Lockdown Protocol

FAQ

Q: What is the strongest preset this PC can run at 1920x1080 while staying above 60 FPS?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 delivers an average of 63 FPS, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS. The Low preset is also playable at 88 FPS average.

Q: Can this system handle Lockdown Protocol at 2560x1440?

A: Yes, but only on the Low preset. At 2560x1440, Low produces an average of 65 FPS. Medium drops to 46 FPS average, High to 40 FPS, and Ultra to 30 FPS, so those presets fail the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Is 4K gaming possible with the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and Intel Arc B390?

A: No playable settings exist at 3840x2160. The best result is the Low preset at 42 FPS average, followed by Medium at 30 FPS, High at 26 FPS, and Ultra at 19 FPS. None of these reach the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its closest GPU rivals in raw benchmark score?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. This is 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463 score), 1.5% ahead of the GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% ahead of the GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% ahead of the GT 710 (1443). All four rivals sit within a narrow band, indicating the B390 is in the same performance class.

Q: What does the CPU percentile ranking tell us about the Ryzen 7 3700X?

A: The Ryzen 7 3700X sits in the 84th percentile of all CPUs in the database, meaning it outperforms roughly 84% of tested processors. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (0.1% slower), AMD EPYC 4244P (0.1% slower), Intel Core i5-13450HX (0.2% faster), and Intel Core Ultra 7 165H (0.5% slower).

Q: Does the Arc B390's low GPU percentile explain the FPS results?

A: The Arc B390 sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, which is very low. The measured FPS data confirms this: at 1920x1080 Low the system reaches 88 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it falls to 19 FPS. The GPU is the limiting factor across all resolutions.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves the 60 FPS threshold. The highest average FPS is 42 on Low, but that is still below playable. Medium averages 30 FPS, High averages 26 FPS, and Ultra averages 19 FPS. The database records no playable settings at 4K for this combination.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset is the only option that stays above 60 FPS, delivering an average of 65 FPS. Medium drops to 46 FPS, High to 40 FPS, and Ultra to 30 FPS. If you need smooth gameplay at this resolution, Low is the recommended choice.

At 1920x1080, the Medium preset is the most demanding option that remains playable, averaging 63 FPS with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS. The Low preset is also playable at 88 FPS average. High averages 55 FPS, which narrowly misses the 60 FPS line, and Ultra averages 41 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data shows that the Intel Arc B390 is the dominant bottleneck in this system. The GPU sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU sits in the 84th percentile. This gap means the CPU has far more headroom than the GPU can exploit.

Looking at resolution scaling, the FPS drops steeply as resolution increases. At Low settings, the average goes from 88 FPS at 1920x1080 to 65 FPS at 2560x1440, then down to 42 FPS at 3840x2160. This pattern is classic GPU-limited behavior: the rendering load grows with pixel count, and the Arc B390 cannot keep up. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would stay relatively flat across resolutions since CPU work per frame is largely resolution-independent.

Preset scaling reinforces this. At 1920x1080, the jump from Low to Medium costs 25 FPS (88 to 63), and from Medium to High another 8 FPS (63 to 55). At 2560x1440, Low to Medium costs 19 FPS (65 to 46), and at 3840x2160, Low to Medium costs 12 FPS (42 to 30). Higher resolutions compress the FPS range because the GPU is already saturated. The CPU's role is secondary: with 8 cores and 16 threads, it provides enough throughput to avoid holding back the GPU at these frame rates, but the GPU cannot deliver high frame rates even at lower resolutions.

The verdict data confirms the GPU limitation. At 2560x1440, only Low is playable; at 1920x1080, Low and Medium are playable. If the CPU were the weak link, we would expect more consistent playability across presets at 1080p, but the Ultra preset only reaches 41 FPS there, which is far below the threshold.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X has an average benchmark score of 34260. The nearest rivals are all within 0.5% of that score. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 scores 34222 (0.1% slower), the AMD EPYC 4244P scores 34220 (0.1% slower), the Intel Core i5-13450HX scores 34333 (0.2% faster), and the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H scores 34083 (0.5% slower). Any of these processors would deliver nearly identical performance in Lockdown Protocol, assuming the same GPU is paired with them. The differences are within measurement noise, so switching CPUs would not meaningfully change the FPS results.

For the GPU, the Intel Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX at 1463 (1.3% slower), the GeForce 800M at 1460 (1.5% slower), the GT 625 OEM at 1446 (2.5% slower), and the GT 710 at 1443 (2.7% slower). These GPUs are extremely close in performance, and the measured FPS in Lockdown Protocol would be nearly identical. If a system with one of these GPUs were tested, expect the same general pattern: 1080p Low and Medium playable, 1440p Low only, and no playable settings at 4K.

The GPU percentile ranking of 9th places this hardware in the lower end of the database. The nearest rivals are all legacy NVIDIA parts, which reinforces that the Arc B390 is not a high-performance GPU. For Lockdown Protocol, the CPU is not the concern; the GPU class determines playability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the recorded data shows the following averages: High 26 FPS, Low 42 FPS, Medium 30 FPS (with a minimum of 25 and maximum of 34), and Ultra 19 FPS. No minimum or maximum values were recorded for High, Low, or Ultra presets.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: High 40 FPS, Low 65 FPS, Medium 46 FPS (minimum 39, maximum 53), and Ultra 30 FPS. Again, only the Medium preset has recorded minimum and maximum values.

At 1920x1080, the averages are: High 55 FPS, Low 88 FPS, Medium 63 FPS (minimum 53, maximum 72), and Ultra 41 FPS. The Medium preset shows a wider spread, with the minimum 10 FPS below the average and the maximum 9 FPS above it.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: Low is the fastest preset, Ultra is the slowest, and Medium sits between them. The gap between Low and Ultra widens at higher resolutions: at 1080p, the difference is 47 FPS (88 vs 41); at 1440p, it is 35 FPS (65 vs 30); at 4K, it is 23 FPS (42 vs 19). This compression at higher resolutions indicates the GPU is running out of headroom even on Low settings.

The Verdict

This PC can run Lockdown Protocol, but with significant limitations. At 1920x1080, the system clears the 60 FPS threshold on both Low (88 FPS average) and Medium (63 FPS average). The Medium preset is the best playable option at this resolution, offering a balance of visual quality and smoothness. High falls just short at 55 FPS, and Ultra is not viable at 41 FPS.

At 2560x1440, only the Low preset reaches playable status, averaging 65 FPS. Medium (46 FPS), High (40 FPS), and Ultra (30 FPS) all fail the 60 FPS requirement. If you have a 1440p monitor, you must accept low settings and reduced visual fidelity to maintain smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, there are no playable settings. The best case is Low at 42 FPS, which is below the threshold. This system is not suitable for 4K gaming in Lockdown Protocol.

The database ranks this combination at 3302 out of 3714 tested combos, placing it in the lower tier. The bottleneck is clearly the Intel Arc B390, which sits in the 9th GPU percentile. The Ryzen 7 3700X, in the 84th CPU percentile, is more than capable for this game. If you are building for Lockdown Protocol, the practical takeaway is: stick to 1080p with Medium settings for a solid experience, or drop to 1440p with Low settings if you prefer higher resolution over visual detail. Do not expect 4K playability from this hardware combination.