Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core Ultra X9 388H + AMD Radeon RX 7900M

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900M delivers a compelling Lockdown Protocol experience, but the data reveals a clear performance hierarchy that shifts depending on resolution and settings. At 1080p, this combo is exceptionally fast, with frame rates ranging from 99 FPS at Ultra to 214 FPS at Low, indicating the CPU and GPU are well-matched for high-refresh-rate play. However, as resolution climbs to 4K, the frame rate drops dramatically, with Ultra settings falling to 47 FPS, which signals that the GPU becomes the dominant limiting factor at higher pixel counts. The combo ranks 1183 out of 2828 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database, with the GPU's 94th percentile ranking against all GPUs providing more headroom than the CPU's 88th percentile ranking suggests.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep performance gradient from 1080p to 4K, with the average frame rate dropping by approximately 56% when moving from 1080p Low to 4K Low. At High settings, the decline is even more pronounced: 133 FPS at 1080p falls to 97 FPS at 1440p, then to 63 FPS at 4K, representing a 53% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This scaling pattern indicates that the AMD Radeon RX 7900M is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the CPU's performance headroom becomes less relevant when pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth are stressed.

The transition from Medium to Low settings at each resolution provides insight into the limiting component. At 1080p, dropping from Medium (152 FPS) to Low (214 FPS) yields a 41% frame rate increase, suggesting the GPU is already being pushed hard even at lower resolutions. At 4K, the same settings drop yields a 40% improvement (72 to 101 FPS), which is proportionally similar, indicating that the GPU remains the consistent constraint across all resolutions. The CPU, with its 16 cores and 16 threads running at a 5.10 GHz boost clock, appears capable of feeding the GPU adequately at 1080p, as evidenced by the 214 FPS Low result, but the GPU's 576.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 38.52 TFLOPS of FP32 compute become the decisive factors as resolution increases.

Ultra settings at 4K produce a 47 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many players consider playable. The gap between Ultra and High at 4K is 16 FPS (47 vs 63), while at 1080p the gap is 34 FPS (99 vs 133). This narrowing gap at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU's raw throughput, not the settings complexity, is what limits performance. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4201 and the Geekbench Vulkan score of 158760 for this GPU support the interpretation that it is a strong performer but not a top-tier 4K solution.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At High settings, the combo delivers 97 FPS, which is smooth for competitive play, while 4K High drops to 63 FPS and 1080p High reaches 133 FPS. The 1440p result keeps frame rates above 90 FPS while providing significantly more detail than 1080p.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H has an average benchmark score of 44466, which is within 0.5% of all four nearest rivals. It trails the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D by 0.2%, but leads the Intel Core i9-13950HX by 0.3%, the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 by 0.4%, and the Intel Core i5-13600 by 0.5%. This indicates near-identical performance with its closest competitors.

Q: Is the GPU strong enough for 4K gaming?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900M can handle 4K in Lockdown Protocol, but with compromises. At 4K Low, it achieves 101 FPS, and at Medium it reaches 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS. However, 4K High drops to 63 FPS and Ultra to 47 FPS, suggesting that 4K requires lowering settings to maintain consistent frame rates above 60 FPS.

Q: What settings provide the most stable frame rate?

A: The Medium preset offers the most consistent performance across all resolutions, with minimum FPS values recorded at 129 (1080p), 95 (1440p), and 61 (4K). These minimums are within 15-20% of the averages, indicating fewer frame-time spikes compared to other presets, which only report average FPS values.

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

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900M has an average benchmark score of 97487, placing it 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro VII, 5.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60, and 6.3% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A4500. However, it trails the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 by 4.3%, showing it is competitive with but not superior to all workstation-class GPUs.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data suggests minimal CPU bottlenecking at 1080p, where the combo achieves 214 FPS at Low settings, indicating the CPU can drive high frame rates. At 4K, the CPU is clearly not the limiting factor, as frame rates drop by half or more, which is a hallmark of GPU-bound scenarios.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900M plays the decisive role in Lockdown Protocol's performance envelope, with its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 576.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is critical for high-resolution textures and geometry, as evidenced by the substantial FPS drops when moving from 1440p to 4K at identical settings. At 4K High, the combo produces 63 FPS, while at 1440p High it reaches 97 FPS, a 35% reduction that aligns with the 4K pixel count being roughly 2.25 times larger than 1440p.

