Lockdown Protocol

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT sits at rank 1362 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. That places this pairing in the 63rd percentile of all tested configurations, meaning roughly a third of the tested setups deliver higher average frame rates in this game. The ranking reflects a combination that leans heavily on the GPU’s raw throughput while the CPU’s older architecture limits how far the system can stretch at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

With a combo rank of 1362 out of 3714, this Ryzen 5 2600 and RX 7800 XT pairing lands squarely in the upper-middle portion of the tested field. The position is respectable but not dominant — it outperforms the majority of combos tested, yet a substantial number of configurations still finish ahead. The gap between this pairing and the top performers likely stems from the CPU’s 2018-era design, which cannot feed the GPU as efficiently as newer processors with higher single-thread performance.

The CPU’s average benchmark score of 21484 places it at the 75th percentile among all CPUs tested, which is solid for a six-core twelve-thread part. Its nearest rivals in synthetic tests include the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V at 21440 (0.2% slower), the Intel Core i9-11900H at 21367 (0.5% slower), the Intel Xeon D-1746TER at 21635 (0.7% faster), and the AMD EPYC 9454 at 21223 (1.2% slower). These deltas are tiny, indicating the Ryzen 5 2600’s multi-threaded performance remains competitive with much newer hardware in pure compute workloads. However, Lockdown Protocol’s frame rate depends more on per-core efficiency and memory latency, areas where this older Zen+ architecture trails modern designs.

The GPU, meanwhile, holds the 51st percentile among all GPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 11627. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 at 11680 (0.5% higher), the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M at 11528 (0.9% lower), the NVIDIA Tesla K20c at 11479 (1.3% lower), and the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT at 11842 (1.8% higher). These margins are within noise, but they reveal that the RX 7800 XT’s synthetic average is not exceptional — its real strength shows up in gaming workloads where its 16 GB memory buffer and high bandwidth come into play.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 7800 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 32 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It packs 3840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operations pipelines, along with 60 ray tracing cores. The GPU’s base clock runs at 1295 MHz, with a game clock of 2124 MHz and a boost clock of 2430 MHz. Memory operates at 2438 MHz, which translates to 19.5 Gbps effective, across a 256-bit bus for 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory is a defining feature here — it gives the card headroom for high-resolution textures and future titles, though Lockdown Protocol’s measured results suggest it does not always translate to top-tier rankings.

The GPU’s pixel rate is 233.3 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 583.2 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 37.32 TFLOPS. These figures indicate a card that can push large amounts of geometry and shading work, which should benefit an FPS title like Lockdown Protocol. However, the measured frame rates show that the GPU is often held back by the CPU, particularly at 1080p where the processor becomes the bottleneck. At 4K, the GPU’s role becomes more dominant, and the data reflects that shift.

The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 24176 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4157 provide context for its raw performance. In Lockdown Protocol, the measured FPS at 4K High settings is 69 average, which is playable but not high-refresh territory. At 4K Low, the average jumps to 111 FPS, showing that the GPU has plenty of headroom when the CPU is not the limiting factor. The gap between High and Low at 4K — 69 versus 111 FPS — indicates that the GPU scales well with reduced settings, a sign that its compute and memory resources are sufficient for this game’s demands.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p High, the combo averages 146 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 107 FPS, a 27% reduction. At 4K High, the average falls to 69 FPS, another 36% drop from 1440p. This pattern — diminishing returns as resolution climbs — suggests the CPU is holding back performance at lower resolutions, while the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K.

Looking at Low settings, the scaling is even more telling. At 1080p Low, the average is 176 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 158 FPS, only a 10% reduction. At 4K Low, the average is 111 FPS, a 30% drop from 1440p. The relatively small decrease from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings indicates that the CPU is the primary constraint — the GPU is not being fully utilized until the resolution increases enough to shift the workload. At 4K Low, the GPU finally takes over as the limiting component, and the frame rate reflects the GPU’s capabilities rather than the CPU’s.

The Medium settings row includes minimum and maximum FPS values, which offer additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the average is 155 FPS with a minimum of 131 and a maximum of 178. At 1440p Medium, the average is 122 FPS with a minimum of 104 and a maximum of 141. At 4K Medium, the average is 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 and a maximum of 91. The min-to-max spread narrows as resolution increases — at 1080p the range is 47 FPS, at 1440p it is 37 FPS, and at 4K it is 24 FPS. This tightening indicates that the CPU’s frame pacing inconsistencies are smoothed out at higher resolutions where the GPU’s longer render times dominate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear progression across settings. Low settings produce 176 FPS average, Medium produces 155 FPS with a minimum of 131 and maximum of 178, High produces 146 FPS, and Ultra produces 109 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 67 FPS, a 38% reduction, which is substantial but not extreme. The gap between Medium and High is only 9 FPS, suggesting that the visual improvements from Medium to High come at a modest cost. Ultra, however, costs 46 FPS over High, indicating that the highest preset demands significantly more from the GPU.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Low settings produce 158 FPS, Medium produces 122 FPS with a minimum of 104 and maximum of 141, High produces 107 FPS, and Ultra produces 80 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 36 FPS, from Medium to High is 15 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 27 FPS. The diminishing returns are evident — the largest single-step drop is from Low to Medium, while the High to Ultra step is also significant. The 1440p results indicate that the GPU is starting to feel the load, with the average FPS at Ultra dipping to 80, which is still playable but below the 144 Hz threshold many FPS players target.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is fully engaged. Low settings produce 111 FPS, Medium produces 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 and maximum of 91, High produces 69 FPS, and Ultra produces 52 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 32 FPS, from Medium to High is 10 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 17 FPS. The 4K results show that the combo can handle 4K at Low settings comfortably, but Ultra settings push the average down to 52 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 67, suggesting that even with some settings turned down, the system can maintain a playable frame rate.

