Lockdown Protocol

# Measured FPS Breakdown

Lockdown Protocol exhibits a fascinating performance curve across resolutions and presets when paired with the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. The data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at lower resolutions, but begins to show more balanced behavior as resolution climbs.

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high across all settings. Low preset delivers an average of 230 FPS, which serves as the ceiling for this configuration at 1080p. Medium settings only drop to 202 FPS average, with a minimum of 172 FPS and maximum of 233 FPS — remarkably tight frame pacing. High preset produces 193 FPS average, while Ultra still maintains a strong 171 FPS average. The spread from Low to Ultra is 59 FPS, indicating that visual fidelity upgrades cost roughly 25% of the Low-preset performance.

Moving to 2560x1440, the scaling is predictable but still impressive. Low preset yields 207 FPS average, Medium hits 183 FPS (minimum 155, maximum 210), High reaches 167 FPS, and Ultra settles at 125 FPS. The resolution jump from 1080p to 1440p costs approximately 10-14% performance across presets, which is modest given the 78% increase in pixel count. This suggests the RTX 4090's 24 GB GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are absorbing the additional pixel workload with substantial headroom.

At 3840x2160, the performance picture changes more dramatically. Low preset still delivers 174 FPS average, Medium drops to 124 FPS (105 minimum, 142 maximum), High produces 108 FPS, and Ultra falls to 81 FPS. The 1440p-to-4K transition costs roughly 16-35% depending on preset, with Ultra being the most affected. Notably, the 4K Ultra result of 81 FPS still clears the 60 FPS playability threshold by a healthy margin, though the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K (93 FPS) reveals the game's heavy shading and post-processing demands.

The minimum frame rate data, available only for Medium presets, shows interesting behavior. At 1080p Medium, the minimum of 172 FPS is 85% of the average — excellent consistency. At 1440p, the minimum of 155 FPS represents 85% of the 183 average. At 4K, the 105 minimum is also 85% of the 124 average. This consistent 85% ratio suggests the 5500X3D's 96 MB shared L3 cache provides stable frame delivery regardless of resolution, with no signs of CPU-induced stuttering.

# FAQ

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra settings in Lockdown Protocol?

A: Yes. The measured average at 3840x2160 Ultra is 81 FPS, which is 21 FPS above the 60 FPS playability threshold. Even if frame times spike, the margin is substantial enough to absorb typical variations.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same preset?

A: At Low settings, the drop is from 230 FPS to 174 FPS — a 24% reduction. At Ultra, the drop is from 171 FPS to 81 FPS — a 53% reduction. Higher presets suffer disproportionately from resolution scaling.

Q: Which component is more critical for high refresh rate gaming at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the CPU becomes the limiting factor. The Ryzen 5 5500X3D's PassMark single-thread score of 2941 and multithread score of 20363 appear to cap performance near 230 FPS, as evidenced by the Low preset result. The RTX 4090 has ample headroom at this resolution.

Q: Is the 5500X3D's 6-core/12-thread configuration sufficient for Lockdown Protocol?

A: Yes. The CPU's PassMark physics score of 2282 and floating point math score of 34511 indicate strong computational throughput. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and presets suggest no CPU bottleneck at 60 FPS targets.

Q: Does the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM provide any advantage at 4K?

A: The benchmark data shows 4K performance remains strong even at Ultra (81 FPS), suggesting the 24 GB GDDR6X capacity and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth prevent any texture streaming or memory capacity issues at 3840x2160.

Q: What is the expected frame rate for Medium settings at 1440p?

A: The measured average is 183 FPS, with a minimum of 155 FPS and maximum of 210 FPS. This represents the most consistent performance envelope of any resolution/preset combination in the dataset.

# CPU and GPU Roles

The performance data reveals a clear division of labor between the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 in Lockdown Protocol. At 1920x1080, the CPU dominates the performance equation. The 1080p Low result of 230 FPS appears to be near the CPU's maximum frame delivery capability — the PassMark multithread score of 20363 and data compression score of 230392 suggest strong per-core performance, but the physical limits of 6 cores and 12 threads become apparent at extreme frame rates.

Evidence for CPU limitation at 1080p comes from the scaling pattern. Moving from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 28 FPS (230 to 202), while Medium to High costs only 9 FPS (202 to 193), and High to Ultra costs 22 FPS (193 to 171). The non-linear scaling suggests that at lower presets, the CPU is the bottleneck, while at Ultra, the GPU's shading workload begins to matter more.

At 2560x1440, the balance shifts toward the GPU. The 1440p results show more uniform scaling between presets: Low to Medium is 24 FPS, Medium to High is 16 FPS, and High to Ultra is 42 FPS. The larger absolute drop at Ultra (167 to 125) indicates the GPU is now doing meaningful work, but the CPU still has enough headroom to feed the RTX 4090 effectively.

The 3840x2160 results confirm the GPU-bound regime. Here, the scaling from Low to Medium (50 FPS drop), Medium to High (16 FPS drop), and High to Ultra (27 FPS drop) shows that GPU rendering costs dominate. The RTX 4090's 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 1,290.2 GTexel/s texture rate are being fully exercised at this resolution.

