Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol pairs the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D, a combination that ranks third out of 2,828 tested configurations. This near-flagship pairing delivers frame rates that range from 88 FPS at 4K Ultra to 379 FPS at 1080p Low, making it one of the most capable setups in the database. The data reveals a system where neither component appears to bottleneck the other in typical gaming scenarios, though the scaling patterns between resolutions and settings tell a more nuanced story about where the performance ceiling truly lies.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this CPU and GPU combination in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The combo ranks third out of 2,828 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the top 0.1% of all configurations recorded in the database.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ultra 9 290K Plus scores an average of 84,003 across all benchmark tests, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (83,807) and 1.1% higher than the AMD EPYC 4584PX (83,090). It also trails the AMD EPYC 7F72 by 1.3% (85,072).

Q: What are the key memory specifications of the RTX 5090 D?

A: The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The memory operates at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed.

Q: What is the maximum average FPS recorded for this combo in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The highest average frame rate is 379 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. The lowest average is 88 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: Does the CPU support overclocking?

A: Yes, the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an unlocked multiplier, allowing for manual overclocking. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz.

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

A: The RTX 5090 D sits in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 77,712. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, scores 76,904 (1.1% lower).

GPU Role

The RTX 5090 D is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a GB202 chip manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It contains 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, giving it a transistor density of 122.9 million per square millimeter. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz and boosts to 2407 MHz, though the memory clock runs at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective throughput.

The 32 GB GDDR7 memory pool with a 512-bit bus is the defining feature here. Bandwidth reaches 1.79 TB/s, which becomes critical at higher resolutions. The data shows this memory configuration handles 4K Ultra without dipping below 88 FPS average, suggesting the VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor even at the most demanding settings. The 680 TMUs and 176 ROPs work in concert with the 21,760 shading units to produce texture rates of 1,636.8 GTexel/s and pixel rates of 423.6 GPixel/s.

In Lockdown Protocol specifically, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings produces a 192 FPS spread (379 vs 187), indicating the GPU has headroom to spare. At 4K, that spread narrows to 102 FPS (190 vs 88), showing the GPU is working harder to maintain frame rates. The FP32 compute of 104.8 TFLOPS provides the raw horsepower needed for the game's FPS mechanics, while the 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores handle any ray tracing or DLSS workloads the game might present.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its position. It scores 14,326 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 310,674 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 376,915 in Geekbench Vulkan. The Passmark G3D score of 44,065 places it well above the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. However, the nearest rival comparison shows interesting context: the RX 6650M XT is only 1.1% behind in average score, which raises questions about whether the 5090 D's massive VRAM and bandwidth translate to proportional gains in every workload.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, codenamed Arrow Lake Refresh. It runs at a base clock of 3.70 GHz with a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, drawing a TDP of 125 W. The 3 nm TSMC process packs 17,800 million transistors into a 243 mm² die, and the chip supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus with 115.2 GB/s of bandwidth.

The cache hierarchy consists of 192 KB L1 per core, 3 MB L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. This arrangement favors workloads that benefit from large shared pools, which is relevant for a game like Lockdown Protocol that must track multiple entities. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all processors reflects its strength in both single-threaded and multi-threaded tasks.

Synthetic benchmarks show a balanced profile. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51,731 is paired with a single-core score of 7,303, indicating strong performance in both lightly-threaded game logic and heavily-threaded background tasks. Passmark results show 60,860 in multithread, 4,823 in single-thread, and 214,760 in floating-point math. The data compression score of 698,346 and encryption score of 52,563 suggest the CPU handles data-intensive operations without becoming a bottleneck.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role appears to diminish as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 379 FPS, which likely reflects the CPU's ability to feed the GPU with enough draw calls. The 24 cores and 24 threads may be overkill for this game, but they ensure no thread-related stutters occur even at extreme frame rates. The boost clock of 5.80 GHz provides the single-thread performance needed for game logic, while the 36 MB L3 cache keeps frequently accessed data close to the cores.

