Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti delivers a high-refresh-rate experience in Lockdown Protocol, with measured average frame rates ranging from 69 FPS at 4K Ultra to 313 FPS at 1080p Low. This combination ranks in the top 8.2% of all tested configurations (232nd out of 2,828 combos), indicating strong overall performance headroom. The data shows a system that remains highly playable across all resolution and settings combinations, though the scaling patterns reveal where each component's influence begins and ends.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K follows a predictable pattern that highlights the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 313 at 1080p to 230 at 1440p — a 26.5% reduction — and then to 148 at 4K, representing a further 35.7% decline. This steep drop-off as resolution increases is classic GPU-bound behavior, with the rendering load scaling directly with pixel count.

At Medium settings, the scaling is slightly less aggressive in percentage terms but still substantial. The 1080p average of 223 FPS falls to 163 at 1440p (a 26.9% decrease) and then to 105 at 4K (a 35.6% further reduction). The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and Medium presets suggests the GPU is the limiting factor throughout, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom to avoid becoming a constraint.

High settings show a similar trajectory: 194 FPS at 1080p, 142 at 1440p, and 92 at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop of 26.8% and the 1440p-to-4K drop of 35.2% closely mirror the Low and Medium patterns. Ultra settings, however, exhibit the largest absolute declines: from 146 FPS at 1080p to 107 at 1440p (a 26.7% reduction) and then to 69 at 4K (a 35.5% further drop). This consistency across all four settings presets — with 1440p costing roughly 27% of performance and 4K costing an additional 35% — indicates a well-balanced scaling curve where no single setting tier behaves anomalously.

The 4K-to-1080p ratio at Low settings (148 vs 313 FPS, or 47.3%) and at Ultra (69 vs 146 FPS, or 47.3%) is nearly identical, reinforcing that resolution scaling is uniform regardless of graphical load. This uniformity suggests the RTX 5070 Ti's 896.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 16 GB of GDDR7 VRAM are sufficient to prevent memory-related bottlenecks from distorting the scaling pattern, even at 4K with the highest settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus brings substantial compute resources to Lockdown Protocol, with 24 cores and 24 threads operating at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. This processor sits in the 96th percentile of all CPUs in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 84,003. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, scores 83,807 — a difference of only 0.2%, placing the 290K Plus effectively at parity with its immediate predecessor in synthetic workloads.

The measured frame rates, particularly at 1080p Low where the CPU has the most influence relative to GPU load, indicate that the processor is not a limiting factor in Lockdown Protocol. At 1080p Low, the system produces 313 FPS average, which is an extremely high frame rate that would strain many CPUs in other titles. The fact that this combination achieves this figure suggests the 290K Plus's single-thread performance — evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7,303 and PassMark single-thread score of 4,823 — is more than adequate for the game's primary thread.

The passmark multithread score of 60,860 and the Cinebench R23 multicore score of 51,731 demonstrate the CPU's brute-force capability for heavily threaded workloads, but Lockdown Protocol as an FPS title likely benefits more from the high boost clock of 5.80 GHz. The 24 threads provide ample parallelism for any background tasks, but the game's core simulation and physics threads will primarily leverage the strong single-core performance. The CPU's passmark physics score of 3,315 (which is a per-thread measurement) further confirms that individual core performance is robust.

Comparing to the nearest rivals in the database, the 290K Plus's 0.2% edge over the 285K and 1.1% advantage over the AMD EPYC 4584PX (average score 83,090) are marginal in synthetic terms, and these differences are unlikely to manifest as meaningful frame rate variations in a GPU-bound scenario like 4K Ultra. However, at 1080p Low where the CPU has more influence, even a small per-core advantage could contribute to the 313 FPS figure. The EPYC 9135 trails by 1.2% (82,980 average score), while the AMD EPYC 7F72 leads by 1.3% (85,072), but all four CPUs occupy essentially the same performance tier.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is the dominant component in this configuration for Lockdown Protocol, and the resolution scaling data confirms this. With 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth, the GPU has ample resources for 4K textures and effects. The 8,960 shading units, 280 TMUs, and 96 ROPs provide substantial raw throughput, with the boost clock of 2,452 MHz driving a pixel rate of 235.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 686.6 GTexel/s.

The GPU's 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 49,957, places it in the upper tier of graphics hardware. Its nearest rival in the database is the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64, which scores 50,001 — just 0.1% higher, essentially a statistical tie. The Intel Arc A550M trails by 0.4% at 49,737, while the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT leads by 2.0% at 50,951. The RX 6800 XT trails by 3.1% at 48,477. These narrow margins in synthetic benchmarks suggest the RTX 5070 Ti is competitive with previous-generation flagship cards, but the actual game performance data shows it is clearly sufficient for Lockdown Protocol's demands.

