Lockdown Protocol

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and AMD Radeon RX 9070 combination delivers a robust Lockdown Protocol experience, with the data showing strong playability across all tested resolutions. This pairing leverages an 8-core, 16-thread Zen 5 processor and a 16 GB RDNA 4.0 graphics card to produce frame rates that comfortably exceed the 60 FPS playability threshold in most scenarios, though 4K Ultra demands compromise. The measured data covers three resolutions—1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160—each with Low, Medium, High, and Ultra presets, providing a comprehensive view of performance scaling.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combination shows exceptional headroom. The Low preset averages 245 FPS, which is the highest recorded figure in the entire dataset. Medium settings drop to 174 FPS average, with a minimum of 148 FPS and a maximum of 200 FPS. High settings produce 152 FPS average, while Ultra still maintains a strong 114 FPS average. No minimum or maximum values are listed for Low, High, or Ultra at this resolution, but the averages suggest consistent performance well above any competitive threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance curve remains steep but still thoroughly playable. Low settings deliver 180 FPS average. Medium settings average 128 FPS, with a minimum of 109 FPS and a maximum of 147 FPS. High settings produce 112 FPS average, and Ultra settings maintain 84 FPS average. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a predictable reduction, with the Ultra preset dropping from 114 FPS to 84 FPS, a 26% decrease.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes more dramatically. Low settings still achieve 116 FPS average, which is playable for any display. Medium settings average 82 FPS, with a minimum of 70 FPS and a maximum of 95 FPS. High settings produce 72 FPS average, which remains above the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra settings, however, fall to 54 FPS average, which is below the playable threshold and represents the only preset across all resolutions that fails to maintain 60 FPS. The data shows no minimum or maximum values for Low, High, or Ultra at 4K, but the Medium preset’s range of 70-95 FPS indicates that even at 4K, the hardware can sustain playable frame rates under moderate load.

The progression across resolutions reveals the GPU’s bandwidth limitations. At 1080p, the RX 9070’s 644.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and 36.13 TFLOPS compute are more than sufficient, allowing the CPU’s single-thread performance to drive high frame rates. At 1440p, the balance shifts, and at 4K, the pixel throughput demands of 3840x2160 begin to strain the 256-bit memory bus, particularly at Ultra settings where the 54 FPS average indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data indicates that the CPU plays a more significant role at lower resolutions, while the GPU takes over as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low and Ultra is 131 FPS (245 FPS vs 114 FPS), showing that settings changes have a massive impact. This suggests the RX 9070 is not fully utilized at Low settings, and the Ryzen 7 9700F’s boost clock of 5.50 GHz and PassMark single-thread score of 4691 allow it to feed frames quickly. The 8-core, 16-thread configuration with 32 MB of shared L3 cache provides ample processing power for game logic and physics at high frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the scaling between Low and Ultra narrows to 96 FPS (180 FPS vs 84 FPS), indicating that the GPU is starting to become a limiting factor. The Medium preset’s 128 FPS average, with a minimum of 109 FPS, shows that the combination can handle moderate settings without significant frame drops. The CPU’s role diminishes here, as the GPU’s fill rate and shading units become more important for rendering the additional pixels.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the dominant component. The difference between Low and Ultra is 62 FPS (116 FPS vs 54 FPS), and even the highest playable preset (High at 72 FPS) shows that the RX 9070 is working near its limits. The CPU’s PassMark multithread score of 36470 and physics score of 2122 are sufficient to avoid bottlenecking at 4K, as evidenced by the fact that Low settings still achieve 116 FPS—a figure that would require significant CPU throughput to maintain.

The scaling between resolutions at the same preset provides further insight. At High settings, moving from 1080p to 1440p reduces average FPS by 26% (152 to 112), and moving from 1440p to 4K reduces it by another 36% (112 to 72). This non-linear scaling indicates that the GPU’s memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s and pixel rate of 322.6 GPixel/s become increasingly strained as pixel count grows. Conversely, at Low settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 27% (245 to 180), and from 1440p to 4K is 36% (180 to 116), showing similar trends regardless of preset.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the best playable preset is Ultra, which maintains an average of 114 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold, and the data shows that all four presets are playable. The 245 FPS at Low and 174 FPS at Medium provide options for high-refresh-rate displays, but Ultra at 114 FPS is the most demanding preset that stays above the threshold.

At 2560x1440, the best playable preset is also Ultra, with an average of 84 FPS. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, and the Medium preset’s 128 FPS average (with a minimum of 109 FPS) suggests that even demanding scenes will not drop below playable levels. The data confirms that all four presets are playable at this resolution, with Ultra being the highest quality option.