The single measured row with min/max data — Medium at each resolution — provides the only frame time consistency data. At 1080p Medium, the 131-178 FPS range means the system rarely dips below 131 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play. At 1440p Medium, the 104-141 FPS range still keeps the minimum above 100 FPS. At 4K Medium, the 67-91 FPS range shows that the system can maintain a minimum of 67 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced FPS action.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is a six-core, twelve-thread processor from the 2000 series, built on the Zen+ architecture (Pinnacle Ridge) using a 12 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz, with a TDP of 65 watts. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration, with a memory bandwidth of 46.9 GB/s. It uses the AMD Socket AM4 platform with PCIe Gen 3 (16 lanes from the CPU). The cache layout includes 96 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 16 MB of shared L3. There is no integrated graphics, so the RX 7800 XT handles all display output.

The CPU’s synthetic benchmarks show a mixed profile. Its Cinebench R15 multi-core score is 1248, and single-core is 157.3. Geekbench multi-core is 5648, and single-core is 1154. PassMark multi-thread is 13160, single-thread is 2239, and physics is 673. These numbers place the CPU at the 75th percentile, meaning it outperforms three-quarters of all tested CPUs in aggregate compute tasks. However, Lockdown Protocol’s frame rates are more sensitive to single-thread performance and memory latency, areas where the Zen+ architecture is less competitive than newer designs.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic tests are all within 1.2% of its average score, which indicates that the Ryzen 5 2600’s multi-threaded performance is still respectable. But the measured FPS data tells a different story. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 176 FPS, which suggests the CPU can feed the GPU reasonably well at low settings. However, the 1080p Ultra result of 109 FPS — a 38% drop from Low — implies that the CPU is struggling to keep up with the GPU’s demands when the GPU is doing more work. The CPU’s boost clock of 3.90 GHz is modest by modern standards, and its lack of higher single-thread performance likely prevents the GPU from reaching its full potential at lower resolutions.

The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 46.9 GB/s is another potential limiting factor. Modern CPUs with DDR5 support or higher-clocked DDR4 can provide more bandwidth to feed the GPU’s 624.1 GB/s of memory bandwidth. In Lockdown Protocol, where frame rates depend on quick data transfers between CPU and GPU, this older memory subsystem may create a bottleneck. The measured data supports this: at 1080p, the combo cannot exceed 176 FPS even at Low settings, while at 4K, the GPU’s own limitations take over and the CPU’s slower memory becomes less relevant.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience depends on the target resolution. For 1080p players, Medium settings offer the most balanced experience. The 155 FPS average with a minimum of 131 FPS provides smooth gameplay with good visual quality. The jump from Medium to High only costs 9 FPS (155 to 146), so High is also viable if visual fidelity is a priority. Ultra at 1080p drops to 109 FPS, which is still playable, but the 46 FPS cost over High is steep for the visual gains. Low at 1080p delivers 176 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play where maximum frame rate matters more than visuals.

For 1440p, Medium settings again stand out. The 122 FPS average with a minimum of 104 FPS keeps the experience above 100 FPS, which is good for most FPS games. High at 1440p drops to 107 FPS, which is still smooth, but the 15 FPS cost over Medium is noticeable. Ultra at 1440p falls to 80 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced play but could feel less responsive in fast firefights. Low at 1440p produces 158 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play, though the visual downgrade may be too significant for some players.

For 4K, the data suggests a trade-off between frame rate and visual quality. Low settings produce 111 FPS, which is playable, but the visual quality is considerably reduced. Medium settings produce 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS, which is the lowest average that remains comfortably playable. High at 4K drops to 69 FPS, and Ultra falls to 52 FPS, both of which risk feeling sluggish in a fast-paced FPS. The 4K Medium setting appears to be the sweet spot, offering a playable frame rate with reasonable visual fidelity. Players who prioritize frame rate over visuals should choose Low at 4K, while those who want the best balance should stick with Medium.

The measured data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gameplay, where it can maintain high frame rates at Medium or High settings. At 4K, the system is limited to Low or Medium settings for a playable experience. The RX 7800 XT’s 16 GB of memory and high bandwidth help at 4K, but the Ryzen 5 2600’s older architecture prevents the system from fully utilizing the GPU at lower resolutions. For a 1080p or 1440p gamer, this pairing offers a strong experience — the GPU has headroom for future titles, and the CPU can handle most current games at acceptable frame rates. For 4K, users should temper expectations and stick to lower presets.