Lockdown Protocol

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 3365 out of 3714 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol. That places this combo in the bottom 9% of all tested systems, a position that reflects the GPU's age more than the CPU's capability. The Ryzen 7 3700X sits at the 84th percentile among all CPUs, while the RX 580 sits at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, so the graphics card is clearly the limiting factor in this pairing.

The rank is not a condemnation of the CPU. The Ryzen 7 3700X posts an average benchmark score of 34260, which puts it within 0.2% of the Intel Core i5-13450HX and 0.1% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350. In raw CPU throughput, this processor is competitive with much newer hardware. The RX 580, however, has an average benchmark score of 12928, which is 0.4% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER and 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon 740M. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth, but the Polaris 20 chip with 2304 shading units is simply outclassed by modern titles like Lockdown Protocol at higher settings.

What this means in practice is that the combo can run the game, but only within a narrow operating window. The data shows a clear ceiling: at 1920x1080, the system manages 63.1 FPS on Medium settings, which clears the 60 FPS playability threshold, but pushing to High drops the average to 55 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low settings stay above 60 FPS, and at 3840x2160, no settings configuration reaches the playable threshold. The ranking reflects this constrained envelope: the combo is not among the bottom feeders, but it is far from the comfortable mid-pack.

Best Settings per Resolution

The recorded data provides a clear hierarchy of playable configurations. At 3840x2160, no settings preset reaches 60 FPS, so there is no recommended configuration for 4K. The highest average recorded at this resolution is 40.1 FPS on Low settings, which falls well short of the playability threshold.

At 2560x1440, the only playable preset is Low, which delivers an average of 61.4 FPS. This is the sole configuration at this resolution that clears the 60 FPS bar. Medium drops to 45.2 FPS, High falls to 41.4 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 30 FPS. For 1440p gaming, Low is the only viable option, and even then, the margin above the threshold is slim at just 1.4 FPS.

At 1920x1080, two presets clear the 60 FPS threshold. Low delivers 85.4 FPS, which is the highest average recorded for this combo across any resolution and settings combination. Medium delivers 63.1 FPS, which clears the threshold by a more comfortable 3.1 FPS margin. The best settings for 1080p is Medium, since it provides the highest visual quality while still maintaining an average above 60 FPS. High falls to 55 FPS, and Ultra drops to 41.7 FPS, both below the playable threshold.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling data across resolutions reveals which component governs performance at each tier. Between 1920x1080 and 2560x1440, the average FPS at Medium settings falls from 63.1 to 45.2, a reduction of 17.9 FPS, or roughly 28%. Between 2560x1440 and 3840x2160, the same Medium preset falls from 45.2 to 29.3, another reduction of 15.9 FPS. This consistent drop as resolution increases indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint: the RX 580's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are being saturated as the rendering load grows.

The CPU's role becomes clearer when examining the Low preset across resolutions. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo achieves 85.4 FPS. At 2560x1440 Low, it drops to 61.4 FPS. At 3840x2160 Low, it falls to 40.1 FPS. Even at the lowest settings, where the CPU should have more headroom, the frame rate continues to scale downward with resolution. This suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU is still the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The Ryzen 7 3700X, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is not the bottleneck here.

The Ultra preset tells a similar story. At 1920x1080 Ultra, the combo averages 41.7 FPS. At 2560x1440 Ultra, it drops to 30 FPS. At 3840x2160 Ultra, it falls to 21 FPS. The nearly linear scaling with pixel count indicates a GPU-bound scenario across all resolutions. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rate would plateau at lower resolutions rather than continuing to climb, but the data shows no such plateau. The RX 580 is the hard ceiling for this combo.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Lockdown Protocol at 1920x1080?

A: Yes, at Low and Medium settings. Low averages 85.4 FPS, and Medium averages 63.1 FPS, both above the 60 FPS playability threshold. High and Ultra fall below at 55 FPS and 41.7 FPS respectively.

Q: Is 2560x1440 playable with this hardware?

A: Only on Low settings, which averages 61.4 FPS. Medium, High, and Ultra all fall below the threshold at 45.2, 41.4, and 30 FPS respectively.

Q: Can this combo handle 3840x2160?

