Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol, a 2024 FPS title, presents a demanding workload that balances CPU and GPU resources. For the AMD Ryzen 5 4600G paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, the measured data reveals a system capable of solid performance at 1080p, with playable results at higher resolutions depending on the settings preset. This analysis breaks down the benchmark results to determine the optimal configuration and the role each component plays.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for this combination shows a clear hierarchy across the four tested presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 159 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this system. This is ideal for competitive play where maximum fluidity is prioritized. The Medium preset yields 113 FPS, a significant drop from Low but still far above the threshold for smooth gameplay. The High preset produces 99 FPS, while Ultra drops to 74 FPS.

The choice of preset should be dictated by the user's display and performance goals. For players with a 144Hz monitor, the Low preset is the only option that consistently maxes out the refresh rate, offering a 41% performance advantage over Medium. However, the jump from Medium to High is much smaller, with only a 14 FPS difference, suggesting that High provides a better visual experience per frame lost. Ultra, while visually richest, incurs a substantial 25% performance penalty over High, which may not be justifiable on a 60Hz display.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. The Low preset still leads with 117 FPS, but the Medium preset's 83 FPS becomes a more attractive middle ground, offering a balance between visual fidelity and speed. The High preset at 72 FPS remains playable, and Ultra at 54 FPS is the minimum for a 60Hz target. For 4K (3840x2160), the situation becomes more constrained. The Low preset is the only one that exceeds 60 FPS, hitting 75 FPS. Medium at 53 FPS and High at 47 FPS are playable if the user can tolerate frame rates below 60, but Ultra at 35 FPS is likely too inconsistent for a smooth experience.

The optimal experience for this hardware pairing depends on the resolution. For 1080p, the High preset (99 FPS) provides the best balance of visual quality and performance, as it remains well above 60 FPS while offering a significant upgrade over Low. For 1440p, Medium (83 FPS) is the sweet spot, providing a smooth experience with better detail than Low. At 4K, users should stick to Low (75 FPS) to maintain a consistent frame rate, as higher presets risk dipping into unplayable territory.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is a Turing-architecture GPU with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. Its base clock is 1470 MHz, with a boost clock of 1650 MHz. The card's performance percentile against all GPUs is 62, placing it in the mid-range tier. Its average benchmark score of 18093 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile, which scores 18159, a delta of -0.4%. This indicates the desktop RTX 2060 SUPER is essentially performance-equivalent to that mobile part.

The GPU's role in Lockdown Protocol is clearly demonstrated by the scaling of frame rates with resolution. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 159 FPS, but this drops to 117 FPS at 1440p and 75 FPS at 4K. This steep decline, particularly from 1440p to 4K (a 36% drop), indicates that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases. The 8 GB VRAM buffer is sufficient for the tested presets, but the card's raw compute power limits its ability to maintain high frame rates at higher resolutions.

The measured frame times also reveal the GPU's consistency. At Medium settings, the minimum FPS is consistently about 85% of the average across all resolutions (45 vs 53 at 4K, 70 vs 83 at 1440p, 96 vs 113 at 1080p). This suggests that the GPU handles frame pacing well, with no severe hitches. However, the Ultra preset's performance, which drops to 35 FPS at 4K, shows that the card's 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is insufficient for maximum settings at that resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a predictable and significant performance drop as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 159 at 1080p to 117 at 1440p, a 26% decrease, and then to 75 at 4K, a further 36% decrease from 1440p. This linear scaling suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor, as its workload scales directly with the number of pixels.

At Medium settings, the same pattern holds, with 113 FPS at 1080p, 83 FPS at 1440p (a 27% drop), and 53 FPS at 4K (a 36% drop from 1440p). The High preset shows 99 FPS at 1080p, 72 FPS at 1440p (27% drop), and 47 FPS at 4K (35% drop). The consistency of these percentage drops across all presets is notable, indicating that the game's rendering engine scales uniformly with resolution, and the system's performance is consistently GPU-bound.

