Lockdown Protocol

The pairing of AMD's Ryzen 7 9700F with the Radeon RX 580 is a study in imbalance, and Lockdown Protocol makes that imbalance easy to see. The database records this exact combination running the game at three resolutions and four presets, and the results trace a clear arc: smooth at 1080p with lighter settings, marginal at 1440p, and out of reach at 4K. Below, the measured frame rates are broken down in full, the roles of each component are examined, and the verdict is stated plainly for every resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

Starting at 1920x1080, the recorded averages are 85 FPS on Low, 60 FPS on Medium, 53 FPS on High, and 40 FPS on Ultra. The Medium run is the only 1080p entry with full frame-time detail, and it shows a minimum of 51 and a maximum of 69 FPS. That spread is worth pausing on. A floor of 51 means the Medium experience sits right at the edge of the 60 FPS threshold on average, but dips below it during heavier moments, which in a fast FPS title can be felt more than the average suggests.

At 2560x1440, the averages drop to 62 FPS on Low, 44 FPS on Medium, 39 FPS on High, and 29 FPS on Ultra. The Medium run again carries the only minimum and maximum data: 38 to 51 FPS. Compare that to the 1080p Medium range of 51 to 69 and the shift is dramatic. The average fell by 16 FPS, the floor fell by 13, and the ceiling fell by 18. Raising resolution by one step effectively erased the headroom that made Medium comfortable at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the recorded averages are 40 FPS on Low, 29 FPS on Medium, 25 FPS on High, and 19 FPS on Ultra. The Medium entry logs a minimum of 24 and a maximum of 33. Even the lightest preset at 4K lands two-thirds of the way to the playability line, and the heaviest preset produces an average under 20. Not a single 4K combination comes close to 60 FPS.

One pattern stands out across all twelve measurements: the gap between Low and Ultra is consistently large but never extreme. At 1080p it spans 45 FPS (85 down to 40), at 1440p it spans 33 FPS (62 down to 29), and at 4K it spans 21 FPS (40 down to 19). The settings lever does move performance meaningfully, but it cannot move it far enough at the higher resolutions to reach the threshold.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For anyone shopping around this performance neighborhood, the database offers close comparisons on both sides of the pairing.

On the CPU side, the Ryzen 7 9700F averages a benchmark score of 69996 and sits in the 94th percentile of all CPUs tested. Its nearest rivals are remarkably tight: the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX at an average score of 69875 sits within 0.2 percent, the Intel Core i7-14700KF at 70163 is within 0.2 percent on the other side, the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X at 69515 trails by 0.7 percent, and the Intel Core i7-14700K at 69355 trails by 0.9 percent. Any of these processors would deliver effectively identical CPU-side behavior in Lockdown Protocol. Swapping the 9700F for a 14700KF changes the processor equation by a fraction of a percent, far less than the variance between presets in the measured data.

On the GPU side, the Radeon RX 580 averages a benchmark score of 12928 and lands in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile at 12940 (within 0.1 percent), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER at 12986 (0.4 percent ahead), the AMD Radeon 740M at 12870 (0.5 percent behind), and the AMD FirePro W5100 at 12847 (0.6 percent behind). A GTX 1660 SUPER or an RTX 3050 Ti Mobile should reproduce these Lockdown Protocol numbers almost exactly. The interesting entry is the Radeon 740M, an integrated solution sitting within half a percent of the RX 580's average score, which suggests some very modest modern iGPU builds would land in the same gameplay territory.

The practical takeaway: since the CPU sits four tiers up the performance ladder relative to its market while the GPU sits mid-pack, similar behavior comes from keeping the GPU class constant. The CPU can be swapped freely among its rivals without changing the outcome.

CPU and GPU Roles

Which component limits this game? The scaling data answers with unusual clarity.

Look at what happens when resolution rises from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, a fourfold increase in pixel count, while holding the preset constant. On Low, the average falls from 85 to 40 FPS, roughly a 53 percent drop. On Medium it falls from 60 to 29, on High from 53 to 25, and on Ultra from 40 to 19. Every preset loses roughly half to slightly more than half of its frame rate. That kind of steep, uniform decline is the signature of GPU limitation: the renderer is the bottleneck, and every additional pixel is paid for directly in frames.

