Lockdown Protocol

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 lands at rank 1709 out of 3714 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol, a measured result that places it in the upper half of the database. The CPU, a 6-core/12-thread Zen 4 Raphael part with 96 MB of shared L3 cache, has a launch MSRP of $269. The GPU, based on RDNA 3.0 with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, completes the pairing. All frame rates cited below are measured, not estimated, and the game itself was released on March 11, 2024.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1709 means 1708 other systems perform better, while 2005 perform worse—so it beats more than half of the 3714 tested configurations. This is a solidly mid-pack result, but the underlying component strengths are uneven. The CPU sits in the 89th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 44573, while the GPU is in the 58th percentile with an average score of 15852. That gap suggests the GPU is the weaker link in this pairing, and the in-game performance data bears this out: at 4K, the combo only manages playable frame rates on Low and Medium presets, whereas at 1080p and 1440p it clears 60 FPS on every preset tested.

The ranking also reflects how the game scales with resolution. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 200 FPS—a sign that the CPU is not the bottleneck at lower settings. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 44 FPS, a 78% reduction from that 1080p Low figure. This steep decline points to the GPU being the primary constraint when pixel count rises. The CPU’s strong synthetic scores, particularly its single-thread result of 3494 and multi-thread score of 25047, do not compensate for the GPU’s mid-range position at high resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset at 4K that stays at or above 60 FPS?

A: Medium is the most demanding playable preset at 3840x2160, with an average of 67 FPS. However, the minimum frame rate dips to 57, so it does not hold 60 FPS at all times.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 7500X3D compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The CPU averages 44573 points. The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H scores 44466 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i9-13950HX scores 44342 (0.5% higher), the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 scores 44309 (0.6% higher), and the Intel Core i5-14600 scores 44889 (0.7% lower). All are within a 1.3% band.

Q: Is the RX 7700 close to an RTX 3060 Ti in performance?

A: Yes. The RX 7700’s average GPU score is 15852, while the RTX 3060 Ti scores 16129—a 1.7% difference. The RX 7700 is also within 1.1% of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 and within 1% of the AMD Radeon RX 9060.

Q: Which resolutions and presets are playable at 60 FPS?

A: The playable threshold is 60 FPS. At 4K, Low and Medium are playable; at 2560x1440 and 1920x1080, all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable.

Q: What is the CPU’s cache configuration?

A: The Ryzen 5 7500X3D has 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 96 MB of shared L3 cache. That large L3 is a notable feature for a 6-core part and may contribute to its strong synthetic performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The table below lists every measured frame-rate point from the FACT PACK. Where minimum or maximum values were not reported, they are marked as “—”.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|---------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 59 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 95 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 67 | 57 | 77 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 44 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | High | 91 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 147 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 104 | 88 | 120 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 68 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | High | 124 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 200 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 142 | 121 | 163 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 93 | — | — |

At 4K, the spread from Low to Ultra is 51 FPS (95 down to 44), a 54% drop. At 1440p, the spread is 79 FPS (147 to 68), and at 1080p it is 107 FPS (200 to 93). The Medium preset is the only one with min/max data at every resolution; those minimums show that even at 1080p Medium, the frame rate never goes below 121 FPS, while at 4K Medium it dips to 57. The data also shows that the gap between Low and Medium is relatively small at 4K (28 FPS) compared to the gap between Medium and Ultra (23 FPS), suggesting that Ultra settings impose a disproportionate load on the GPU.

The Verdict

Can this PC run Lockdown Protocol? Yes, but with clear resolution-based caveats. According to the verdict data:

• 3840x2160: Playable on Low and Medium. The best playable setting is Medium with an average of 67 FPS, though the minimum of 57 means it occasionally drops below the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra is not playable (44 FPS average), and High is borderline at 59 FPS.
• 2560x1440: All four presets are playable. The best setting is Ultra at 68 FPS average, which clears the 60 FPS line comfortably.
• 1920x1080: All four presets are playable, with Ultra achieving 93 FPS average. Even the most demanding preset leaves a 33 FPS headroom above the playable threshold.

The verdict is clear: for a locked 60 FPS experience, 1440p Ultra and 1080p Ultra are safe. At 4K, you must drop to Medium or Low, and even then the minimum frame rate may touch 57 FPS on Medium.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the CPU and GPU provide a sense of what hardware would behave similarly. For the Ryzen 5 7500X3D, the closest alternatives in average benchmark score are the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i9-13950HX (0.5% higher), the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 (0.6% higher), and the Intel Core i5-14600 (0.7% lower). These deltas are all under 1%, so a system built around any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical CPU-bound results in synthetic tests.

On the GPU side, the RX 7700’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R9 370X (0.1% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (1% higher), the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (1.1% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (1.7% higher). Again, the performance envelope is tight. In practice, swapping the RX 7700 for an RTX 3060 Ti would yield a slightly higher average GPU score, but the difference is small enough that in-game frame rates would likely be within a few FPS of each other. The same logic applies to the CPU alternatives—the 7500X3D’s 96 MB L3 cache and high single-thread score place it in a performance band where these rivals would not change the overall character of the system.

Best Settings per Resolution

The most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS at each resolution is:

• 3840x2160: Medium — 67 FPS average (min 57). Low is also playable at 95 FPS, but Medium offers a better visual quality while still averaging above 60.
• 2560x1440: Ultra — 68 FPS average. This is the highest preset available, and it remains above 60 FPS.
• 1920x1080: Ultra — 93 FPS average. The GPU has ample headroom at this resolution, so the maximum preset is the best choice.

For players who prioritize a strict 60 FPS minimum, the Medium preset at 4K is a slight risk due to its 57 FPS minimum. At 1440p and 1080p, Ultra is safe, as the minimums on Medium (the only preset with min data) are 88 and 121 FPS respectively, and Ultra averages are well above 60.

CPU and GPU Roles

The division of labor between the Ryzen 5 7500X3D and the RX 7700 becomes clear when examining how frame rates scale with resolution and preset. At a given preset, the FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p to 4K is steep. For example, at High settings, the average goes from 124 at 1080p to 91 at 1440p (a 27% reduction) and then to 59 at 4K (a 35% reduction from 1440p). At Low settings, the progression is 200 → 147 → 95, and at Ultra it is 93 → 68 → 44. This consistent pattern across all presets indicates that the GPU is the dominant factor as resolution increases.

The CPU’s role is more visible at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 200 FPS, which is far above the 60 FPS threshold and suggests the CPU is not a limiting factor there. The CPU’s strong single-thread score of 3494 and multi-thread score of 25047, combined with its 96 MB L3 cache, likely contribute to this headroom. At 4K Ultra, however, the GPU’s 16 GB memory and 624.1 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to maintain high frame rates, and the average falls to 44 FPS.

The scaling between presets at the same resolution also points to GPU dominance. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra cuts the average from 200 to 93, a 53% reduction. At 4K, the same preset change drops the average from 95 to 44, a 54% reduction. The similarity of these percentages across resolutions suggests that the GPU’s compute and memory throughput are the primary constraints, while the CPU’s performance remains relatively constant. In short, for Lockdown Protocol, the RX 7700 is the bottleneck at 4K and even at 1440p Ultra, while the 7500X3D provides ample processing power for the game’s logic at all tested settings.