The implications of this scaling are clear: the RTX 2060 SUPER is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but it struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K. The fact that the 4K results are roughly 50% of the 1080p results highlights the massive increase in pixel count. For users with a 4K display, the only viable option is the Low preset, which still manages to deliver a playable 75 FPS average. This resolution scaling confirms that the GPU is the primary determining factor for performance in this game, outweighing the CPU's contribution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates for the AMD Ryzen 5 4600G and RTX 2060 SUPER is as follows:

1920x1080:

• Low: 159 FPS average.
• Medium: 113 FPS average, with a minimum of 96 and maximum of 130 FPS.
• High: 99 FPS average.
• Ultra: 74 FPS average.

2560x1440:

• Low: 117 FPS average.
• Medium: 83 FPS average, with a minimum of 70 and maximum of 95 FPS.
• High: 72 FPS average.
• Ultra: 54 FPS average.

3840x2160:

• Low: 75 FPS average.
• Medium: 53 FPS average, with a minimum of 45 and maximum of 62 FPS.
• High: 47 FPS average.
• Ultra: 35 FPS average.

The data shows that the RTX 2060 SUPER can handle 1080p gaming with ease, even at Ultra settings, where it maintains a 74 FPS average. The 1440p results are respectable, with Medium and High presets both exceeding 70 FPS. At 4K, the card is playable only on Low settings, with a 75 FPS average, while Medium and High dip below 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that falls below 40 FPS, indicating it is not a viable option for smooth gameplay.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 1080p gaming with this CPU and GPU combination?

A: Based on the data, the High preset at 1080p offers the best balance, delivering 99 FPS average. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides significantly better visuals than the Low preset's 159 FPS, which is more suitable for high-refresh-rate competitive play.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Lockdown Protocol?

A: Yes, but with limitations. The only preset that consistently exceeds 60 FPS at 3840x2160 is Low, with an average of 75 FPS. Medium and High presets are playable but will see frame rates in the 47-53 FPS range, while Ultra drops to 35 FPS, making it unsuitable for a smooth experience.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there from 1080p to 4K?

A: The drop is substantial. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 159 FPS at 1080p to 75 FPS at 4K, a 53% reduction. At High settings, it falls from 99 FPS to 47 FPS, also a 53% reduction, indicating a consistent scaling pattern.

Q: Is the RTX 2060 SUPER a bottleneck for the Ryzen 5 4600G in this game?

A: The data suggests yes, especially at higher resolutions. The frame rate drops significantly as resolution increases, which points to the GPU being the limiting factor. At 1080p, the CPU may still play a role, but the GPU's workload becomes dominant as pixel count grows.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Medium and High presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 83 FPS, while High averages 72 FPS. This 11 FPS difference (a 13% drop) is a relatively small price to pay for the visual improvements, making High a viable option for 1440p.

Q: How does this GPU compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 3060 Mobile?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 18093, which is just 0.4% lower than the RTX 3060 Mobile's score of 18159. This indicates that the two GPUs offer nearly identical performance in synthetic tests, so in-game results are likely to be similar.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, running on the AM4 socket. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with a 65W TDP. The processor's performance percentile is 71, and its average benchmark score of 17507 places it very close to its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE (17482, +0.1%) and the Intel Core 7 150U (17395, +0.6%). This indicates the 4600G is a solid mid-range CPU.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU has less work to do. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 159 FPS, which is a high frame rate that requires the CPU to feed the GPU efficiently. The 4600G's 12 threads and 8 MB of shared L3 cache are likely sufficient for this task, as the game is primarily GPU-bound. However, the fact that the frame rate at 1080p Low (159 FPS) is not significantly higher than at 1440p Low (117 FPS) suggests that the CPU may start to limit performance at very high frame rates.

The processor's multi-threaded performance, as shown by its 13593 Cinebench R23 multicore score, indicates it can handle the game's background tasks and physics calculations. The single-thread score of 1919 is also respectable, which is important for FPS games that often rely on single-core performance for game logic. Overall, the Ryzen 5 4600G provides enough processing power to avoid being a significant bottleneck in this game, except possibly in the most CPU-intensive scenarios at 1080p with very high frame rates. The data suggests that for this title, the RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary performance driver, with the CPU playing a supporting but capable role.