Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with AMD Ryzen 5 3600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090

This pairing combines a 2019-era six-core Zen 2 processor with the flagship Blackwell GPU, and the benchmark results show exactly what you'd expect: the RTX 5090 is doing the heavy lifting, but the Ryzen 5 3600 keeps things moving well enough to deliver very playable frame rates across all tested settings. The data shows a combo that ranks 246th out of 1,637 tested combinations, placing it comfortably in the top 15% of all pairings tested for this game. That's a strong result, though it's worth understanding where the bottlenecks lie before you commit to this pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about where the CPU starts to matter. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo hits 203.7 fps, which is the highest number recorded in this entire test set. Drop down to 2560x1440 at the same Low preset, and that falls to 181 fps — a 22.7 fps loss. At 3840x2160 Low, it's 156.6 fps, another 24.4 fps drop. The scaling is nearly linear, which suggests the GPU is still the primary driver even at lower resolutions.

But look at the High preset, and the pattern shifts. At 1080p High, the combo produces 170.9 fps. At 1440p High, it's 154 fps, and at 4K High, it's 111.4 fps. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is only 16.9 fps, but the jump from 1440p to 4K costs 42.6 fps. That's a much steeper decline at the top end, indicating that the RTX 5090's raw power is being increasingly taxed as pixel count rises. The Ultra preset shows a similar trend: 151.1 fps at 1080p, 132.6 fps at 1440p, and 84.9 fps at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest in the entire set, and the 47.7 fps drop from 1440p to 4K Ultra is the single largest resolution penalty recorded.

What this tells you is that at 1080p and 1440p, the Ryzen 5 3600 can feed the RTX 5090 well enough to avoid severe CPU stalls — the frame rates remain high and the scaling is relatively smooth. At 4K, the GPU becomes the overwhelming limiting factor, especially on High and Ultra presets where the gap between resolutions widens dramatically. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are adequate for this game, but the data suggests that at 4K, you're firmly in GPU-bound territory, and the 5090's capabilities are what set the ceiling.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. It's built on the Zen 2 architecture using a 7 nm process, and it carries 32 MB of shared L3 cache. Its benchmark results show a single-thread score of 696 in 3DMark and a max-thread score of 4,603, with Cinebench R23 scores of 2,124 single-core and 15,045 multi-core. The processor sits in the 76th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18,129.

The nearest rivals put this in perspective. The Intel Core i5-11400 scores an average of 18,150, which is 0.1% higher — essentially a dead heat. The AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS is 0.2% ahead, and the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 is 0.2% behind. The AMD EPYC 9274F is 0.3% behind. In other words, the 3600 is performing right at the level of its direct competitors, and the differences are negligible in real-world gaming terms.

For Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is most evident in the 1080p Low result of 203.7 fps. That's a high enough frame rate that the CPU is likely doing near-maximum work, but the fact that it doesn't go higher suggests the 3600 is keeping pace without becoming a hard wall. The 12 threads are enough to handle the game's workload, and the boost clock of 4.20 GHz provides adequate single-thread performance for a fast-paced FPS. If you were to pair this GPU with a weaker processor, you'd likely see the 1080p numbers collapse, but the data here shows the 3600 holding its own.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the defining component in this pairing. It's built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using a 5 nm process, with a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz. The memory configuration is massive: 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, with 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores. Its pixel rate is 423.6 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 1,636.8 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 104.8 TFLOPS.

In benchmark tests, the 5090 scores 14,411 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 380,114 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 379,571 in Geekbench Vulkan. Its Passmark G3D score is 39,650, and it sits in the 94th percentile against all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 84,306. The nearest rivals show how close the top of the GPU market is: the RTX 5090 D is 0.1% ahead, the RTX 5050 Mobile is 0.2% ahead, and the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 is 1.3% ahead. The NVIDIA CMP 40HX is 1.6% behind.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's dominance is clear from the fact that even at 4K Ultra, the combo still produces 84.9 fps — a playable number, though not the silky-smooth 100+ that lower presets deliver. The 32 GB of VRAM is far more than this game needs, but it means there's zero risk of memory pressure at any resolution or setting. The boost clock of 2407 MHz is what drives the high frame rates, and the data shows that the 5090 can push past 200 fps at 1080p Low and maintain 150+ fps at 4K Low.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 246 out of 1,637 tested combinations places it in the 85th percentile of all pairings tested for Lockdown Protocol. That's a strong result, but notably, there are 245 combinations ahead of it, and many of those likely pair the RTX 5090 with faster CPUs. The delta between this combo and the top of the list is driven more by the CPU than the GPU — the 5090 is at the 94th percentile of all GPUs, while the 3600 is at the 76th percentile of all CPUs.

The practical takeaway is that this combo is well-balanced for high-refresh 1440p gaming and solid 4K gaming, but it's not the absolute top-tier pairing you'd get with a newer, higher-clocked processor. The rank of 246 out of 1,637 still puts it ahead of the vast majority of tested setups, and for a game like Lockdown Protocol, the difference between rank 246 and rank 50 is likely a handful of frames at most. The data suggests that if you already own a Ryzen 5 3600 and you're upgrading your GPU, the RTX 5090 will work well with it, but you're leaving a small amount of performance on the table at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings produce 203.7 fps, which is the highest recorded in the entire set. Medium settings drop to 178.2 fps, High settings to 170.9 fps, and Ultra to 151.1 fps. The spread from Low to Ultra is 52.6 fps, which shows that the game's settings have a meaningful impact on performance, but even the worst-case 1080p result is far above the refresh rate of most monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers hold up well. Low settings produce 181 fps, which is still exceptionally high. Medium settings come in at 158.5 fps, High at 154 fps, and Ultra at 132.6 fps. The Low-to-Ultra spread is 48.4 fps, slightly narrower than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is starting to shoulder more of the load. Every 1440p result is above 130 fps, which makes this the sweet spot for this pairing if you want high refresh rates without sacrificing visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops are more pronounced. Low settings produce 156.6 fps, Medium 129.2 fps, High 111.4 fps, and Ultra 84.9 fps. The Low-to-Ultra spread widens to 71.7 fps, and the Ultra result is the only one in the entire set that dips below 100 fps. The 4K results are still playable, but the gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is the largest in the test, confirming that the 5090's pixel-pushing capabilities are the limiting factor at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the best experience for this combo depends on your target resolution. At 1920x1080, Ultra settings at 151.1 fps is the clear recommendation — you get the highest visual quality and still maintain frame rates well above 144 fps. There's no reason to drop below Ultra at this resolution, since even the highest preset stays comfortably above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors.

At 2560x1440, the choice is between High and Ultra. High settings produce 154 fps, while Ultra produces 132.6 fps. The 21.4 fps difference is noticeable but not game-breaking. If you have a 144 Hz monitor, Ultra is the better pick — 132.6 fps is close enough to the refresh ceiling that you'll barely notice the difference, and you get the full visual fidelity. If you're running a 165 Hz or 240 Hz display, High settings at 154 fps will make better use of the panel's capabilities while still looking excellent.

At 3840x2160, the recommendation is more nuanced. Ultra settings at 84.9 fps are playable but leave little headroom for drops, and the gap between Ultra and High is 26.5 fps. High settings at 111.4 fps are the sweet spot for 4K gaming — you get a smooth, stable experience that's well above 60 fps and close to 120 fps, without the visual compromises of Medium (129.2 fps) or Low (156.6 fps). The difference between High and Medium is 17.8 fps, but High's visual improvements are worth the small performance cost. For the best balance of quality and speed at 4K, High is the recommended preset.