Lockdown Protocol

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combination delivers a solid 1080p and 1440p experience in Lockdown Protocol, with 4K requiring a settings compromise. The data shows this pairing is well-balanced for high-refresh-rate gaming at mainstream resolutions, though the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolution and quality settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

Benchmark results for Lockdown Protocol show a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and presets. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers an average of 214 FPS on Low settings, which drops to 152 FPS on Medium, 133 FPS on High, and 99 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 129 FPS and a maximum of 175 FPS, indicating frame times stay well within smooth territory even during demanding scenes.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 157 FPS on Low, 111 FPS on Medium, 97 FPS on High, and 73 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset again shows a narrow range with a minimum of 95 FPS and a maximum of 128 FPS. The step from High to Ultra at this resolution costs 24 FPS, which is a notable drop but still leaves the average well above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes significantly. The Low preset averages 101 FPS, Medium averages 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS, and High averages 63 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 47 FPS average, which is below the playable threshold. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 54 FPS, showing how demanding the Ultra preset becomes at this resolution.

The scaling between presets is not linear. At 1080p, Low to Ultra costs 115 FPS, while at 1440p the same preset range costs 84 FPS, and at 4K it costs 54 FPS. This pattern reflects the GPU becoming more constrained as resolution increases, compressing the headroom between quality tiers.

CPU and GPU Roles

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D, with its 12 cores and 24 threads, provides substantial headroom for Lockdown Protocol. The CPU benchmarks support this: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 47737 and a single-core score of 6739 indicate strong per-thread performance that prevents CPU bottlenecks in most scenarios. The 128 MB of L3 cache also helps with game data locality.

However, the data indicates the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is the primary performance limiter as resolution increases. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra presets is 115 FPS, but the CPU is likely still feeding the GPU adequately. At 4K, the Ultra preset drops to 47 FPS, which is below the playable threshold, suggesting the GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to maintain frame rates at that quality level.

The scaling between resolutions confirms this. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 152 at 1080p to 111 at 1440p to 72 at 4K. This 53% reduction from 1080p to 4K is consistent with a GPU-bound workload. The CPU's role becomes more prominent at lower resolutions and lower presets, where the 214 FPS at 1080p Low suggests the processor can handle high frame rates without becoming a constraint.

At 1440p Ultra, the 73 FPS average indicates the GPU is still managing the workload, but the margin over the 60 FPS threshold is thinner than at lower presets. The 4K High preset at 63 FPS sits right at the edge, with the Medium preset at 72 FPS providing more comfort. This suggests that for 4K gaming, the RTX 3070 needs quality settings reduced to maintain smooth performance.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals for the CPU, the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D has an average benchmark score of 54762. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF scores 55093, which is 0.6% higher. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245K scores 54053, putting it 1.3% lower. The Intel Xeon 6505P scores 53701, which is 2% lower, and the Intel Core i7-14700F scores 53620, also 2% lower. These processors would deliver nearly identical CPU performance in Lockdown Protocol, meaning the frame rates at lower resolutions and presets would be very close.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 has an average benchmark score of 17208. The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT scores 17083, which is 0.7% lower. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 scores 17037, 1% lower. The AMD Radeon HD 7970M scores 17019, 1.1% lower, and the NVIDIA Tesla K40c scores 17468, which is 1.5% higher. These GPUs would produce similar frame rates, with the Tesla K40c being slightly faster on average. In practical terms, any of these alternatives would land within a few FPS of the RTX 3070 at each resolution and preset combination.

The combination of the 9900X3D with any of these rival GPUs would shift the balance slightly. A CPU that is 1-2% slower would barely move the 1080p Low result of 214 FPS, since the GPU is the limiting factor there. The GPU rivals would affect all resolutions more noticeably, with the Tesla K40c potentially adding a frame or two at 4K Ultra and the Radeon RX 7600 XT potentially losing a frame at the same settings.

The Verdict

The data shows this PC can run Lockdown Protocol at all three tested resolutions, but with important caveats. At 1920x1080, every preset clears the 60 FPS threshold comfortably, with the Ultra preset averaging 99 FPS. This is the ideal resolution for this combo, offering high quality and smooth performance.

At 2560x1440, all presets also stay above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 73 FPS, which provides a playable experience with maximum visual quality. The High preset at 97 FPS offers a smoother experience if frame rate matters more than the extra visual fidelity.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset fails to maintain 60 FPS, averaging 47 FPS. The High preset averages 63 FPS, which clears the threshold but leaves little margin for demanding scenes. The Medium preset at 72 FPS provides a safer experience, and the Low preset at 101 FPS is the most comfortable for competitive play. For 4K gaming, the recommendation is to stick with High settings or drop to Medium for a more stable experience.

How This Combo Ranks

The combined system ranks 1588 out of 3714 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the upper-middle portion of the database, which is consistent with the RTX 3070 being a mid-generation GPU paired with a high-end CPU. The rank reflects that while the CPU is among the top performers, the GPU holds back the overall result at higher resolutions and presets.

The ranking suggests there are many faster combinations, but also a significant number of slower ones. For a system targeting 1080p or 1440p gaming, this rank is respectable. The GPU percentile of 61 versus the CPU percentile of 91 indicates the mismatch: the CPU is capable of much more, but the GPU caps the system's overall potential.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the most demanding setting that stays at or above 60 FPS, with an average of 99 FPS. This provides the best visual quality while maintaining a high frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset also clears the threshold with an average of 73 FPS. This is the best choice for maximum quality at this resolution, though the High preset at 97 FPS is an alternative for players who prefer a higher refresh rate.

At 3840x2160, the High preset is the most demanding setting that stays at or above 60 FPS, with an average of 63 FPS. The Medium preset at 72 FPS is a more conservative option that provides a larger safety margin. The Ultra preset at 47 FPS is not playable at the 60 FPS threshold.