Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with AMD Ryzen 5 2600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D

This pairing combines a 2018-era six-core CPU with a flagship 2025 GPU, and the benchmark data shows exactly what happens when a top-tier graphics card is held back by an older processor. The measured FPS numbers across resolutions and settings reveal a system that delivers playable frame rates but leaves performance on the table, particularly at lower resolutions where the CPU becomes the bottleneck. The RTX 5090 D's raw capabilities are evident in the 4K results, yet the Ryzen 5 2600's six cores and twelve threads from the Zen architecture limit how much of that potential is actually realized in Lockdown Protocol.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K follows a predictable pattern, but the magnitude of the scaling tells a revealing story about which component is limiting performance. At High settings, the average frame rate goes from 148 FPS at 1920x1080 to 133 FPS at 2560x1440, then down to 115 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 22% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a relatively modest drop for a game moving across three resolution tiers. The reason for this shallow scaling curve is that the CPU is already constraining performance at 1080p, so increasing resolution doesn't penalize the system as heavily as it would if the GPU were the sole limiting factor.

Looking at Low settings, the scaling is even more compressed: 176 FPS at 1080p, 158 FPS at 1440p, and 137 FPS at 4K. The 39 FPS gap between 1080p and 4K on Low settings is smaller than the 33 FPS gap seen on High settings, which suggests the CPU ceiling is being hit early at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system produces 176 FPS, but this is likely near the maximum the Ryzen 5 2600 can feed the RTX 5090 D in this game. The GPU is capable of far more at 1080p, but the six-core processor cannot deliver frames fast enough to utilize the graphics card fully.

The Medium settings row provides the only min/max data in the measured results, and it shows the scaling pattern clearly: 155 FPS average at 1080p, 139 FPS at 1440p, and 121 FPS at 4K, with corresponding minimums of 131, 119, and 102 FPS. The minimum frame rates drop in near-perfect proportion to the averages, indicating consistent performance without sudden stutter or frame-time spikes. At Ultra settings, the scaling steepens: 133 FPS at 1080p, 120 FPS at 1440p, and 88 FPS at 4K. The 45 FPS drop from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is the largest across all settings, which confirms that the GPU becomes more involved as settings increase, but even here the CPU still plays a significant role.

The data suggests that this combo is GPU-bound at 4K Ultra, where the 88 FPS average reflects the RTX 5090 D working harder, but CPU-bound at 1080p across all settings. The narrow spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p — only 43 FPS separating the two extremes — is a classic sign of a processor bottleneck. When the CPU is the limiting factor, changing graphics settings has diminishing returns because the bottleneck doesn't move.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 brings six cores and twelve threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz. This 2000-series processor uses the Zen+ architecture on a 12 nm process, and its 16 MB of shared L3 cache is modest by modern standards. The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 21484. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V at 21440 (0.2% faster), the Intel Core i9-11900H at 21367 (0.5% slower), the Intel Xeon D-1746TER at 21635 (0.7% slower), and the AMD EPYC 9454 at 21223 (1.2% slower). These deltas are all within 1.2%, which means the Ryzen 5 2600 performs comparably to a range of processors spanning laptop chips and server parts.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role becomes apparent when examining the 1080p results. At Low settings, the system produces 176 FPS, which is only 28 FPS higher than the 148 FPS seen at High settings. A GPU-bound system would show a much larger gap between Low and High at the same resolution. The fact that the difference is so small indicates the Ryzen 5 2600 is saturating its ability to process game logic, physics, and draw calls well before the RTX 5090 D reaches its limit. The single-threaded performance of this CPU, as measured by a PassMark single-thread score of 2239, is the likely constraint in a game that relies heavily on a few primary threads.