The CPU's role becomes clearer when examining its benchmark profile. The 5500X3D's integer math score of 60033, floating point score of 34511, and random string sorting score of 23675 indicate strong general-purpose throughput. Its 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it outperforms most processors, but the 4.00 GHz boost clock limits single-thread performance compared to higher-clocked rivals. This explains why 1080p frame rates plateau around 230 FPS despite the GPU's enormous headroom.

# The Verdict

This combination definitively runs Lockdown Protocol at playable frame rates across every tested resolution and preset. The verdictByResolution data confirms all four settings — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — are playable at all three resolutions, with the 60 FPS threshold cleared by wide margins.

At 3840x2160, the best playable setting is Ultra with an average of 81 FPS. This is a remarkable result — the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM and Ada Lovelace architecture handle 4K Ultra without breaking a sweat. Even the minimum frame rate at 4K Medium (105 FPS) exceeds the 60 FPS threshold by 75%.

At 2560x1440, Ultra delivers 125 FPS average, which is more than double the playability threshold. This resolution is arguably the sweet spot for high refresh rate gaming with this combo — 125 FPS at maximum settings leaves room for competitive play on 144 Hz monitors.

At 1920x1080, Ultra produces 171 FPS average, and Low reaches 230 FPS. This configuration is clearly designed for esports-style frame rates at 1080p, though the CPU's 6-core design prevents the GPU from achieving its theoretical maximum at this resolution.

The playability verdict is unambiguous: this system not only runs the game, it dominates it. The weakest result in the entire dataset — 81 FPS at 4K Ultra — is still 35% above the 60 FPS threshold. For users targeting 120 FPS gaming, 4K High (108 FPS) and 1440p Ultra (125 FPS) both qualify.

# Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearestRivals data provides context for what other hardware would behave similarly to this combination. For the CPU, the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D's average benchmark score of 37018 is nearly identical to several alternatives.

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (avg score 36945, deltaPct 0.2%) is effectively a performance twin — within 0.2% of the 5500X3D. Users with this chip would see virtually identical frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, assuming the same RTX 4090 pairing.

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (avg score 36938, deltaPct 0.2%) is another near-identical match, differing by only 0.2% in average benchmarks. This suggests the game's CPU demands are met equally well by both AMD and Intel platforms in this performance class.

The AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (avg score 37093, deltaPct -0.2%) is 0.2% faster, and the Intel Core i9-12900T (avg score 37112, deltaPct -0.3%) is 0.3% faster. These differences are within measurement noise — all four CPUs would produce statistically indistinguishable frame rates in Lockdown Protocol.

For the GPU, the RTX 4090's average benchmark score of 60347 places it near several workstation cards. The Intel Arc Pro A60 (avg score 60326, deltaPct 0%) is a perfect benchmark match, though its real-world gaming performance would likely differ from the RTX 4090's 16384 shading units and 128 RT cores. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (avg score 60140, deltaPct 0.3%) and AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (avg score 61896, deltaPct -2.5%) bracket the RTX 4090's synthetic score, but the RTX 4090's 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 and 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate indicate superior gaming-specific capabilities.

# How This Combo Ranks

This specific CPU-GPU pairing ranks 324th out of 3714 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 8.7% of all systems tested. The percentileVsAllCpus score of 85 and percentileVsAllGpus score of 88 reinforce this positioning — both components sit in the upper tier of their respective categories.

The rank of 324 is notable because the CPU is a 6-core/12-thread part while the GPU is the flagship RTX 4090. Many higher-ranked combinations likely feature more powerful CPUs (higher core counts or newer architectures) paired with this same GPU. The 5500X3D's 96 MB L3 cache helps compensate for its modest core count, but the data suggests that pairing the RTX 4090 with a stronger CPU would yield higher rank.

The gap between this combo and the top 300 combinations is likely driven by CPU-bound scenarios at 1080p. The 230 FPS ceiling at Low settings represents a CPU limitation that a higher-core-count processor would eliminate. At 4K, where the GPU dominates, this combination's rank would be substantially higher due to the RTX 4090's overwhelming rasterization performance.

# Best Settings per Resolution

The optimal settings for maintaining the highest visual quality while staying at or above 60 FPS are clear from the data. The "best settings" represent the most demanding preset that still clears the playability threshold, and in every case, that is Ultra.

At 3840x2160, Ultra settings produce 81 FPS average. This is the maximum visual fidelity available in the game, and it runs 21 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold. The 81 FPS result means 4K gamers can enable every graphics option without compromise.

At 2560x1440, Ultra delivers 125 FPS average. This provides both maximum quality and high refresh rate capability — 125 FPS is suitable for 120 Hz displays and approaches the threshold for 144 Hz monitors. The 155 FPS minimum at Medium settings suggests that even in demanding scenes, frame rates stay well above 60 FPS.

At 1920x1080, Ultra produces 171 FPS average. This is the most compelling option for competitive players who want both maximum visual quality and high frame rates. The 171 FPS result exceeds the 60 FPS threshold by 111 FPS, providing substantial headroom for frame time spikes.

For users who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, the scaling data offers alternatives: 4K Low (174 FPS), 1440p Low (207 FPS), and 1080p Low (230 FPS) all provide dramatically higher frame rates at reduced visual settings. The Medium presets offer the best balance of consistency, with the tightest minimum-to-maximum frame pacing across all resolutions.