Lockdown Protocol

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 delivers a playable experience in Lockdown Protocol, but the margin depends heavily on resolution and preset. The recorded data shows that this combination clears the 60 FPS threshold at 1080p across all four presets, at 1440p for Low and Medium, and at 4K only for Low. The GTX 1070, an end-of-life Pascal part with a 47th percentile ranking, is the primary constraint, while the Ryzen 9 9900X, a Zen 5 processor in the 92nd percentile, provides ample headroom. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, compares nearby hardware, and identifies the best settings for each resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the results are limited. The Low preset averages 62 FPS, which is the only 4K setting that reaches the playable threshold. Medium averages 44 FPS with a recorded minimum of 37 and a maximum of 50. High averages 38 FPS, and Ultra drops to 29 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 18 FPS, and between Medium and Ultra is 15 FPS, showing that the GPU struggles as texture and shading demands increase. The difference between High and Ultra is only 9 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset adds relatively little over High in terms of cost, but both remain far below the 60 FPS target.

At 2560x1440, the picture improves significantly. Low averages 96 FPS, Medium averages 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 and a maximum of 78, High averages 59 FPS, and Ultra averages 45 FPS. Medium is the only preset that both clears 60 FPS on average and maintains a minimum above 55, though the 58 FPS minimum is just shy of the threshold. High sits at 59 FPS, a single frame below the playable line, so it is effectively borderline. The step from Low to Medium costs 28 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs 9 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 14 FPS.

At 1920x1080, the combination is fully capable. Low averages 131 FPS, Medium averages 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 and a maximum of 107, High averages 81 FPS, and Ultra averages 61 FPS. Every preset at 1080p stays above 60 FPS on average, and the minimum recorded at Medium (79 FPS) is well above the threshold. The scaling from Low to Ultra is 70 FPS, indicating that the GPU is the limiting factor even at 1080p, though the CPU's strong single-thread performance keeps frame times consistent. The delta between Low and Medium is 38 FPS, the largest jump in the entire dataset, which suggests that the Medium preset introduces a significant workload increase.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the Ryzen 9 9900X has an average benchmark score of 57498. Its nearest rivals in the database are the AMD EPYC 9015 with an average score of 57555, which is 0.1 percent lower, and the AMD EPYC 7313 with 57399, which is 0.2 percent higher. The Intel Core i9-14900 scores 58115, which is 1.1 percent higher, and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M scores 58323, which is 1.4 percent higher. These deltas are all within 1.4 percent, meaning that swapping the 9900X for any of these processors would produce nearly identical CPU-bound behavior in Lockdown Protocol. The 9900X itself sits in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs, so it is not the bottleneck.

For the GPU, the GTX 1070 has an average benchmark score of 9780 and sits in the 47th percentile. Its nearest rivals are the AMD FirePro W5000 at 9803 (0.2 percent lower), the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M at 9832 (0.5 percent lower), the NVIDIA Tesla M10 at 9724 (0.6 percent higher), and the NVIDIA Tesla C2070 at 9716 (0.7 percent higher). All four rivals are within 0.7 percent of the GTX 1070's score, so any of them would deliver essentially the same frame rates in GPU-bound scenarios. In practice, the GTX 1070's 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 256.3 GB/s bandwidth are the same class as these alternatives, and the measured FPS would be indistinguishable. For players considering a drop-in replacement, these GPUs would behave identically, while the CPU alternatives would not change the frame rate in a meaningful way.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data clearly shows that the GPU dominates performance in this game. The Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor with a 92nd percentile ranking, while the GTX 1070 is a 47th percentile GPU. At 1080p Low, the combination hits 131 FPS, which is high enough that the CPU's single-thread performance (3dmark single-thread score of 1286, passmark single-thread score of 4672) is not the limiting factor. The GPU's passmark G3D score of 13498 is modest, and the 3dmark Steel Nomad score of 1082 confirms its age. The CPU carries a launch MSRP of $499, reflecting its high-end positioning, but in this pairing it is underutilized.

Scaling between resolutions reinforces this. Moving from 1080p Low to 1440p Low drops the average from 131 to 96 FPS, a drop of 35 FPS. Moving from 1440p Low to 4K Low drops from 96 to 62 FPS, a drop of 34 FPS. These drops are consistent with a GPU that is becoming saturated as pixel count rises. At 4K, even the Low preset only reaches 62 FPS, while the CPU is idle relative to its capabilities. The CPU's multi-thread scores, such as the passmark multi-thread score of 54643 and the cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32172, indicate that it can handle far more workload than this game presents.

Preset scaling also points to the GPU. At 1080p, going from Low to Ultra reduces the average from 131 to 61 FPS, a drop of 70 FPS. At 1440p, the same preset change goes from 96 to 45 FPS, a drop of 51 FPS. At 4K, it goes from 62 to 29 FPS, a drop of 33 FPS. The consistent drop across resolutions indicates that the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth are the primary constraint, not the CPU. The Ryzen 9 9900X's 64 MB L3 cache and 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth are more than sufficient for this game's CPU load, as evidenced by the high passmark multi-thread score. In short, the CPU is never the limiting factor; the GTX 1070 is.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Lockdown Protocol, this CPU and GPU pairing ranks 3068 out of 3714. That places it in the lower portion of the database. The low rank is almost entirely due to the GTX 1070, which is an end-of-life product from 2016. The CPU, by contrast, is a current-generation part that ranks in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs. The combination's average benchmark score of 57498 for the CPU and 9780 for the GPU highlights the imbalance: the CPU is a top-tier part, while the GPU is a mid-range part from a previous era. Despite the low combo rank, the measured FPS shows that the pairing is still playable at 1080p and 1440p with the right settings. The rank reflects the overall performance ceiling, not the ability to run this specific game at acceptable frame rates. For context, the CPU's nearest rivals all score within 1.4 percent of the 9900X, and the GPU's nearest rivals all score within 0.7 percent, so the rank is not an outlier; it is a function of the GPU's age.

The Verdict

Can this PC run Lockdown Protocol? Yes, but with conditions. At 3840x2160, the only playable preset is Low, which averages 62 FPS. Medium at 4K averages 44 FPS, High averages 38 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS, all below the 60 FPS threshold. At 2560x1440, Low and Medium are playable, with Medium averaging 68 FPS. High at 1440p averages 59 FPS, just under the threshold, and Ultra averages 45 FPS. At 1920x1080, all four presets are playable, with Ultra averaging 61 FPS. The verdict by resolution is clear: 1080p is fully playable, 1440p is playable on Low and Medium, and 4K is only playable on Low. The 60 FPS threshold is the reference point, and the data shows that this combo clears it in 7 out of 12 tested configurations (Low, Medium, High, Ultra at 1080p; Low and Medium at 1440p; Low at 4K). The remaining five configurations fall short, with the worst being 4K Ultra at 29 FPS.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 3840x2160, the best setting that maintains 60 FPS or higher is Low, with an average of 62 FPS. Medium at 4K falls to 44 FPS, so it is not viable. For 2560x1440, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Medium, which averages 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 FPS. High at 1440p averages 59 FPS, which is just below the threshold, so Medium is the correct choice. For 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, averaging 61 FPS. All lower presets also exceed 60 FPS, but Ultra offers the highest visual quality while still clearing the playable line. Users targeting 60 FPS should use these settings: Low at 4K, Medium at 1440p, and Ultra at 1080p. For those who prefer higher frame rates, 1080p Low delivers 131 FPS, and 1440p Low delivers 96 FPS, but the best visual quality that still meets the threshold is as stated above.