At 3840x2160, the best playable preset is High, which averages 72 FPS. The Medium preset averages 82 FPS, with a minimum of 70 FPS, but High offers better visual quality while still staying above the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra settings at 54 FPS are not playable, and the data clearly marks this as the only non-playable configuration. For 4K users, High settings provide the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, with 72 FPS average representing a 20% margin over the playability threshold.

The verdict data confirms these choices: at 4K, the playable settings include High, Low, and Medium, with High identified as best at 72 FPS; at 1440p, all four presets are playable with Ultra at 84 FPS; at 1080p, all four presets are playable with Ultra at 114 FPS.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Ryzen 7 9700F’s nearest rivals, based on average benchmark scores, include the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875 avg score, 0.2% slower), Intel Core i7-14700KF (70163 avg score, 0.2% faster), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515 avg score, 0.7% slower), and Intel Core i7-14700K (69355 avg score, 0.9% slower). These processors would behave nearly identically in Lockdown Protocol, with performance deltas of less than 1% in synthetic benchmarks. The Ryzen 9 7940HX is a mobile processor, but its benchmark score is within 0.2% of the 9700F, suggesting similar gaming performance. The Core i7-14700KF and i7-14700K are desktop parts that would provide essentially the same frame rates in this game, given the CPU’s minimal role at higher resolutions.

The RX 9070’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (23736 avg score, 0.6% faster), AMD Radeon RX 6800S (24063 avg score, 0.8% slower), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile (23628 avg score, 1.1% faster), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (24170 avg score, 1.2% slower). These GPUs would produce very similar frame rates in Lockdown Protocol. The GTX TITAN Z, despite its older architecture, scores within 0.6% of the RX 9070, meaning it would likely deliver comparable FPS at the same settings. The RTX 2080 SUPER, which is 1.2% slower, would show a marginal reduction in average FPS—for example, at 4K High, the 72 FPS would drop to approximately 71 FPS. The RTX 3080 Mobile, at 1.1% faster, might push 4K High to 73 FPS. These differences are negligible in practice, and users with any of these GPUs paired with a comparable CPU would see nearly identical performance.

It is important to note that the RX 9070’s percentile rank is 69 among all GPUs, while the Ryzen 7 9700F ranks in the 94th percentile among all CPUs. This disparity suggests that the CPU has more headroom relative to its peers than the GPU, reinforcing the observation that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Can this combination run Lockdown Protocol at 4K with all settings maxed?

A: No. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 54, which is below the 60 FPS playability threshold. The best playable setting at 4K is High, which averages 72 FPS.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combination?

A: The highest average FPS is 245, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At Medium settings, the average drops to 174 FPS with a minimum of 148 FPS and a maximum of 200 FPS.

Q: Is 2560x1440 playable at Ultra settings?

A: Yes. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 84 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. All four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable at this resolution.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F has an average benchmark score of 69996. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-14700KF, scores 70163, which is 0.2% faster. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is 0.7% slower, and the Intel Core i7-14700K is 0.9% slower. In Lockdown Protocol, these differences would result in nearly identical frame rates.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded across all tested configurations?

A: The only minimum FPS values recorded are for Medium settings: 148 FPS at 1920x1080, 109 FPS at 2560x1440, and 70 FPS at 3840x2160. No minimum values are listed for Low, High, or Ultra presets, but the averages suggest all remain above playable levels except 4K Ultra.

Q: How does the GPU’s performance rank among all GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks in the 69th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23877. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER, is 1.2% slower, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile is 1.1% faster.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + AMD Radeon RX 9070 combination ranks 1099 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the top 30% of all combinations, which is a strong result given the game’s demanding nature at high resolutions. The rank reflects the combination’s ability to maintain playable frame rates across most presets, with only 4K Ultra falling below the 60 FPS threshold.

The 69th percentile GPU rank and 94th percentile CPU rank indicate that the CPU is a stronger performer relative to its peers than the GPU. This asymmetry contributes to the combination’s overall rank, as the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K. At lower resolutions, the CPU’s strength allows the combination to punch above its weight, achieving 245 FPS at 1080p Low and 180 FPS at 1440p Low.

Compared to the full field of 3714 combos, a rank of 1099 suggests that approximately 2615 combinations perform worse, while 1098 perform better. This places the combination in the upper-middle tier, suitable for high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming and solid 1440p performance, with 4K requiring settings compromises. The data shows that the combination is well-balanced for its target market, with no major bottlenecks at common resolutions, and the 8-core CPU ensures future longevity even as games become more multi-threaded.