Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol is a fast-paced FPS that stresses both CPU and GPU, and the pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 produces a wide range of results depending on how you configure it. The data reveals a system capable of smooth 1080p play but one that struggles to maintain high refresh rates at 4K. The measured frames per second show a clear hierarchy across settings, and understanding where the bottlenecks lie is key to getting the best experience from this hardware combo.

Settings Recommendations

For this specific configuration, the benchmark results indicate that the High preset is the sweet spot for most users. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 88.9 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and leaves headroom for demanding firefights. Moving up to Ultra at this resolution only yields 68.8 FPS, a considerable drop of 20.1 FPS for what is typically a marginal visual improvement in a competitive shooter. The Medium preset, at 102.3 FPS, is also viable if you prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, but High offers a better balance of image quality and performance.

If you are gaming at 2560x1440, the High preset remains the recommended choice. It produces an average of 66 FPS, which is playable and maintains a consistent feel. The Low preset at this resolution hits 108.9 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play, but the visual sacrifice is significant. The Medium preset at 75 FPS is a strong alternative, offering a 9 FPS advantage over High, but the visual quality difference between Medium and High is often worth the performance cost. Ultra at 1440p falls to 49 FPS, which is not ideal for a game where reaction time matters.

At 3840x2160, the data suggests that this hardware is not suited for high-fidelity gaming. The Low preset is the only viable option, delivering an average of 71.6 FPS. Every other preset at 4K falls below 60 FPS, with High at 40.9 FPS, Medium at 50 FPS, and Ultra at a disappointing 34.8 FPS. For a competitive FPS, the Low preset at 4K is the only way to achieve a playable frame rate on this system, but most users would be better served by lowering the resolution to 1440p and using a higher quality preset for a better overall experience.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Lockdown Protocol at 144Hz at 1080p?

A: The benchmark results show that only the Low preset at 1920x1080 achieves a frame rate high enough for a 144Hz monitor, with an average of 146.2 FPS. The High and Medium presets fall short, with averages of 88.9 FPS and 102.3 FPS respectively, meaning you would need to use lower settings to fully utilize a high refresh rate display.

Q: Is the RTX 2060's 6 GB of VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: The measured data shows that the GPU is capable of running the game across all settings, but the performance at 4K Ultra (34.8 FPS) suggests that the memory capacity and bandwidth are limiting factors at the highest resolutions and settings. At 1080p and 1440p, the VRAM appears sufficient for the presets tested, as the frame rates scale predictably without sudden drops that would indicate a memory bottleneck, but the 336.0 GB/s bandwidth is clearly stressed at 4K.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 3600's single-thread performance affect the game?

A: The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 696 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2124 indicate competent per-core performance. Lockdown Protocol, like most FPS titles, relies heavily on strong single-thread performance for game logic and draw calls. The data suggests that this CPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions, as the frame rate scales significantly when the GPU load is reduced, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor at 1080p.

Q: Is it better to play at 1080p Ultra or 1440p High?

A: According to the data, the frame rate difference is substantial. 1080p Ultra delivers an average of 68.8 FPS, while 1440p High delivers a very similar 66 FPS. Given the near-identical performance, the 1440p High preset is the better choice, as it provides a significantly sharper image with only a 2.8 FPS penalty. This makes the higher resolution the preferable option for improved visual clarity.

Q: What kind of performance leap does dropping from High to Low settings provide?

A: The performance gain is significant across all resolutions. At 1080p, the jump from High (88.9 FPS) to Low (146.2 FPS) is an increase of 57.3 FPS. At 1440p, the same settings change yields a 42.9 FPS increase (66 to 108.9 FPS). At 4K, the gain is 30.7 FPS (40.9 to 71.6 FPS). This shows that the Low preset is a powerful tool for maximizing frame rate on this hardware.

Q: How does this system rank among other tested configurations for this game?

A: The data places this combo at rank 1341 out of 1637 tested combinations. This indicates that while it is a capable setup, there are many other hardware pairings that deliver higher average frame rates in Lockdown Protocol. The RTX 2060's percentile of 58 against all GPUs and the Ryzen 5 3600's percentile of 76 against all CPUs show a mid-range pairing that performs adequately but is not at the top of the performance charts.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the central piece of this build's graphical output. Based on the Turing architecture and built on a 12 nm process, it operates with a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1680 MHz. The card is equipped with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is a critical factor in the game's performance, particularly at higher resolutions where the demand for texture data and framebuffer space increases.

