Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX delivers a commanding performance profile in Lockdown Protocol, with measured frame rates that far exceed the 60 FPS playability threshold across every resolution and preset combination tested. The data shows a system that is not merely capable, but overwhelmingly dominant, with the lowest recorded average frame rate still landing at 66.2 FPS at 4K Ultra settings. This combination ranks in the top tier of tested configurations, sitting at position 452 out of 3714 combos, placing it in the 87.8th percentile of all tested hardware pairings for this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combination reveals a linear and predictable scaling pattern across resolutions and settings, with no anomalies or bottleneck-induced plateaus. At 1920x1080, the system produces staggering frame rates that approach the limits of what most high-refresh displays can even utilize. The Low preset yields an average of 302.8 FPS, which represents the absolute peak performance of this pairing. Stepping up to Medium drops the average to 216.4 FPS, a 28.5% reduction that suggests the preset change introduces meaningful additional GPU workload. The High preset delivers 188.8 FPS average, while the Ultra preset—the most demanding configuration—still maintains a robust 143.9 FPS average. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is substantial, with Ultra delivering only 47.5% of the Low preset's frame rate, indicating that the visual fidelity upgrades at Ultra come at a significant performance cost.

Moving to 2560x1440 reveals a similar pattern but with the expected resolution penalty applied across all presets. The Low preset sees its average drop to 223.9 FPS, a 26.1% reduction from the 1080p figure. Medium follows at 157.5 FPS, High at 135.3 FPS, and Ultra at 104.8 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is not perfectly uniform across presets; the Low preset loses 78.9 FPS while the Ultra preset loses 39.1 FPS. This differential suggests that at higher settings, the GPU is already heavily utilized, so the resolution increase adds proportionally less absolute frame loss compared to the less demanding presets where the system is more CPU-bound or otherwise less saturated.

At 3840x2160, the performance remains impressive but begins to show the strain of 4K rendering. The Low preset still achieves a remarkably smooth 145.9 FPS average, which is higher than the Ultra preset achieves at 1080p. Medium drops to 101.9 FPS, High to 91.4 FPS, and Ultra to 66.2 FPS—the only measured average that falls below the 100 FPS mark. The 4K Ultra figure is particularly telling: it sits just 6.2 FPS above the 60 FPS playability threshold, indicating that while the game is fully playable at maximum settings on this resolution, there is minimal headroom for any future patches or background system load that might impact performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 452 out of 3714 tested combinations places this system firmly in the upper echelon of Lockdown Protocol configurations. This rank represents the 87.8th percentile of all tested combos, meaning only 12.2% of configurations perform better. Given the hardware pairing, this ranking makes sense—the i7-13700K is a high-end desktop processor with a multithreaded benchmark score of 45887 in PassMark, while the RX 7900 XTX delivers a PassMark G3D score of 31238. Neither component is the absolute fastest available, but their combination produces synergistic performance that excels in this game's engine.

The ranking data suggests that Lockdown Protocol scales well with both CPU and GPU resources, as this combo outperforms many configurations that might have stronger single-threaded CPUs but weaker GPUs, and vice versa. The 3714 total combos tested represent a wide spectrum of hardware, from entry-level integrated graphics systems to multi-GPU enthusiast builds. Landing at 452 means this combo outperforms the vast majority of systems that players would realistically encounter. The data implies that for competitive play, where frame rate consistency matters, this system provides a significant advantage over the median configuration.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance scaling across resolutions and presets reveals how the CPU and GPU share the workload in Lockdown Protocol. At 1080p with the Low preset, the system achieves 302.8 FPS, a figure that suggests the frame rate is being limited by CPU capabilities rather than GPU throughput. The i7-13700K, with its 16 cores and 24 threads, provides substantial processing headroom, but even this processor can only feed the GPU so many draw calls per second. The fact that the Low preset at 1440p produces 223.9 FPS—a 26.1% drop—while the GPU is rendering 78% more pixels indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary constraint as resolution increases.

The GPU's role becomes more pronounced at higher settings and resolutions. Between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p, the frame rate drops by 52.5%, which is a massive reduction that can only be explained by the exponential increase in GPU workload from visual effects, shadows, and post-processing. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the dominant factor: the Low preset produces 145.9 FPS while Ultra produces 66.2 FPS, a 54.6% reduction. This pattern demonstrates that Lockdown Protocol's Ultra preset is heavily GPU-bound, with the RX 7900 XTX's 24 GB of GDDR6 memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth being taxed by high-resolution textures and effects.

The scaling between resolutions at the same preset provides insight into the CPU-GPU balance. At Low settings, going from 1080p to 1440p costs 78.9 FPS, and from 1440p to 4K costs another 78.0 FPS. This nearly linear decline indicates that at Low settings, the system is operating in a balanced regime where both components contribute. At Ultra settings, the drops are 39.1 FPS (1080p to 1440p) and 38.6 FPS (1440p to 4K), showing that the GPU is so heavily loaded that additional pixel count has a diminishing absolute impact. The CPU matters most at low resolutions and low presets, while the GPU dominates at high resolutions and high presets.

