Lockdown Protocol

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 combination delivers its strongest results. On Low settings, the average frame rate reaches 76 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS playability threshold with headroom. Medium settings produce an average of 54 FPS, with the recorded minimum at 46 FPS and maximum at 62 FPS. High settings drop the average to 47 FPS, while Ultra settings fall further to 35 FPS. The data shows a clear progression: each step up in quality costs approximately 10 to 20 FPS on average.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decline noticeably across all presets. Low settings average 56 FPS, just under the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings average 40 FPS, with a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 46 FPS. High settings produce 35 FPS on average, and Ultra settings drop to 26 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 30 FPS, indicating that the GPU becomes increasingly strained as pixel count rises.

At 3840x2160, the combination is clearly beyond its comfort zone. Low settings average 36 FPS, Medium averages 26 FPS with a minimum of 22 FPS and maximum of 29 FPS, High averages 22 FPS, and Ultra averages just 17 FPS. None of these presets approach the 60 FPS threshold, and even the lowest setting falls far short of playable performance. The recorded data shows that 4K resolution is not viable for this hardware pairing in Lockdown Protocol.

The benchmark results indicate that the only configuration achieving sustained playable frame rates is 1920x1080 with Low settings. Medium settings at 1080p come close but remain below the threshold, and every other resolution and preset combination falls short.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions reveals that the GeForce GTX 1650 is the dominant limiting factor in this pairing. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 76 FPS to 56 FPS, a reduction of 20 FPS or roughly 26 percent. From 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 at Low settings, the average falls from 56 FPS to 36 FPS, another 20 FPS decline. This consistent erosion of performance as resolution increases points squarely at the GPU's pixel throughput capabilities.

The Ryzen 5 5500, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, provides sufficient processing power to keep pace with the GTX 1650 at lower resolutions. The CPU's benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core result of 16429 and a single-core result of 2319, indicate a balanced processor that does not bottleneck the GPU in most scenarios. However, the data suggests that even at 1080p, the GPU is the primary constraint: the difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p is 41 FPS, which is far larger than what CPU-bound scenarios typically show.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is overwhelmingly the limiting factor. The GTX 1650's 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and 128-bit bus width, yielding 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth, are insufficient for the pixel load at 4K. The CPU's role diminishes further as resolution increases, since the GPU must process exponentially more fragments. The average frame rates at 4K range from 17 to 36 FPS, demonstrating that no amount of CPU headroom can compensate for the GPU's lack of raw throughput.

Preset scaling reinforces this analysis. At 1080p, moving from Low to Medium reduces the average from 76 to 54 FPS, from Medium to High from 54 to 47 FPS, and from High to Ultra from 47 to 35 FPS. The largest single drop occurs between Low and Medium, suggesting that the GPU's shading units and texture mapping units are saturated early. The GTX 1650 has 896 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 32 raster operations units, and these resources are simply not plentiful enough for higher quality settings.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Lockdown Protocol, this pairing ranks 3580 out of 3714 total combinations. This places it in the bottom 3.6 percent of all tested systems, which aligns with the measured frame rates that show playable performance only at 1080p Low. The percentile ranking for the CPU is 73 percent among all processors, while the GPU ranks at 40 percent among all graphics cards. This disparity underscores the GPU as the weaker component in this pairing.

The combo rank of 3580 out of 3714 indicates that the vast majority of other tested hardware combinations deliver better performance in this game. The GTX 1650's average benchmark score of 7472 places it at the 40th percentile, and its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon HD 8850M with a score of 7447, the Intel UHD Graphics 750 with 7441, and the AMD Radeon R7 350 with 7425. These are all lower-performing or comparable GPUs, which explains why the overall combo rank is so low.

The Ryzen 5 5500, by contrast, sits at the 73rd percentile with an average benchmark score of 19593. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 at 19617, the Intel Core i5-12500 at 19668, the Intel Core i7-10700F at 19499, and the Intel Core i5-11600KF at 19723. These CPUs are all within a 0.7 percent performance delta of the Ryzen 5 5500, indicating that the processor is not the bottleneck in this system. The data clearly shows that the GPU drags the overall combo ranking down.

The Verdict

Can this PC run Lockdown Protocol? The answer depends entirely on the resolution and settings. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combination achieves an average of 76 FPS, which comfortably clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. This is the only configuration in the measured data that delivers playable performance.

At 2560x1440, no settings preset reaches 60 FPS. Low settings come closest at 56 FPS, but that remains below the threshold. Medium, High, and Ultra all fall further behind, with averages of 40, 35, and 26 FPS respectively. At 3840x2160, the situation is worse: even Low settings average only 36 FPS, and Ultra drops to 17 FPS. The verdict by resolution is clear: 1920x1080 with Low settings is the sole playable configuration, and no other resolution or preset combination meets the 60 FPS standard.

For users who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, 1080p Low is the recommended setup. The 76 FPS average provides enough margin to handle demanding scenes without dropping below the threshold. Users who insist on higher settings or resolutions will need to consider a more powerful GPU, as the GTX 1650 is the limiting factor in this pairing.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the Ryzen 5 5500's nearest rivals in the database are all within a fraction of a percent in average benchmark score. The AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 scores 19617, which is 0.1 percent lower than the Ryzen 5 5500's 19593. The Intel Core i5-12500 scores 19668, 0.4 percent higher. The Intel Core i7-10700F scores 19499, 0.5 percent lower. The Intel Core i5-11600KF scores 19723, 0.7 percent higher. In practice, any of these processors would deliver nearly identical performance in Lockdown Protocol when paired with the same GPU, since the CPU is not the primary bottleneck.

For the GPU, the GTX 1650's nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon HD 8850M with an average score of 7447 (0.3 percent lower), the Intel UHD Graphics 750 with 7441 (0.4 percent lower), the AMD Radeon R7 350 with 7425 (0.6 percent lower), and the Intel Arc A310 with 7550 (1 percent higher). These GPUs would produce very similar frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, meaning that swapping the GTX 1650 for any of these alternatives would not meaningfully change the playability picture. Users seeking better performance would need to look beyond the nearest rivals to higher-tier graphics cards.

The combination of a Ryzen 5 5500-class CPU with a GTX 1650-class GPU represents a balanced but low-end pairing. The CPU has ample headroom, as evidenced by its 73rd percentile ranking, while the GPU's 40th percentile ranking limits overall system capability. Upgrading the GPU would yield the largest performance gain in this game.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings for this PC in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The only playable configuration is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which achieves an average of 76 FPS. No other resolution or preset combination reaches the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Can this PC run Lockdown Protocol at 2560x1440?

A: No. At 2560x1440, even Low settings average only 56 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. Medium, High, and Ultra settings average 40, 35, and 26 FPS respectively.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this system?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The GeForce GTX 1650 ranks at the 40th percentile among all GPUs, while the Ryzen 5 5500 ranks at the 73rd percentile among all CPUs. Frame rates drop significantly as resolution increases, indicating GPU-bound performance.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 3580 out of 3714 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 3.6 percent of all systems in the database for Lockdown Protocol.

Q: What GPUs perform similarly to the GTX 1650?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 8850M, Intel UHD Graphics 750, AMD Radeon R7 350, and Intel Arc A310 all have average benchmark scores within 1 percent of the GTX 1650. These would produce similar frame rates in this game.

Q: What is the average frame rate at 3840x2160 Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate is 17 FPS. This is far below the 60 FPS playable threshold and indicates that 4K gaming is not feasible with this hardware.