Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol is a fast-paced FPS that rewards high frame rates, and this pairing of an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a wide range of performance depending on how you configure it. The measured data shows a system that can handle competitive play at lower settings but will require compromises at higher resolutions. This analysis breaks down exactly what to expect from this combination across different graphical presets and resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is significant and reveals where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 191.4 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same Low preset drops that to 136.7 FPS, a 28.6% reduction. Pushing further to 4K Low yields 87.4 FPS, which is a 54.3% decrease from the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern is typical for a system where the CPU has enough headroom at lower resolutions, but the GPU begins to struggle as pixel count increases.

The trend continues across all settings. At Medium quality, the average frame rate falls from 134.8 FPS at 1080p to 98.3 FPS at 1440p, and then to 65.5 FPS at 4K. The High preset shows 114.8 FPS at 1080p, 88.6 FPS at 1440p, and 54.5 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, starting at 87.3 FPS at 1080p and dropping to 67.9 FPS at 1440p and just 42.3 FPS at 4K.

The data indicates that the RTX 4060 becomes the limiting component as resolution climbs. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is a 45.1 FPS difference, while at 1080p that same gap is 104.1 FPS. This widening delta at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU's 8 GB of memory and 128-bit bus are stretched thin when rendering at 4K, whereas the six-core Ryzen 5 3600 with its 12 threads can keep feeding frames at 1080p.

FAQ

Q: Can this system hit 60 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it averages 87.4 FPS. At Medium it drops to 65.5 FPS, and at High it falls to 54.5 FPS, just below the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra settings at 4K are not viable, producing only 42.3 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for competitive play?

A: The data shows 1080p is the only resolution that consistently exceeds 144 FPS. At Low settings it reaches 191.4 FPS, at Medium 134.8 FPS, and at High 114.8 FPS. Only the Ultra preset at 1080p falls below 100 FPS, at 87.3 FPS.

Q: How much does the Ultra preset cost in performance compared to Low?

A: At 1080p, switching from Low to Ultra reduces the average frame rate from 191.4 FPS to 87.3 FPS, a drop of 104.1 FPS. At 1440p the loss is 68.8 FPS (136.7 to 67.9), and at 4K it is 45.1 FPS (87.4 to 42.3). The relative cost is smaller at higher resolutions because the GPU is already the bottleneck.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 3600 holding back the RTX 4060?

A: At 1080p Low, the CPU appears capable of pushing the GPU to 191.4 FPS. However, the single-thread score of 696 in 3DMark and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2124 suggest it may limit maximum frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios. The data does not show a hard ceiling, but the scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p is more gradual than what a stronger CPU might allow.

Q: Which settings provide the smoothest 1440p experience?

A: Low settings at 1440p deliver 136.7 FPS, which is close to 144 Hz. Medium drops to 98.3 FPS, High to 88.6 FPS, and Ultra to 67.9 FPS. For a 144 Hz monitor, Low is the only viable option; for 60 Hz, High works comfortably.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: The combination ranks 957th out of 1637 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the database, meaning it outperforms roughly 41.5% of tested systems but is beaten by a majority.

Settings Recommendations

The best experience depends heavily on your display's refresh rate and resolution. For 1080p gamers with a 144 Hz monitor, the Medium preset is the sweet spot, delivering 134.8 FPS while providing noticeably better visuals than Low. The High preset at 114.8 FPS is also acceptable if you prefer visual fidelity and have a 120 Hz panel. Ultra at 1080p should be avoided for competitive play, as the 87.3 FPS average is well below the refresh rate of fast displays.

At 1440p, the choice is starker. If you have a 144 Hz monitor, you must use Low settings to get close to that target, with 136.7 FPS. A 60 Hz monitor opens up more options: Medium at 98.3 FPS and High at 88.6 FPS both provide smooth gameplay with better image quality. Ultra at 1440p is playable at 67.9 FPS, but the frame pacing will be less consistent than the lower presets.

For 4K, this system is only suitable for a 60 Hz display, and even then, the Low preset at 87.4 FPS is the only setting that provides a comfortable margin above 60. Medium at 65.5 FPS is playable, but High drops to 54.5 FPS and Ultra to 42.3 FPS, both of which will feel sluggish in a fast-paced FPS. The data suggests this combo is best treated as a 1080p or 1440p machine, with 4K as a secondary option for slower-paced modes.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings presets each, providing a full picture of the system's capabilities. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 191.4 FPS on Low, 134.8 FPS on Medium, 114.8 FPS on High, and 87.3 FPS on Ultra. The 1080p results show a clear hierarchy, with Low providing a 56.6 FPS advantage over Medium and a 104.1 FPS advantage over Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 136.7 FPS on Low, 98.3 FPS on Medium, 88.6 FPS on High, and 67.9 FPS on Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across presets: Low loses 54.7 FPS, Medium loses 36.5 FPS, High loses 26.2 FPS, and Ultra loses 19.4 FPS. This diminishing absolute loss at higher presets reinforces that the GPU is becoming the primary constraint.

The 3840x2160 results show the greatest strain: 87.4 FPS on Low, 65.5 FPS on Medium, 54.5 FPS on High, and 42.3 FPS on Ultra. From 1440p to 4K, the losses are 49.3 FPS on Low, 32.8 FPS on Medium, 34.1 FPS on High, and 25.6 FPS on Ultra. Notably, the gap between Low and Medium at 4K is only 21.9 FPS, while at 1080p it is 56.6 FPS, illustrating how the GPU's limitations compress the performance range as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Lockdown Protocol, this pairing of the Ryzen 5 3600 and RTX 4060 holds the 957th position out of 1637 combos. This rank places it in the lower 41.5% of all tested systems, meaning a majority of other configurations deliver higher average frame rates in this specific game. The rank reflects the balance of the CPU and GPU, neither of which is a top-tier performer in their respective benchmark percentiles.

The CPU itself ranks in the 76th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18129. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-11400, which scores 18150 (a 0.1% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 at 18158 (a 0.2% delta). The GPU ranks in the 66th percentile against all GPUs, with an average score of 23181. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M at 23321 (a 0.6% delta) and the Intel Arc B580 at 23021 (a 0.7% delta). These benchmark positions suggest that while neither component is a flagship, they are both competent mid-range parts, and their combined performance in Lockdown Protocol lands them in the lower-middle of the combo rankings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a six-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, built on a 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. Its cache configuration includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and a shared 32 MB of L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 memory with dual-channel bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s and uses PCIe Gen 4 with 16 lanes.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU's multithreaded performance is respectable for its class. It scores 15045 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 6318 in Cinebench R20 multicore. Its single-thread scores are 2124 in Cinebench R23 and 892 in Cinebench R20. The 3DMark results show scaling from 1361 in the 2-thread test to 4605 in the 16-thread test, indicating good thread scaling. However, the single-thread 3DMark score of 696 is modest, which aligns with the measured FPS behavior at 1080p where the CPU may not be able to fully push the GPU beyond the 191.4 FPS ceiling seen at Low settings.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role appears to be secondary at higher resolutions. The data shows that at 4K, the frame rate differences between presets are smaller than at 1080p, indicating that the RTX 4060 is the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the 191.4 FPS average suggests the CPU can sustain high frame rates, but the relatively low single-thread performance compared to newer chips means it would likely struggle to exceed that threshold in less GPU-bound scenarios. The 12 threads and 32 MB of L3 cache are sufficient for this FPS title, but they do not provide the headroom that a higher-clocked or newer architecture would offer. For this game, the Ryzen 5 3600 is a capable partner that does not bottleneck the GPU at typical settings, but it is not the reason this combo ranks in the lower half of tested systems.