A: No configuration reaches 60 FPS at 4K. The best result is 40.1 FPS on Low settings, with Ultra dropping to 21 FPS.

Q: Which component is the bottleneck for this game?

A: The GPU. The RX 580's performance scales consistently with resolution across all presets, indicating the graphics card is saturated. The Ryzen 7 3700X ranks at the 84th percentile among CPUs, well above the GPU's 53rd percentile.

Q: What is the best visual quality setting that maintains 60 FPS?

A: At 1920x1080, Medium is the highest preset that stays above 60 FPS, averaging 63.1 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low is the only preset that clears the threshold.

Q: How close is the RX 580 to its nearest GPU rival?

A: The RX 580's average benchmark score of 12928 is within 0.4% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER and 0.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, indicating very similar overall GPU performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full measured FPS table for the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and AMD Radeon RX 580 in Lockdown Protocol is as follows:

At 3840x2160, the combo records 25.3 FPS on High, 40.1 FPS on Low, 29.3 FPS on Medium, and 21 FPS on Ultra. No minimum or maximum values were recorded for any 4K preset.

At 2560x1440, the combo records 41.4 FPS on High, 61.4 FPS on Low, 45.2 FPS on Medium, and 30 FPS on Ultra. The Low preset is the only one above the 60 FPS threshold, and it clears it by just 1.4 FPS.

At 1920x1080, the combo records 55 FPS on High, 85.4 FPS on Low, 63.1 FPS on Medium, and 41.7 FPS on Ultra. The Low preset is the fastest recorded configuration for this combo, and Medium provides the best balance of visual quality and frame rate.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the RX 580 loses roughly 15 to 20 FPS for each step up in resolution at the same settings, and roughly 15 FPS for each step up in settings at the same resolution. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1920x1080 is 43.7 FPS, while at 2560x1440 it is 31.4 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it is 19.1 FPS. The diminishing spread at higher resolutions further confirms the GPU-bound nature of this pairing.

The Verdict

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and AMD Radeon RX 580 can run Lockdown Protocol, but the experience depends heavily on resolution and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo is playable on Low and Medium presets, with Medium being the recommended configuration since it delivers 63.1 FPS while offering better visual quality than Low. High and Ultra fall short of the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, the system is playable only on Low settings, averaging 61.4 FPS. This is a marginal pass, and any in-game variance could push frame rates below the threshold. Players at this resolution should expect a compromised visual experience.

At 3840x2160, the combo cannot maintain 60 FPS at any settings preset. The best case is 40.1 FPS on Low, which is playable in a technical sense but not smooth enough for a fast-paced FPS title. The verdict is clear: this system is a 1080p machine for Lockdown Protocol, with a small allowance for 1440p at minimum settings.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest CPU rivals to the Ryzen 7 3700X provide context for how this processor fits into the broader market. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 scores 34222, a 0.1% difference from the 3700X's 34260. The AMD EPYC 4244P scores 34220, also a 0.1% difference. The Intel Core i5-13450HX scores 34333, which is 0.2% ahead of the 3700X. The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H scores 34083, 0.5% behind. Any of these CPUs would behave nearly identically to the Ryzen 7 3700X in Lockdown Protocol, since the game is GPU-bound with this graphics card.

On the GPU side, the nearest rivals to the RX 580 are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile at 12940 (0.1% ahead), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER at 12986 (0.4% ahead), the AMD Radeon 740M at 12870 (0.5% behind), and the AMD FirePro W5100 at 12847 (0.6% behind). In practical terms, swapping the RX 580 for any of these would produce nearly identical frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, given the overall benchmark scores are within a fraction of a percent. The GTX 1660 SUPER is the closest desktop equivalent, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile represents the mobile segment. The Radeon 740M is an integrated solution that happens to land in the same performance band, which underscores how dated the RX 580 has become.

The takeaway from the alternative comparisons is that the Ryzen 7 3700X is not the limiting factor in this combo. Upgrading the CPU to a newer part would yield no measurable improvement in Lockdown Protocol, since the RX 580 is the bottleneck. Conversely, upgrading the GPU to something faster would unlock the CPU's headroom, but that is outside the scope of this analysis. For users with this exact combo, the path to better performance in Lockdown Protocol lies entirely in graphics card upgrades, not processor swaps.