Lockdown Protocol

FAQ

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

A: Yes, at 1920x1080 with Low settings the combination of AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 averages 73.4 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. Medium settings drop to 53.8 FPS, so Low is the only playable preset at this resolution.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: The recorded data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the system reaches a playable frame rate. At 2560x1440 the best result is 57.6 FPS on Low, just short of the 60 FPS threshold, and 3840x2160 tops out at 39.1 FPS on Low.

Q: How does the CPU compare to similar processors?

A: The Ryzen 9 7900X sits at the 91st percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 53,288. It is within 0.6% of the Intel Xeon 634 and 0.2% above the AMD EPYC 7313P, making it effectively a peer of those workstation chips in overall benchmark performance.

Q: How does the GPU compare to similar graphics cards?

A: The GTX 1650 sits at the 40th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 7,472. Its nearest rival, the Intel Arc A310, scores 7,550, about 1% higher, while the AMD Radeon R7 350 trails by 0.6%.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bigger limitation for this game?

A: The benchmark data shows the GPU is the limiting factor. The Ryzen 9 7900X is a high-end 12-core processor with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29,300, while the GTX 1650 is a modest entry-level card. Frame rates collapse at higher resolutions and presets, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario.

Q: What is the best settings preset at 1440p?

A: There is no playable preset at 2560x1440. The highest average frame rate recorded is 57.6 FPS on Low, which misses the 60 FPS threshold by a small margin.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data recorded for Lockdown Protocol shows a clear pattern: the GTX 1650 is the dominant constraint in this pairing. The Ryzen 9 7900X is a 12-core, 24-thread Zen 4 processor with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz and a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29,300. It ranks at the 91st percentile among all CPUs, meaning it outpaces the vast majority of processors in the database. The GTX 1650, by contrast, sits at the 40th percentile among all GPUs and carries just 4 GB of GDDR5 memory with 896 shading units.

The measured frame rates reflect this imbalance. At 3840x2160, the system manages 21.2 FPS on High and 39.1 FPS on Low. Dropping to 2560x1440 improves results to 37.9 FPS on High and 57.6 FPS on Low. At 1920x1080, the same preset swing goes from 49.2 FPS on High to 73.4 FPS on Low. The scaling from 4K to 1080p at Low settings produces a gain of 34.3 FPS, which is roughly an 88% improvement. This magnitude of resolution scaling is typical of a GPU-bound workload, where reducing pixel count directly relieves the graphics card.

Preset scaling tells the same story. At 1080p, moving from Low to Medium costs 19.6 FPS, and from Medium to High another 4.6 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra costs 15.1 FPS. The GTX 1650's limited compute resources, 2.984 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 128.1 GB/s of memory bandwidth, are simply not sufficient to feed the high-end CPU at higher settings. The Ryzen 9 7900X, with its 83.2 GB/s of DDR5 memory bandwidth and 64 MB of shared L3 cache, is never the bottleneck in these measurements.

At 1440p and 4K, the situation becomes more pronounced. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 32.0 FPS, and at 4K it is 21.5 FPS. In both cases, the CPU has ample headroom while the GPU struggles to maintain even modest frame rates. For players considering this combination, the practical takeaway is that the GTX 1650 dictates the playable envelope, and the Ryzen 9 7900X's power only matters if the graphics card can keep up.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches the 60 FPS playable threshold. The best recorded result is 39.1 FPS on Low, followed by 25.3 FPS on Medium, 21.2 FPS on High, and 17.6 FPS on Ultra. Even the lowest settings leave the system far from smooth gameplay at 4K.

At 2560x1440, the outcome is similar. The best result is 57.6 FPS on Low, which is 2.4 FPS short of the playable threshold. Medium produces 38.4 FPS, High produces 37.9 FPS, and Ultra produces 25.6 FPS. The data shows that 1440p is tantalizingly close but ultimately not playable on the Low preset.

