Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol is not a demanding title for the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX. Measured data for this combination shows frame rates that clear the 60 FPS playable threshold at every tested resolution and every preset, including Ultra at 3840x2160. The Ryzen 7 9700X is an 8-core, 16-thread Zen 5 processor with a 5.50 GHz boost clock and a 65 W TDP, while the RX 7900 XTX brings 24 GB of GDDR6 across a 384-bit bus with 960.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth — a pairing ranked 516th of 3714 tested combinations in this game. The analysis below breaks down exactly what the numbers say.

Measured FPS Breakdown

All results below are measured averages for the Ryzen 7 9700X + RX 7900 XTX combination in Lockdown Protocol.

1920x1080:

• Low: 302.9 FPS
• Medium: 213.9 FPS
• High: 184.5 FPS
• Ultra: 139.5 FPS

2560x1440:

• Low: 221.9 FPS
• Medium: 158.2 FPS
• High: 135.3 FPS
• Ultra: 103.2 FPS

3840x2160:

• Low: 142.6 FPS
• Medium: 102.1 FPS
• High: 89.1 FPS
• Ultra: 64.4 FPS

The spread between presets is instructive. At 1080p, dropping from Ultra to Low more than doubles the average frame rate, from 139.5 to 302.9 FPS. At 1440p the gap is similar: 103.2 FPS at Ultra versus 221.9 FPS at Low. At 4K the spread narrows considerably — 64.4 FPS at Ultra rising to 142.6 FPS at Low — because the GPU is pushed harder by the pixel count regardless of preset. Minimum and maximum frame rates were not captured for these runs, so the averages are the authoritative figures here. Even so, the margins over the 60 FPS threshold are wide enough at every data point that the conclusions are robust: the worst recorded result, 4K Ultra at 64.4 FPS, still clears playable.

Best Settings per Resolution

Using the 60 FPS playable threshold:

• 1920x1080 — Ultra at 139.5 FPS. The most demanding preset clears the threshold by a wide margin; there is no reason to run anything lower.
• 2560x1440 — Ultra at 103.2 FPS. Again the top preset is comfortably playable, with over 40 FPS of headroom.
• 3840x2160 — Ultra at 64.4 FPS. Ultra remains the best setting that stays at or above 60 FPS, though headroom is thin. Players sensitive to dips below the average may prefer High at 89.1 FPS, which trades visual fidelity for a substantial margin.

In short, Ultra is the answer at all three resolutions — a rare outcome, and one that reflects both the game's modest requirements (released 2024-03-11) and the strength of this hardware pairing.

FAQ

Q: Can the Ryzen 7 9700X + RX 7900 XTX run Lockdown Protocol at 4K?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160, every preset from Low (142.6 FPS) to Ultra (64.4 FPS) averages at or above the 60 FPS playable threshold. Ultra is the best setting at 64.4 FPS.

Q: What is the highest frame rate recorded for this combination?

A: 302.9 FPS, at 1920x1080 on the Low preset.

Q: How much performance is lost going from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra?

A: The average drops from 139.5 FPS to 64.4 FPS — but 4K Ultra remains playable.

Q: Is 1440p a good middle ground?

A: The data supports it. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 103.2 FPS and Low reaches 221.9 FPS, so the resolution offers high image quality with strong frame rates.

Q: How does this combination rank against other tested pairings in Lockdown Protocol?

A: It ranks 516th out of 3714 tested combinations in this game.

Q: Does the CPU hold this pairing back?

A: Unlikely. The Ryzen 7 9700X sits in the 86th percentile versus all CPUs, and frame rates scale downward at higher resolutions, indicating GPU-bound behavior.

The Verdict

Yes — this PC runs Lockdown Protocol without compromise. The verdict by resolution is unambiguous:

• 1920x1080: playable on Low, Medium, High, and Ultra; best setting is Ultra at 139.5 FPS.
• 2560x1440: playable on all four presets; best setting is Ultra at 103.2 FPS.
• 3840x2160: playable on all four presets; best setting is Ultra at 64.4 FPS.

There is no resolution-and-preset combination in the measured data where this pairing falls below 60 FPS. The only caveat worth stating is the 4K Ultra margin: at 64.4 FPS average, the buffer above the threshold is small, and High at 89.1 FPS is the safer choice for consistently smooth play. Everywhere else, the question is not whether the game runs, but how high the frame counter will go.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For CPUs: the Ryzen 7 9700X's average benchmark score of 37943 places it within a fraction of a percent of several alternatives. The Intel Core i9-14901E (average score 37911, 0.1% delta) and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (37904, 0.1% delta) are statistically equivalent in aggregate performance. The Intel Core 5 211E (37829, 0.3% delta) and the AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P132 (37804, 0.4% delta) are also effectively interchangeable for this workload. Any of these processors would produce broadly similar results in Lockdown Protocol given the same GPU.

For GPUs: the RX 7900 XTX averages 19410 across its benchmark suite. The nearest rivals listed are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB (19334, 0.4% delta), the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (19602, −1% delta), the AMD FirePro D300 (19637, −1.2% delta), and the NVIDIA TITAN Xp (19177, 1.2% delta). On aggregate scores, these sit within roughly one percent of the RX 7900 XTX and would be expected to behave similarly in this title. Note that the percentile contexts differ: the 7900 XTX ranks in the 64th percentile versus all GPUs, while the 9700X sits in the 86th percentile versus all CPUs — the CPU is the relatively stronger component of this pairing on paper.

How This Combo Ranks

Against the full field of tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol, the Ryzen 7 9700X + RX 7900 XTX ranks 516th out of 3714. That places it in the top portion of the field — a strong showing, though not among the absolute elite pairings. The interpretation is straightforward: this combination delivers far more performance than the game requires (Ultra at 4K clears 60 FPS), and most combinations ranking above it would be indistinguishable in practice for this title, since the playable threshold is already met at maximum settings. Rankings matter more in games that stress hardware; here, rank 516 of 3714 is more than sufficient.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling data points to a GPU-bound profile at every resolution. Frame rates fall consistently as resolution rises at any fixed preset: Ultra goes from 139.5 FPS at 1080p to 103.2 at 1440p to 64.4 at 4K; High goes from 184.5 to 135.3 to 89.1. If the CPU were the limiting factor, raising resolution would not reduce frame rates this dramatically — the renderer is waiting on the GPU, specifically on the RX 7900 XTX's pixel throughput, as load scales with resolution.

That said, the CPU is no weak link. The Ryzen 7 9700X posts a single-thread score of 1280 in 3DMark, a Cinebench R23 single-core result of 2211, and a multi-core result of 20485 — more than enough for an FPS title, and its 86th-percentile standing versus all CPUs confirms it. At 1080p, where CPU influence is typically greatest, the pairing still reaches 302.9 FPS on Low, indicating the 9700X's eight Zen 5 cores are not the constraint even at high frame rates. The practical takeaway: for Lockdown Protocol, GPU headroom determines image quality and resolution, and the RX 7900 XTX provides enough of it to max out the game at 4K — just barely at Ultra, and comfortably at High.