FAQ

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K with maximum settings?

A: Yes, the measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 66.2 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold by 6.2 FPS. However, this is the closest margin of any resolution-preset combination, and the data shows limited headroom for demanding scenes or background system load.

Q: What is the highest refresh rate display this combo can effectively drive at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with High settings, the average frame rate is 188.8 FPS, while the Low preset reaches 302.8 FPS. This indicates the system can comfortably drive 144Hz and 165Hz displays at 1080p, and even 240Hz displays when using lower presets.

Q: How does the RX 7900 XTX compare to its nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The RX 7900 XTX has an average benchmark score of 19410. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB, scores 19334, which is 0.4% lower. The NVIDIA Quadro K5200 scores 19602 (1% higher), and the AMD FirePro D300 scores 19637 (1.2% higher).

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 223.9 FPS average, while Ultra delivers 104.8 FPS. This represents a 53.2% reduction in frame rate when moving from the least to most demanding preset, highlighting the significant GPU workload increase from visual enhancements.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck for this GPU in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The data suggests the i7-13700K is not a bottleneck at most settings, as the system achieves 302.8 FPS at 1080p Low, indicating strong CPU throughput. However, the relatively small frame rate differences between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings (302.8 vs 223.9) suggest some CPU limitation at very high frame rates.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all other tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 452nd out of 3714 tested combinations, placing it in the 87.8th percentile. Only 12.2% of tested systems perform better in Lockdown Protocol, making this a top-tier configuration for this game.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU side, the Intel Core i7-13700K has an average benchmark score of 46881, with its nearest rivals providing nearly identical performance. The AMD Ryzen 9 5900 scores 46971, which is 0.2% higher, making it a statistically indistinguishable alternative. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 scores 47022 (0.3% higher), and the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX scores 46654 (0.5% lower). The Intel Xeon w3-2535 rounds out the group at 46653, also 0.5% lower. Any of these processors would deliver essentially the same frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, as the performance deltas are all within 0.5% of each other.

On the GPU side, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX has an average benchmark score of 19410. Its nearest rivals are an eclectic mix that highlights the unusual nature of this benchmark grouping. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB scores 19334 (0.4% lower), the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 scores 19602 (1% higher), the AMD FirePro D300 scores 19637 (1.2% higher), and the NVIDIA TITAN Xp scores 19177 (1.2% lower). These deltas are all within 1.2%, suggesting that for synthetic average benchmark performance, these GPUs are effectively equivalent. However, it bears noting that the GTX 1060 3 GB has only 3 GB of VRAM compared to the RX 7900 XTX's 24 GB, which could impact real-world performance in texture-heavy games at high resolutions, even if average benchmark scores are similar.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 143.9 FPS, which not only clears the 60 FPS threshold but does so by a massive margin. This is the recommended configuration, as the data shows no playability tradeoff—the system has more than double the required frame rate at maximum settings.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset maintains an average of 104.8 FPS, again far exceeding the 60 FPS threshold. The 1440p Ultra experience is still exceptionally smooth, with the frame rate remaining well above 100 FPS on average, making this the optimal choice for high-resolution gaming without sacrificing visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset achieves 66.2 FPS average, which clears the 60 FPS threshold but with less margin than at lower resolutions. The data shows this is the most demanding configuration that remains playable, and while the 6.2 FPS buffer is sufficient, players seeking more headroom could drop to High settings for 91.4 FPS average, a 38.1% improvement. For players who prioritize frame rate consistency over maximum visual fidelity at 4K, the High preset offers a more comfortable margin while remaining visually impressive.

The Verdict

The data unequivocally confirms that the Intel Core i7-13700K and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX combination can run Lockdown Protocol at playable frame rates across every resolution and preset tested. The verdict by resolution shows that all four settings—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—are playable at 1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160, with average frame rates never dropping below 66.2 FPS.

At 1080p, this system is essentially overkill, delivering 143.9 FPS at Ultra and 302.8 FPS at Low, making it ideal for competitive gaming on high-refresh-rate monitors. At 1440p, the system remains exceptionally strong with 104.8 FPS at Ultra, providing a perfect balance of visual fidelity and performance for most gaming displays. At 4K, the system still clears the 60 FPS threshold at Ultra settings, though the 66.2 FPS average indicates this is the ceiling of what this combo can achieve at maximum settings. Players who want additional 4K headroom should consider the High preset, which delivers 91.4 FPS and represents a more comfortable margin above the playability threshold.

Overall, this is a top-tier configuration for Lockdown Protocol, ranking in the 87.8th percentile of all tested combos. The combination of the i7-13700K's strong multi-threaded performance and the RX 7900 XTX's massive 24 GB frame buffer and high bandwidth ensures that this system will handle the game's demands without compromise at any resolution. The only scenario where performance becomes marginal is 4K Ultra, but even there, the system maintains playable frame rates with a modest buffer above the 60 FPS threshold.