Lockdown Protocol

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Lockdown Protocol with the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 shows a clear and consistent scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 201.8 FPS, which drops to 179.4 FPS at 1440p and further to 116.8 FPS at 4K. This represents a 42.1% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the GPU is becoming progressively more stressed as pixel count rises.

The High settings preset tells a similar story: 157.1 FPS at 1080p, 114.3 FPS at 1440p, and 73.1 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 27.2%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 36.1%. This increasing rate of decline suggests that the RTX 3080's raw rendering throughput becomes the dominant limiting factor at higher resolutions, with the 10 GB GDDR6X memory buffer and 320-bit bus width being exercised more heavily.

Ultra settings amplify this effect. At 1080p Ultra, the system delivers 119 FPS; at 1440p Ultra, it falls to 85.9 FPS; and at 4K Ultra, it bottoms out at 56.1 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is a 52.9% reduction, which is steeper than the Low preset's 42.1% decline. This indicates that the additional shading work required by Ultra settings — more complex lighting and post-processing effects — disproportionately taxes the GPU as resolution climbs.

The limiting component at 1080p is less clear-cut. The Ryzen 5 3600, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, may be reaching its ceiling in certain scenes, given that the frame rate at 1080p Low (201.8 FPS) is substantially higher than what the CPU's single-thread performance might sustain in more demanding moments. However, the data does not include minimum FPS values, so this cannot be confirmed directly. What is evident is that the RTX 3080 scales consistently with resolution, and the CPU's role becomes less critical as resolution increases.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the primary driver of Lockdown Protocol's frame rates in this configuration. Its GA102 chip, built on the Ampere architecture and Samsung's 8 nm process, contains 28,300 million transistors across a 628 mm² die. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1440 MHz and a boost clock of 1710 MHz, with memory running at 1188 MHz effective 19 Gbps. The 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus delivers 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for the texture streaming and asset loading demands of a 2024 FPS title.

The RTX 3080's benchmark scores place it in the 80th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35,787. Its nearest rivals in aggregate performance include the AMD Radeon Pro Duo (avg score 35,860, delta -0.2%), the AMD Radeon 880M (avg score 35,646, delta +0.4%), and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (avg score 36,101, delta -0.9%). These deltas are all within 1% of the RTX 3080's average score, indicating that the GPU sits in a tightly contested performance band.

In Lockdown Protocol specifically, the GPU's 8,704 shading units and 272 texture mapping units handle the game's high-resolution rendering requirements. The measured FPS at 4K High (73.1 FPS) and 4K Ultra (56.1 FPS) demonstrates that the card can maintain playable frame rates at 4K, though Ultra settings push it below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for competitive play. The RTX 3080's pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s provide the necessary fill rate for the game's environments and effects.

The GPU's 68 ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) features, though the measured FPS data does not specify whether ray tracing is enabled. The consistent performance across settings suggests that the game's rasterization workload is well within the RTX 3080's capabilities, with the 320 W TDP and 700 W suggested PSU providing adequate power headroom for sustained operation.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination ranks 567th out of 1,637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places the pairing in the upper-middle tier of the benchmark database, which is notable given that the CPU is from the 2019 era while the GPU is from late 2020. The ranking reflects the balance between the RTX 3080's strong GPU performance and the Ryzen 5 3600's more modest processing power.

The CPU's percentile ranking among all CPUs is 76, with an average benchmark score of 18,129. Its nearest rivals in CPU performance are the Intel Core i5-11400 (avg score 18,150, delta -0.1%), the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (avg score 18,101, delta +0.2%), and the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (avg score 18,158, delta -0.2%). These deltas are exceptionally small, indicating that the Ryzen 5 3600's processing power is well-matched to its contemporary competitors.

The GPU's percentile ranking is 80, slightly higher than the CPU's 76. This suggests that the RTX 3080 is a relatively stronger component in the pairing. In Lockdown Protocol, the combo rank of 567 out of 1,637 means that approximately 65% of tested combinations achieve higher frame rates. This is a reasonable outcome for a pairing where the GPU is two generations old and the CPU is three generations old relative to the game's 2024 release date.