The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 1825 MHz and boost of 2090 MHz, directly influence the frame rate scaling observed in the data. The 38.52 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 601.9 GTexel/s texture rate are substantial, but the 4K Ultra result of 47 FPS indicates that the GPU's shading units (4608) and ROPs (192) are saturated when all visual effects are enabled. The pixel rate of 401.3 GPixel/s provides a theoretical ceiling that, when combined with the 47 FPS result, suggests the GPU is operating near its practical limits at 4K Ultra.

The GPU's 94th percentile ranking against all GPUs places it well above the CPU's 88th percentile, implying that the graphics card is the stronger component in this pairing. This is corroborated by the benchmark scores: the GPU's Geekbench OpenCL score of 129499 and Vulkan score of 158760 indicate robust compute capability, while the CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18911 and single-core score of 2200.5 are solid but not exceptional. In Lockdown Protocol, which appears to be GPU-bound based on the resolution scaling, the RX 7900M's 16 GB VRAM ensures no capacity-related stuttering is observed, as even the largest frame buffer demands at 4K Ultra stay well within limit.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data supports a clear recommendation for the Medium preset as the optimal balance of performance and visual quality for this combo. At 1080p Medium, the combo achieves 152 FPS with a minimum of 129 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on high-end monitors. Moving to 1440p Medium, the average drops to 111 FPS with a minimum of 95 FPS, which remains smooth for competitive gameplay while delivering substantially more detail than 1080p.

For players prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 214 FPS, which is the highest measured result in the dataset. This setting would be ideal for esports-style play where responsiveness trumps visual fidelity. However, the jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 62 FPS (214 to 152), which is a significant trade-off, suggesting the Medium preset's visual enhancements are computationally expensive.

At 4K, the recommendation shifts to Low or Medium, with 101 FPS and 72 FPS respectively. The Medium preset's minimum of 61 FPS at 4K is borderline, but the average of 72 FPS is acceptable for slower-paced gameplay. High settings at 4K drop to 63 FPS, which is playable but leaves little headroom for frame-time spikes, while Ultra at 47 FPS is not recommended for any competitive scenario. The Ultra preset should be reserved for 1080p, where it achieves 99 FPS, or 1440p, where it reaches 73 FPS, but even then, the gap between High and Ultra (34 FPS at 1080p, 24 FPS at 1440p) suggests diminishing returns that may not justify the visual upgrade.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and AMD Radeon RX 7900M combination ranks 1183 out of 2828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the 58th percentile of all tested configurations. This ranking is notable given that the GPU alone sits in the 94th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 88th percentile of all CPUs. The discrepancy between component percentiles and the combo's mid-pack ranking indicates that Lockdown Protocol is particularly demanding on the entire system, not just the GPU, or that many other tested combinations feature higher-end CPUs that boost their scores.

The combo's ranking relative to its component percentiles suggests that the CPU, despite its strong benchmark scores, may be holding back the system in specific game scenarios. The CPU's 16 threads and 18 MB of shared L3 cache are adequate, but its nearest rivals, all within 0.5% in average benchmark score, show that it is not a class-leading processor. The GPU, meanwhile, outperforms its nearest rivals by margins up to 6.3%, making it the clear strength of this pairing.

When interpreting the 1183rd place ranking, it is important to consider that 2828 combos represent a wide spectrum of hardware, from entry-level to enthusiast. This combo sits above the median, which is consistent with its 1080p High result of 133 FPS and 1440p High result of 97 FPS. These frame rates are respectable for a laptop-class GPU, and the ranking reflects that Lockdown Protocol is a demanding title that rewards both strong CPU and GPU performance, with the GPU being the more critical factor as resolution increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. The Low preset achieves 214 FPS, Medium reaches 152 FPS with a minimum of 129 FPS and maximum of 175 FPS, High produces 133 FPS, and Ultra drops to 99 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 115 FPS, representing a 54% reduction, which demonstrates the significant performance cost of higher visual quality settings at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down proportionally. Low settings yield 157 FPS, Medium averages 111 FPS with a minimum of 95 FPS and maximum of 128 FPS, High reaches 97 FPS, and Ultra produces 73 FPS. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p at identical settings ranges from 25% (Low: 214 to 157 FPS) to 27% (Ultra: 99 to 73 FPS), showing consistent scaling across all presets.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops become more pronounced. Low settings produce 101 FPS, Medium averages 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS and maximum of 83 FPS, High falls to 63 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 47 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest measured value in the dataset, and the gap between 4K Medium and 4K High is just 9 FPS, indicating that the GPU is struggling to maintain playable frame rates at this resolution regardless of settings. The data shows that 4K is only viable with Low or Medium settings, while 1440p offers the best balance of frame rate and visual fidelity across all presets.