. The triple-slot cooler and 16-pin power connector indicate this is a substantial card, but thermal performance is not directly measured in the FPS data. The production status is listed as end-of-life, with a release date of 2024-01-23, and the launch MSRP is 799 USD.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are 307 FPS on Low, 218 FPS on Medium, 191 FPS on High, and 143 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting shows a minimum of 186 FPS and a maximum of 251 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra represents a 164 FPS drop, which is a 53% reduction. This wide spread indicates that Ultra settings impose significant rendering costs, likely from shadows, reflections, and post-processing effects.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 225 FPS on Low, 160 FPS on Medium, 140 FPS on High, and 105 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting shows a minimum of 136 FPS and a maximum of 184 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 120 FPS, a 53% reduction, mirroring the 1080p scaling pattern. The 1440p results are all comfortably above 100 FPS, making this resolution a sweet spot for high refresh rate monitors.

At 3840x2160, the averages fall to 145 FPS on Low, 103 FPS on Medium, 90 FPS on High, and 68 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting shows a minimum of 88 FPS and a maximum of 119 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 77 FPS, a 53% reduction, again consistent with the other resolutions. However, the absolute numbers at 4K are much lower, with only the Low preset exceeding 144 FPS.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: each settings tier costs roughly the same percentage of performance regardless of resolution. Low to Medium costs about 29-30%, Medium to High costs about 12-13%, and High to Ultra costs about 25-26%. This consistency suggests that the relative cost of each graphical feature is resolution-independent, while the absolute cost scales with pixel count.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 2560x1440 provides the best balance, with 160 FPS on Medium and 140 FPS on High. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are higher (218 FPS Medium, 191 FPS High), but the 1440p results are still well above 100 FPS, making it a viable high-refresh option.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84003, 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 trails the AMD EPYC 7F72 by 1.3%.

Q: Is the GPU's 16 GB of VRAM sufficient for Lockdown Protocol?

A: Based on the measured FPS, the 16 GB of GDDR6X memory is sufficient. The GPU maintains 68 FPS at 4K Ultra, and the memory bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s is not shown to be a bottleneck at any tested setting.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1080p with this setup?

A: The measured averages are 307 FPS on Low, 218 FPS on Medium, 191 FPS on High, and 143 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting has a minimum of 186 FPS and a maximum of 251 FPS.

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

A: This pairing ranks 273rd out of 2828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 10% of all combinations.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all graphics cards?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER sits at the 76th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 31087. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro M5000, scores 31206, a delta of -0.4%.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience at 1920x1080, the High preset at 191 FPS provides a strong combination of visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset drops to 143 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 25% performance cost for the extra visual fidelity. If maximizing frame rate is the priority, the Low preset at 307 FPS is the clear choice, though it sacrifices most graphical enhancements.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 140 FPS is the recommended balance. The Medium preset at 160 FPS offers a small performance boost, but the High preset likely provides better visual detail for a modest 20 FPS cost. The Ultra preset at 105 FPS is acceptable for those who prioritize image quality, but it falls below the 120 FPS threshold that many high refresh rate monitors support.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset at 103 FPS is the most sensible choice. The Low preset at 145 FPS is faster but visually sparse, while the High preset at 90 FPS and Ultra at 68 FPS are below the 100 FPS mark. The Medium preset's measured range of 88 FPS to 119 FPS indicates some frame pacing variance, but the average remains solid.

Across all resolutions, the data shows that Medium settings consistently deliver a frame rate that is roughly 50% higher than Ultra. The cost of moving from Medium to High is relatively small (about 12-13%), while the cost of moving from High to Ultra is larger (about 25-26%). This suggests that High settings offer the best performance-per-visual-quality tradeoff, with Ultra being reserved for scenarios where visual fidelity outweighs frame rate concerns.

CPU Role

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

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303. The Passmark multi-thread score is 60860, with a single-thread score of 4823. Other notable scores include 214760 in floating-point math and 166194 in integer math. The CPU's percentile ranking of 96 indicates it outperforms 96% of all processors.

For Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions. The 1080p Low result of 307 FPS shows the CPU can feed the GPU at very high frame rates, suggesting the game is not heavily CPU-bound at this setting. However, the variance in Medium settings (186 FPS to 251 FPS at 1080p) may indicate occasional CPU-driven frame dips, possibly from AI calculations or physics in this FPS title.

The CPU's 24 threads provide ample parallel processing capacity, and the high boost clock of 5.80 GHz ensures strong single-thread performance for game logic. The 36 MB of shared L3 cache helps maintain data locality for frequently accessed game assets. The CPU's benchmark average of 84003 places it in the top tier, with only marginal differences from its nearest rivals, meaning the CPU is unlikely to be the bottleneck in this pairing at most settings and resolutions.