Lockdown Protocol

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Lockdown Protocol at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings. At 3840x2160, the Low preset produces 74.4 FPS on average, which clears the 60 FPS threshold. Medium drops to 55.8 FPS, High falls to 45.4 FPS, and Ultra sits at 37.5 FPS, all below the playable mark.

Q: What is the highest playable preset at 1440p?

A: High is the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS at 2560x1440, achieving 70.2 FPS on average. Medium runs at 84.6 FPS and Low at 112.4 FPS, while Ultra falls short at 57.2 FPS.

Q: Is Ultra settings playable at 1080p?

A: Yes. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 75.9 FPS on average, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. Every preset at this resolution clears 60 FPS, with Low reaching 158.4 FPS, Medium at 113.7 FPS, and High at 94.8 FPS.

Q: How does this combination rank among tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 2695 out of 3714 tested combinations, placing it in the lower portion of the database. This reflects the GPU's age relative to the CPU, as the graphics card sits at the 59th percentile among all GPUs while the CPU is at the 91st percentile.

Q: Which component is the bottleneck in this pairing?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU benchmarks place it among top-tier processors, while the GPU's percentile ranking is far lower. The frame rates scale significantly with resolution and preset changes, which is characteristic of GPU-bound scenarios.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p Low and 4K Ultra?

A: The spread is substantial. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system averages 158.4 FPS. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, it averages 37.5 FPS, a drop of approximately 121 FPS, roughly 76% lower.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the only preset that maintains 60 FPS or higher is Low, which yields 74.4 FPS on average. Medium falls short at 55.8 FPS, so it is not a viable option for smooth gameplay at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the highest preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is High, delivering 70.2 FPS on average. Medium provides a comfortable margin at 84.6 FPS, and Low reaches 112.4 FPS, but Ultra at 57.2 FPS misses the threshold by a narrow margin.

At 1920x1080, all presets are playable. The most demanding preset that clears 60 FPS is Ultra, which runs at 75.9 FPS on average. This gives users full flexibility to enable maximum visual quality while retaining a playable frame rate.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data shows a clear pattern of GPU-bound behavior across all resolutions. When moving from 1080p to 1440p at the same preset, frame rates drop by a consistent percentage. For instance, High settings fall from 94.8 FPS at 1920x1080 to 70.2 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 26%. Moving further to 3840x2160 at High brings the average down to 45.4 FPS, another 35% reduction. This scaling behavior is typical of a system where the graphics card is the primary constraint.

The CPU, an AMD Ryzen 9 7900X with 12 cores and 24 threads, is far more capable than the workload demands. Its benchmark scores place it at the 91st percentile among all CPUs, with strong multithreaded results such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29300 and a Geekbench multicore score of 19267. The GPU, an AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, sits at the 59th percentile among all GPUs, with a Passmark G3D score of 16277. The performance ceiling in Lockdown Protocol is dictated by the graphics card, not the processor.

The difference between presets reinforces this conclusion. At 2560x1440, Low settings run at 112.4 FPS while Ultra runs at 57.2 FPS, a 55 FPS gap driven entirely by GPU workload. The CPU is not the limiting factor because even at the lowest preset, where CPU overhead is highest relative to GPU load, the system still produces high frame rates. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would remain relatively flat across resolution changes, which is not observed here.

The Verdict

This PC can run Lockdown Protocol, but the playable range depends heavily on resolution. At 1920x1080, every preset from Low to Ultra clears the 60 FPS threshold. The highest quality option, Ultra, runs at 75.9 FPS on average, making it fully playable. At 2560x1440, the system handles High at 70.2 FPS, Medium at 84.6 FPS, and Low at 112.4 FPS, but Ultra falls below 60 FPS at 57.2 FPS. At 3840x2160, only Low is playable, delivering 74.4 FPS; Medium, High, and Ultra all fall short of the playable threshold.

For users prioritizing visual fidelity, 1080p Ultra is the recommended configuration. For those needing higher resolution, 1440p High offers a good balance, while 4K requires the Low preset to maintain smooth gameplay. The system is not capable of 4K Ultra, which runs at 37.5 FPS, nor 4K High at 45.4 FPS, nor 4K Medium at 55.8 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the recorded average frame rates are as follows: Low runs at 158.4 FPS, Medium at 113.7 FPS, High at 94.8 FPS, and Ultra at 75.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 82.5 FPS, indicating a wide performance range across quality presets.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 112.4 FPS, Medium at 84.6 FPS, High at 70.2 FPS, and Ultra at 57.2 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces frame rates by approximately 29% at Low settings, 26% at Medium, 26% at High, and 25% at Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 74.4 FPS, Medium at 55.8 FPS, High at 45.4 FPS, and Ultra at 37.5 FPS. Compared to 1440p, the 4K resolution reduces performance by roughly 34% at Low, 34% at Medium, 35% at High, and 34% at Ultra. The consistent scaling across presets confirms the GPU-bound nature of the workload.

No minimum or maximum frame rate data was recorded for any configuration, so the analysis is based on average frame rates only. The playable threshold is defined as 60 FPS, and the database marks configurations accordingly.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT ranks 2695 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the 27th percentile, meaning roughly 73% of tested systems perform better in this specific game.

The ranking is notably lower than the CPU's own percentile of 91 among all processors. This discrepancy highlights the GPU's role as the performance limiter. The RX 5700 XT, with an average benchmark score of 16361 and a percentile of 59 among all GPUs, holds back the otherwise high-end processor. In a game like Lockdown Protocol, which demonstrates strong GPU scaling across resolutions and presets, the graphics card dictates the overall experience.

The rank of 2695 indicates that while the system is capable of running the game, it does not deliver top-tier performance. Users with higher-end GPUs paired with comparable CPUs would see substantially better frame rates, particularly at higher resolutions and quality settings. The system's strength lies in its CPU, which provides headroom for future GPU upgrades.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the AMD EPYC 7313P has an average score of 53206, which is 0.2% lower than the Ryzen 9 7900X's average of 53288. The Intel Xeon Phi 7290 scores 53469, 0.3% higher. The Intel Xeon 634 scores 52974, 0.6% lower, and the Intel Core i7-14700F scores 53620, 0.6% higher. These processors would behave similarly in terms of CPU-bound tasks, meaning any of them paired with the same GPU would produce nearly identical frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, given the game's GPU-bound nature.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M with an average score of 16351, 0.1% lower than the RX 5700 XT's 16361. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell scores 16408, 0.3% higher. The AMD Radeon PRO W7500 scores 16415, 0.3% higher, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 scores 16504, 0.9% higher. These GPUs would deliver essentially the same frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, with differences of less than 1% in synthetic benchmarks translating to negligible changes in game performance.

In practical terms, swapping the CPU for any of its nearest rivals would not change the gaming experience, as the GPU remains the bottleneck. Swapping the GPU for any of its nearest rivals would also produce nearly identical results, as the performance deltas are all under 1%. The system's overall behavior in Lockdown Protocol would remain consistent with any of these substitutions.