At 1920x1080, the system finally finds a playable configuration. The Low preset averages 73.4 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold with room to spare. Medium drops to 53.8 FPS, High to 49.2 FPS, and Ultra to 34.1 FPS. The best playable setting at 1080p is therefore Low, with a recorded average of 73.4 FPS.

Players who want a smoother experience at 1080p may need to consider the frame rate headroom. The 73.4 FPS average on Low leaves some margin above the threshold, but Medium's 53.8 FPS shows that even one step up in quality brings the system below the playable line. The GTX 1650 simply does not have the bandwidth or shading power to handle higher presets in this title.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Ryzen 9 7900X has four nearest rivals in the database, all within a narrow band of 0.6% of its average benchmark score of 53,288. The AMD EPYC 7313P scores 53,206, a 0.2% delta, making it effectively identical in overall CPU performance. The Intel Xeon Phi 7290 scores 53,469, 0.3% higher, and the Intel Xeon 634 scores 52,974, 0.6% lower. The Intel Core i7-14700F scores 53,620, 0.6% higher than the 7900X. Any of these processors would behave similarly to the Ryzen 9 7900X in Lockdown Protocol, since the game is GPU-bound with this graphics card.

The GTX 1650's nearest rivals are also tightly clustered. The AMD Radeon HD 8850M scores 7,447, a 0.3% delta, while the Intel UHD Graphics 750 scores 7,441, a 0.4% delta. The AMD Radeon R7 350 scores 7,425, a 0.6% delta, and the Intel Arc A310 scores 7,550, 1% higher. In practical terms, any of these GPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Lockdown Protocol at the same settings and resolution. The Arc A310 is the closest competitor and would likely edge out the GTX 1650 by a small margin, while the Radeon R7 350 would trail by a similarly small amount.

For a builder considering alternatives, the data suggests that swapping the CPU for any of its nearest rivals would not change the gaming experience, since the GTX 1650 remains the bottleneck. Swapping the GPU for a card in its immediate performance class would also yield minimal differences. The playable configuration remains 1080p Low regardless of which near-peer component is chosen.

How This Combo Ranks

The database ranks this combination at 3,539 out of 3,714 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the bottom 5% of all tested systems, which is consistent with the measured frame rates. The Ryzen 9 7900X is a high-end processor, but the GTX 1650 drags the overall ranking down significantly.

This ranking reflects the fact that the game is GPU-bound in this pairing. A 12-core Zen 4 processor with a 91st percentile CPU ranking cannot compensate for a graphics card at the 40th percentile. The measured results show that every resolution and preset combination falls short of 60 FPS except for 1080p Low, and even that configuration only reaches 73.4 FPS.

The rank also indicates that most other tested combos in the database achieve better frame rates in Lockdown Protocol. The bottom 4.7% positioning is a direct consequence of the GTX 1650's limited capabilities, particularly its 4 GB VRAM and modest FP32 throughput. Players considering this combination should understand that the CPU is far more capable than the GPU, and the overall experience will be defined by the graphics card.

The Verdict

This system can run Lockdown Protocol, but only within a narrow window. The verdict by resolution is clear: at 3840x2160 there are no playable settings, with the best result being 39.1 FPS on Low. At 2560x1440 there are also no playable settings, with the best result being 57.6 FPS on Low, just 2.4 FPS below the threshold.

At 1920x1080, the system achieves a playable configuration. The Low preset averages 73.4 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold. This is the only resolution and preset combination that qualifies as playable in the recorded data. Medium at 1080p falls to 53.8 FPS, High to 49.2 FPS, and Ultra to 34.1 FPS, all below the threshold.

The practical verdict is that this combo is suitable for 1080p gaming on Low settings in Lockdown Protocol, but not for higher resolutions or quality presets. The Ryzen 9 7900X provides ample CPU headroom for future upgrades, but the GTX 1650 limits the system to the lowest visual tier. Players who prioritize smooth frame rates over visual fidelity will find the 1080p Low configuration acceptable, while those who want higher settings or higher resolutions will need a significantly stronger graphics card.