The CPU's multicore capabilities are more than adequate for this title on paper — the Geekbench multicore score of 5648 and Cinebench R15 multicore score of 1248 suggest plenty of processing headroom. However, Lockdown Protocol's frame rate ceiling at 1080p appears to be governed by per-core performance rather than total throughput. The boost clock of 3.90 GHz is unremarkable by 2025 standards, and the older Zen architecture lacks the instruction-level efficiency of newer designs. This explains why the system cannot push past 176 FPS even at the lowest settings where the GPU has minimal work to do.

The data demonstrates that the CPU matters most at 1080p, where its limitations are exposed. As resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU takes on more of the workload, and the frame rate drops accordingly. But the CPU never fully steps out of the way — even at 4K Low, the 137 FPS result is lower than what the RTX 5090 D could theoretically achieve if paired with a stronger processor. The 75th percentile CPU ranking shows this is a capable chip in general terms, but it is clearly outclassed by the GPU it's paired with in this configuration.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a massive GPU with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. Its Blackwell 2.0 architecture packs 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, with base and boost clocks of 2017 MHz and 2407 MHz respectively. The GPU's benchmark scores are equally imposing: a PassMark G3D score of 44065, a Geekbench Vulkan score of 376915, and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14326. These numbers place the GPU in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 77712. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT at 76904 (1.1% faster), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT at 78940 (1.6% slower), the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB at 79396 (2.1% slower), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB at 79605 (2.4% slower).

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's influence is most visible at 4K Ultra, where the 88 FPS average represents the heaviest workload measured. The 32 GB VRAM capacity is far beyond what this game requires, but the sheer compute power of the RTX 5090 D is what drives the 4K results. At 4K High, the system hits 115 FPS, and at 4K Medium it reaches 121 FPS with a minimum of 102 FPS and maximum of 139 FPS. These are strong numbers for 4K gaming, but they don't reflect the GPU's full potential given its benchmark standing.

The GPU's role becomes clearer when comparing the 1440p and 4K results. At 1440p Ultra, the average is 120 FPS, which is 32 FPS higher than 4K Ultra's 88 FPS. This 36% improvement from 4K to 1440p shows the GPU responding to reduced resolution pressure, but the scaling is not as dramatic as it would be in a fully GPU-bound scenario. The RTX 5090 D's compute capabilities — 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s — suggest it could render Lockdown Protocol at far higher frame rates if the CPU could keep up.

The GPU's memory subsystem deserves attention in the context of this game. The 1.79 TB/s bandwidth and 32 GB capacity ensure that texture streaming and memory allocation are never bottlenecks at any resolution or setting. The measured FPS data shows no signs of stuttering or frame drops that would indicate VRAM pressure, even at 4K Ultra. The minimum FPS of 102 at 4K Medium is particularly telling — it shows the GPU maintaining consistent performance under load, with the 37 FPS spread between minimum and maximum indicating stable frame delivery.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings yield 176 FPS average, Medium delivers 155 FPS with a minimum of 131 and maximum of 178, High reaches 148 FPS, and Ultra drops to 133 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 43 FPS, which is significant but smaller than what a GPU-bound system would show. The Medium settings row provides the only complete min/max data at this resolution, with a 47 FPS spread between minimum and maximum, indicating some frame variability but no severe drops.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease across the board. Low produces 158 FPS, Medium averages 139 FPS with a minimum of 119 and maximum of 160, High reaches 133 FPS, and Ultra drops to 120 FPS. The 38 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is slightly smaller than at 1080p, which suggests the GPU is taking on more work as resolution increases. The Medium settings minimum of 119 FPS is still well above playable thresholds, and the 41 FPS range between minimum and maximum is comparable to the 1080p result.

At 3840x2160, the system's performance reflects the heavier GPU load. Low settings produce 137 FPS, Medium averages 121 FPS with a minimum of 102 and maximum of 139, High reaches 115 FPS, and Ultra drops significantly to 88 FPS. The 49 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is the largest across all resolutions, confirming that the GPU becomes the dominant factor at this resolution. The 4K Medium minimum of 102 FPS shows the system can maintain a triple-digit frame rate even under load, though the 4K Ultra result of 88 FPS falls below that threshold.