The ranking also reflects the game's CPU sensitivity. A modern CPU paired with the same RTX 3080 would likely rank higher, as the 6-core, 12-thread Ryzen 5 3600 may bottleneck the GPU in CPU-intensive scenes. Conversely, pairing the Ryzen 5 3600 with a more powerful GPU would not yield proportionally higher frame rates if the CPU becomes the limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest absolute frame rates. Low settings produce 201.8 FPS, Medium produces 174.4 FPS, High produces 157.1 FPS, and Ultra produces 119 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 82.8 FPS, or 41.0%, indicating that the game's Ultra preset imposes a significant additional rendering load. The 1080p results are well above the refresh rates of most standard monitors, making this resolution suitable for high-refresh-rate displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain robust but show a clear step down. Low settings yield 179.4 FPS, Medium yields 132.2 FPS, High yields 114.3 FPS, and Ultra yields 85.9 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is most pronounced at Medium settings, where the frame rate falls by 24.2%. At Ultra settings, the 1440p result of 85.9 FPS is still comfortably above 60 FPS, making this resolution viable for the Ultra preset.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more constrained. Low settings produce 116.8 FPS, Medium produces 83.1 FPS, High produces 73.1 FPS, and Ultra produces 56.1 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K falls below the 60 FPS threshold, which may be a concern for players who prioritize smoothness over visual fidelity. High settings at 4K, with 73.1 FPS, provide a better balance for 4K gaming.

The data shows a consistent pattern: each settings tier costs approximately 20-25% of frame rate relative to the tier below it, across all resolutions. The exception is the Low-to-Medium transition at 4K, where the frame rate drops by 28.9%, and the Medium-to-High transition at 1080p, where the drop is 9.9%, which is notably smaller than other transitions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the most balanced experience is achieved at 1440p with High settings, which delivers 114.3 FPS. This combination provides a frame rate that is well above the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining the visual quality improvements of the High preset. The 1440p Medium preset (132.2 FPS) offers additional headroom for players with 144 Hz monitors, while 1440p Ultra (85.9 FPS) is still viable for those who prioritize image quality.

For 1080p users, the High preset at 157.1 FPS is the recommended choice, as it offers excellent frame rates while avoiding the diminishing returns of Ultra settings. The Ultra preset at 1080p (119 FPS) is also acceptable, but the 38.1 FPS difference between High and Ultra may not justify the visual upgrade for all players. The Low preset at 1080p (201.8 FPS) is only relevant for competitive players who prioritize maximum frame rates above all else.

At 4K, the High preset (73.1 FPS) is the optimal choice, as it maintains frame rates above 60 FPS while providing better visual quality than Medium (83.1 FPS) or Low (116.8 FPS). The Ultra preset at 4K (56.1 FPS) falls below the 60 FPS threshold and is not recommended for smooth gameplay. Players with G-Sync or FreeSync displays may tolerate the sub-60 FPS Ultra experience, but the data suggests that High is the safer choice.

The Medium preset represents a middle ground that is rarely the best option. At 1080p Medium (174.4 FPS) and 1440p Medium (132.2 FPS), the frame rates are higher than High but the visual quality is noticeably lower. At 4K Medium (83.1 FPS), the frame rate is acceptable but the visual quality gap between Medium and High may be noticeable in a 2024 title. The data supports selecting either High or Low based on preference, with Medium serving as a compromise for players who want a balance between the two.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 3000 series, based on the Zen 2 architecture with the Matisse codename. It operates with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration with a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, and it connects to the system via PCIe Gen 4 with 16 lanes.

The CPU's benchmark scores provide context for its role in Lockdown Protocol. In Cinebench R23, it scores 15,045 in multicore and 2,124 in single-core. The PassMark multithread score is 17,700, with a single-thread score of 2,562. The 3DMark scores show a scaling pattern: 1,361 for 2 threads, 2,579 for 4 threads, 3,844 for 8 threads, and 4,605 for 16 threads. This scaling from 2 to 16 threads indicates good utilization of the 12 threads available, though the gains diminish beyond 8 threads.

The Ryzen 5 3600's percentile ranking of 76 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18,129, places it in the upper quartile of processors. Its nearest rivals — the Intel Core i5-11400, AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS, AMD Ryzen 5 1600, and AMD EPYC 9274F — are all within 0.3% of its average score, showing that the CPU is competitive with more recent budget and mid-range offerings.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is most apparent at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the frame rate of 201.8 FPS suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the RTX 3080 with enough data to sustain high frame rates. However, the absence of minimum FPS data means that potential frame time spikes cannot be assessed. The 12 threads of the Ryzen 5 3600 are sufficient for modern game engines, which typically scale well with 6 or more cores, but the Zen 2 architecture's lower IPC compared to newer designs may result in occasional CPU-bound scenarios. The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache helps mitigate latency, and the 7 nm TSMC process node with 3,800 million transistors across a 74 mm² die keeps power consumption low while maintaining competitive performance.