The nearest rival comparison reveals the CPU's market position. It is 0.2% faster than the Core Ultra 9 285K and 1.1% faster than the EPYC 4584PX, but 1.3% slower than the EPYC 7F72. This tight grouping suggests the Ultra 9 290K Plus is not dramatically ahead of its predecessors, yet the 96th percentile ranking confirms it remains a top-tier option for gaming.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 379 FPS, Medium settings yield 285 FPS with a minimum of 243 and maximum of 328, High settings reach 249 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 187 FPS. The 192 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution indicates the GPU is the primary scaling factor, as the CPU can maintain high frame rates regardless of settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the expected resolution penalty. Low settings average 295 FPS, Medium settings hit 209 FPS with a range of 178 to 241, High settings achieve 183 FPS, and Ultra settings bottom out at 137 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 22% for Low (379 to 295) and 27% for Ultra (187 to 137), suggesting the GPU is beginning to feel the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become more moderate. Low settings still manage 190 FPS, Medium settings average 135 FPS with a range of 115 to 155, High settings produce 118 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 88 FPS. The jump from 1440p to 4K represents a 36% reduction for Low (295 to 190) and 36% for Ultra (137 to 88), showing consistent scaling across the resolution range.

The Medium settings rows are the only ones with min and max FPS data, which provides insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the spread from 243 to 328 FPS represents a 35% variance, while at 4K Medium the spread from 115 to 155 is a 35% variance. This consistency suggests the game's performance profile remains stable regardless of resolution, with the GPU handling the increased load uniformly.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks third out of 2,828 tested configurations in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the 99.9th percentile of all combos in the database, meaning only two other CPU-GPU pairings achieve higher average frame rates in this game. The ranking reflects the synergy between the 96th percentile CPU and 92nd percentile GPU, though neither component individually reaches the top of its respective leaderboard.

The rank of 3 suggests that the combination of the Ultra 9 290K Plus and RTX 5090 D is near-optimal for this title, but not the absolute best. This could be due to the game's engine favoring different CPU architectures or the GPU's massive memory bandwidth not being fully utilized at the tested settings. The data indicates that the combo's performance is more dependent on the GPU than the CPU, as evidenced by the larger FPS swings when changing graphics settings versus resolution.

Given that the CPU's nearest rival is only 0.2% faster and the GPU's nearest rival is only 1.1% slower, the third-place ranking likely comes down to minor architectural differences rather than any fundamental weakness. The fact that the combo beats 99.9% of tested configurations while using components that individually rank in the 92nd and 96th percentiles suggests the pairing is well-matched.

Settings Recommendations

For players seeking maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 379 FPS, which is more than enough for competitive play on high refresh rate monitors. The Medium preset at 1440p offers 209 FPS with a minimum of 178, providing a balance between visual fidelity and smoothness that suits most gaming scenarios.

The High preset at 1440p (183 FPS) or 4K (118 FPS) appears to be the sweet spot for visual quality without sacrificing playability. The jump from High to Ultra at 4K costs 30 FPS (118 to 88), which represents a 25% performance hit for what may be marginal visual improvements. Players with 4K displays should consider High settings to maintain frame rates above 100 FPS.

At 1080p, the Ultra preset (187 FPS) still provides a smooth experience, but the 192 FPS gap between Low and Ultra suggests that the game's Ultra settings may include effects that are disproportionately expensive. The Medium preset at 1080p (285 FPS) offers a good middle ground, with the minimum of 243 FPS ensuring no drops below typical high refresh rate thresholds.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K follows a predictable pattern across all settings. At Low, the drop is from 379 to 190 FPS, a 50% reduction. At Medium, the drop is from 285 to 135 FPS, a 53% reduction. At High, the drop is from 249 to 118 FPS, a 53% reduction. At Ultra, the drop is from 187 to 88 FPS, a 53% reduction. This consistency across settings indicates that resolution scaling is uniform and not dependent on the graphics preset.

The fact that the percentage drop is nearly identical across all settings suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the percentage drop would be smaller at higher resolutions, as the GPU would have more time to wait for CPU data. Instead, the consistent 50-53% reduction implies the GPU's rendering workload scales directly with pixel count.

The jump from 1440p to 4K is more severe than from 1080p to 1440p. At Low, the drop from 295 to 190 FPS represents a 36% reduction, while the drop from 379 to 295 FPS (1080p to 1440p) is only 22%. This suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s becomes a constraint at 4K, as the 32 GB VRAM is sufficient but the bandwidth is stretched by the increased pixel throughput.

The data implies that the RTX 5090 D is the primary scaling factor in this combo, with the CPU providing enough headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck even at 1080p Low where 379 FPS is achieved. Players targeting 4K should expect roughly half the frame rates of 1080p, while those at 1440p can maintain over 60% of the 1080p performance across all settings.