The benchmark results show a clear pattern of the GPU being the primary limiting factor at higher settings. At 1440p, the frame rate drops from 108.9 FPS on Low to just 49 FPS on Ultra, a 55% decrease that points directly to the GPU's inability to handle the increased pixel and shading load. The card's 1920 shading units and 48 ROPs are being pushed to their limits at these settings. The measured 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1242 is a modest result, reinforcing its mid-range positioning. Its Passmark G3D score of 14111 places it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, showing it is a solid performer but not a high-end part.

The RTX 2060's performance relative to its nearest rivals is close. It trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 by 1.7% in average benchmark score but leads the AMD Radeon RX 7600S by 0.5%. This tight grouping indicates that the RTX 2060 is firmly in a competitive performance tier. In practice, the GPU's 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the data from the 4K results suggests that the memory subsystem is a bottleneck when trying to run the game at Ultra settings and 3840x2160 resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of performance scaling. At 1920x1080, the system delivers an average of 146.2 FPS on Low, 102.3 FPS on Medium, 88.9 FPS on High, and 68.8 FPS on Ultra. This shows a smooth progression, with the largest single drop occurring between Low and Medium (43.9 FPS), while the drop from High to Ultra is 20.1 FPS. The system is clearly capable of high refresh rate gaming at this resolution, provided the settings are kept in check.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 108.9 FPS on Low, 75 FPS on Medium, 66 FPS on High, and 49 FPS on Ultra. The transition from Low to Medium reduces performance by 33.9 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra is a 17 FPS drop. This resolution still offers playable frame rates on the lower presets, but the Ultra preset is not recommended due to its sub-60 FPS performance.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles significantly. The Low preset manages an average of 71.6 FPS, but the Medium preset drops to 50 FPS, High to 40.9 FPS, and Ultra to 34.8 FPS. The performance cliff between Low and Medium is steep (21.6 FPS), and all presets above Low fail to maintain a consistent 60 FPS. This data clearly shows that 4K gaming is only feasible on the lowest settings for this combination of CPU and GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and indicates a clear GPU bottleneck. At the High preset, the frame rate falls from 88.9 FPS at 1080p to 66 FPS at 1440p, a 25.8% decrease, and then to 40.9 FPS at 4K, a further 38% decrease. This scaling pattern is typical of a system where the GPU is the limiting component. As the resolution increases, the GPU must render more pixels, which directly impacts its output.

This is further evidenced by the scaling at the Low preset. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 146.2 FPS, which is nearly double the 4K Low result of 71.6 FPS. If the CPU were the primary bottleneck, we would expect to see a smaller frame rate difference between these resolutions, as the CPU workload does not change with resolution. The fact that the frame rate nearly halves when moving from 1080p to 4K on the same settings confirms that the RTX 2060's rendering capabilities are the limiting factor.

The data shows that the RTX 2060 has a performance ceiling that is hit hard by 4K resolution. The difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p is 77.4 FPS, but at 4K, this difference shrinks to 36.8 FPS. This indicates that at 4K, even the Low preset is pushing the GPU close to its maximum output, leaving less headroom for the additional work required by higher settings. The system is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can provide a good balance of visual quality and performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. Its 32 MB of shared L3 cache is beneficial for gaming workloads. The CPU's benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15045 and a single-core score of 2124, show it to be a solid mid-range performer. Its average benchmark score of 18129 places it in the 76th percentile of all CPUs, which is a respectable position.

In the context of Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and process game logic. The data suggests that the Ryzen 5 3600 is not the primary bottleneck in this system for most settings. This is evident because the frame rates scale significantly with changes in resolution and GPU load. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would see similar frame rates at 1080p and 1440p. Instead, the frame rate increases by a large margin when the resolution is lowered, indicating that the RTX 2060 is the component holding the system back.

However, the CPU's single-thread performance is still important. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1361 and the single-thread score of 696 suggest that the CPU has enough per-core power to handle the game's primary thread without causing severe stuttering. The system's overall rank of 1341 out of 1637 in this game indicates that while the CPU is capable, there are faster options available. The CPU's performance is in line with its nearest rivals, with the Intel Core i5-11400 scoring a delta of -0.1% and the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS scoring a delta of 0.2%, showing that the Ryzen 5 3600 is competitively positioned. It is a stable and consistent foundation that will not hold back the RTX 2060 in most gaming scenarios, but it also lacks the headroom to push frame rates much higher than what the GPU can deliver.