Now look at the preset lever instead. At 1080p, dropping from Ultra to Low more than doubles the average, from 40 to 85. If the CPU were the constraint at 1080p, lowering settings would stop yielding gains once the processor's ceiling was hit. It does not stop; the gains keep coming, which confirms the RX 580 remains the limiting component even at the lowest resolution tested.

Where does the 9700F fit? Its credentials are strong: a single-thread score of 4691, a multithread score of 36470, a physics score of 2122, and 94th-percentile standing overall. The recorded data indicates this processor has ample headroom for Lockdown Protocol at every tested configuration, and the frame-rate behavior mirrors pure GPU scaling. The Zen 5 architecture with eight cores and sixteen threads is never the ceiling here; the 14 nm Polaris 20 chip with its 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput is. In practical terms, upgrading the GPU would raise frame rates in this game, while upgrading the CPU almost certainly would not.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Lockdown Protocol at 1080p?

A: Yes. At 1920x1080 the combination clears 60 FPS on Low (85 avg) and sits exactly at the threshold on Medium (60 avg, with a minimum of 51 and maximum of 69). High (53) and Ultra (40) fall short of the mark.

Q: Can it run the game at 1440p?

A: Marginally. The only playable preset at 2560x1440 is Low, averaging 62 FPS. Medium averages 44 (38 to 51 range), High averages 39, and Ultra averages 29.

Q: Is 4K possible at all?

A: No. At 3840x2160 the best result is 40 FPS on Low, with Medium at 29, High at 25, and Ultra at 19. No preset reaches the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: Which component should be upgraded first for better performance in this game?

A: The GPU. Frame rates scale strongly with both resolution and preset, which is the classic pattern of graphics limitation. The 9700F sits in the 94th percentile of all CPUs and its nearest rivals differ from it by less than one percent, so the processor is not the constraint.

Q: Does the frame rate ever dip below playable levels at 1080p Medium?

A: Yes. The recorded minimum for 1080p Medium is 51 FPS against an average of 60, so heavier scenes will drop below the threshold even though the average holds at it.

Q: How much does lowering settings help at 1080p?

A: Substantially. Going from Ultra to Low at 1920x1080 raises the average from 40 to 85 FPS, more than doubling performance.

The Verdict

Can the Ryzen 7 9700F plus Radeon RX 580 run Lockdown Protocol? Yes, with conditions, and only at two of the three tested resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the verdict is genuinely positive: two presets clear the 60 FPS threshold, Low at 85 FPS and Medium at exactly 60 FPS. The best recorded setting for this resolution is Medium at an average of 60. A player who insists on never dipping below 60 should use Low, since Medium's floor of 51 will occasionally undercut the target.

At 2560x1440, the verdict is a narrow pass. Only Low qualifies as playable, averaging 62 FPS. That is a two-frame margin over the threshold with no minimum data recorded for that preset, so comfort is not guaranteed.

At 3840x2160, the verdict is a clear no. The playable settings list is empty, the best recorded average is 40 FPS on Low, and the top preset manages just 19. This pairing should not be used for 4K play in this title.

Best Settings per Resolution

Based on the recorded data, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS at each resolution:

• 1920x1080: Medium, 60 FPS average. High drops to 53, so Medium is the ceiling. Players sensitive to dips can step down to Low at 85 FPS.
• 2560x1440: Low, 62 FPS average. Medium falls to 44, leaving Low as the only qualifying preset, and even then the margin is thin.
• 3840x2160: none. No preset reaches 60 FPS. The closest is Low at 40 FPS average.

The pattern is steep: each step up in resolution costs roughly one full playable tier. What runs at Medium in 1080p would need Low at 1440p and has no equivalent at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database, this CPU and GPU pairing ranks 3384 out of 3714 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol. That places it in the bottom tenth of the field for this specific game, which is exactly what the raw numbers would predict: a 53rd-percentile GPU paired with a 94th-percentile CPU produces a rig whose gaming rank is dragged down entirely by its graphics side.

The rank also reframes the pairing's identity. The 9700F is a modern, high-standing processor whose rivals include chips within a fraction of a percent of its average score, while the RX 580 is an end-of-life card from the Polaris generation whose rivals include a mobile GPU and an integrated Radeon. In Lockdown Protocol specifically, the data shows the GPU setting the pace at every resolution and preset, and the combo rank of 3384 reflects that reality. For this game, the processor is overqualified and the graphics card is the story, capable at 1080p with restrained settings, marginal at 1440p, and outmatched at 4K.