The settings progression at each resolution follows a consistent pattern: Low is fastest, Medium is next, High is slightly slower, and Ultra is the slowest. At 1080p, the difference between Medium and High is only 7 FPS, while at 4K it's 6 FPS. The larger jumps occur between High and Ultra, which cost 15 FPS at 1080p, 13 FPS at 1440p, and 27 FPS at 4K. This suggests the Ultra preset introduces rendering features that are particularly demanding on the GPU, while the CPU bottleneck keeps the lower settings from scaling as expected.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 564th out of 2828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. That places it in the top 20% of all configurations tested, which is respectable given the CPU's age. The ranking reflects the system's ability to deliver playable frame rates across all resolutions and settings, but it also highlights the mismatch between the two components. A combo ranked 564th with a GPU in the 92nd percentile suggests the CPU is dragging the overall result down significantly.

The combo ranking makes more sense when considering the individual component percentiles. The CPU's 75th percentile standing is solid for a processor from 2018, but it's paired with a GPU in the 92nd percentile. The gap between these two percentiles is the performance loss that shows up in the measured FPS data. If the CPU were closer to the GPU's percentile ranking, this combo would likely rank much higher than 564th. The 2828 total combos tested means this pairing sits above the median, but it's far from the top configurations that would pair the RTX 5090 D with a modern high-end processor.

The rank of 564 also puts this combo's performance into perspective relative to other RTX 5090 D pairings. Since the GPU is the same across those configurations, the variation in ranking comes from the CPU's ability to feed it. The Ryzen 5 2600's position in the 75th percentile of all CPUs suggests that most newer processors would achieve higher combo rankings with the same GPU. The data indicates that Lockdown Protocol responds to CPU performance, and the 2018-era processor is the limiting factor in this pairing's overall standing.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience measured in this data, Medium settings at 2560x1440 provide the strongest combination of frame rate and visual quality. The 139 FPS average with a 119 FPS minimum at 1440p Medium offers smooth gameplay that comfortably exceeds standard 144 Hz display refresh rates. The 160 FPS maximum shows the system has headroom for less demanding scenes, and the 41 FPS spread between minimum and maximum indicates consistent performance without jarring drops. This setting balances the CPU and GPU loads better than other options, as it doesn't push the CPU as hard as Low settings while still maintaining high frame rates.

At 3840x2160, Medium settings deliver the best measured experience with 121 FPS average and a 102 FPS minimum. This keeps frame rates above the 100 FPS threshold, which is smooth for most players. The 4K High setting at 115 FPS is close behind, but the 4K Medium minimum of 102 FPS is more reassuring than the High setting's uncaptured minimum. For players with 4K displays, Medium provides the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, while Ultra at 88 FPS is playable but approaches the lower boundary of what most PC builders would consider smooth.

For competitive play at 1920x1080, Low settings at 176 FPS offer the highest frame rates available in this data. However, the CPU bottleneck means that bumping to Medium at 155 FPS or High at 148 FPS costs only 21-28 FPS while potentially improving visual clarity. The 1080p Medium setting's 131 FPS minimum is still well above competitive thresholds, making it a reasonable choice for players who want both high frame rates and better visuals. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 133 FPS, which is 43 FPS lower than Low, and the visual upgrade may not justify that loss in this CPU-limited scenario.

Overall, the measured data suggests that this combo performs best when settings are kept at Medium or lower, particularly at higher resolutions. The system cannot fully utilize the RTX 5090 D's power due to the Ryzen 5 2600's limitations, but the Medium preset appears to hit the sweet spot where both components contribute meaningfully to the frame rate. Players seeking maximum frame rates should use Low at 1080p for 176 FPS, while those prioritizing visual quality should stick with Medium at 1440p for 139 FPS or Medium at 4K for 121 FPS.