The measured FPS numbers reveal that the GPU is the primary scaling factor across resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the average of 69 FPS is the lowest recorded figure, but it remains comfortably playable. The jump to 4K Medium at 105 FPS represents a 52.2% improvement over Ultra, demonstrating that the GPU's workload is heavily influenced by the higher settings tiers. The fact that 4K Low achieves 148 FPS — more than double the Ultra figure — shows that the RTX 5070 Ti has substantial headroom when graphical effects are relaxed.

The GPU's FP32 throughput of 43.94 TFLOPS and the 70 RT cores support modern rendering techniques, though Lockdown Protocol's specific implementation appears to favor raw rasterization performance given the strong frame rates at 1080p. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is particularly relevant at 4K Ultra, where the 69 FPS average and the absence of min FPS data for that tier suggest the GPU is working near its limit but not running out of memory. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,604 and PassMark G3D score of 32,974 provide additional context, though the actual game performance is the more relevant metric.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 223 FPS average with a minimum of 189 FPS and a maximum of 256 FPS — the only settings tier with recorded min/max values, indicating stable frame delivery. The 146 FPS at 1080p Ultra is still excellent for competitive play, but the 77 FPS gap between Medium and Ultra (223 vs 146) represents a significant visual improvement for a moderate performance cost.

At 1440p, Medium's 163 FPS average (min 139, max 188) provides a high-refresh-rate experience that exceeds most 144Hz monitors' capabilities. The High preset at 142 FPS is also viable for 144Hz displays, but Medium's extra 21 FPS headroom allows for more consistent frame pacing. The Ultra preset at 107 FPS is playable but drops below the 120 FPS threshold that many competitive FPS players prefer.

For 4K, Medium is the recommended starting point at 105 FPS average (min 90, max 121). This represents a 52.2% improvement over Ultra's 69 FPS while still offering substantially better visuals than Low's 148 FPS. The min FPS of 90 at 4K Medium ensures that even the heaviest scenes remain fluid. High at 92 FPS is also viable for 60Hz displays but offers less headroom for demanding sequences.

The Low preset, while producing the highest frame rates (313 at 1080p, 230 at 1440p, 148 at 4K), sacrifices too much visual fidelity for the marginal benefit in a game that already runs well at Medium. The data suggests that players with 144Hz monitors should target Medium at any resolution, while those with 240Hz displays at 1080p can consider High (194 FPS) as a compromise that still exceeds 144Hz.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti combination ranks 232nd out of 2,828 tested configurations in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 8.2% of all systems. This is a strong result that reflects the high-end nature of both components. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking and the GPU's 86th percentile ranking combine to produce a system that sits firmly in the upper echelon of gaming performance.

The rank of 232 indicates that while this is a premium configuration, there are 231 tested combos that deliver higher average frame rates in this specific game. Given that the RTX 5070 Ti's nearest rivals in the database include the RX 6900 XT at 2.0% higher average score and the RX 6800 XT at 3.1% lower, the performance tier is well-established. The 232nd position out of 2,828 suggests that systems with higher-tier GPUs or more optimized CPU-GPU pairings can achieve better results, but the margin is likely small given the already-high frame rates measured.

The fact that this combo achieves 313 FPS at 1080p Low and 148 FPS at 4K Low indicates that it has enough performance for virtually all gaming scenarios. The rank of 232 is a function of the large number of tested configurations (2,828), and the top 8.2% placement confirms that this hardware combination is among the best available for Lockdown Protocol.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS across settings tiers is as follows: Low produces 313 FPS, Medium produces 223 FPS (min 189, max 256), High produces 194 FPS, and Ultra produces 146 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 167 FPS, with each settings tier representing a substantial performance step. The Medium preset's min/max range of 189-256 FPS shows a 67 FPS variance, which is relatively narrow given the high average, suggesting consistent frame delivery under load.

At 2560x1440, the figures are: Low at 230 FPS, Medium at 163 FPS (min 139, max 188), High at 142 FPS, and Ultra at 107 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is 67 FPS, from Medium to High is 21 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 35 FPS. The Medium min/max range of 139-188 FPS indicates a 49 FPS variance, tighter than at 1080p, which reflects the increased GPU load reducing CPU-bound frame time spikes.

At 3840x2160, the measured averages are: Low at 148 FPS, Medium at 105 FPS (min 90, max 121), High at 92 FPS, and Ultra at 69 FPS. The Medium min/max of 90-121 FPS shows a 31 FPS variance, the narrowest of any resolution, indicating that 4K workloads are more consistent. The step from Low to Medium is 43 FPS, from Medium to High is 13 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 23 FPS. The Ultra tier at 69 FPS remains above the 60 FPS threshold, making it a viable option for players prioritizing visual fidelity over refresh rate.

The data shows that the RTX 5070 Ti handles Lockdown Protocol with significant headroom at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K Ultra pushes the GPU to its limits. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient at all settings, and the 896.0 GB/s bandwidth prevents memory-related stuttering even at 4K Ultra. The CPU's 24 cores and 5.80 GHz boost clock ensure that even the highest frame rates at 1080p Low are not CPU-limited, making this combo a balanced high-performance choice for this game.