Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol, a 2024 FPS, presents an interesting stress profile for the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT pairing. The measured data reveals a system capable of high refresh rates at 1080p and 1440p, but one where the graphical load at 4K significantly tempers expectations. The combination of a 6-core Zen 3 processor with a high-end RDNA 2 graphics card creates a scenario where the performance ceiling is dictated by the resolution and settings in play, rather than a single bottleneck across the board.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data suggests that the "High" preset offers the most balanced experience for this hardware combination across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 152.3 FPS, which is a substantial 37.9 FPS higher than the "Ultra" preset's 114.4 FPS, while only sacrificing a relatively small amount of visual fidelity compared to the top tier. The gap between High and Ultra widens at higher resolutions, with the 4K Ultra setting dropping to 51.9 FPS, whereas 4K High maintains a more playable 69.8 FPS.

For competitive play, the "Low" preset provides the highest frame rates, with a 237.6 FPS average at 1080p and 177.8 FPS at 1440p. However, the data implies that High is the sweet spot for most users, as it pushes well past the 60 FPS threshold at 4K and approaches the 144 Hz territory at 1440p. The "Medium" preset offers a marginal improvement over High—an 8.4% increase at 1080p (170.1 vs 152.3 FPS)—but this comes with a noticeable reduction in graphical settings, making High the recommended default for its superior balance of performance and image quality.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, with its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, provides a 512.0 GB/s memory bandwidth. This is a critical asset for Lockdown Protocol, as the data shows that the GPU is the primary driver of performance differences between settings presets. The graphics card’s 4608 shading units and 72 ray accelerators are put to work differently at each preset, with the Ultra setting at 4K (51.9 FPS) clearly demonstrating the immense load placed on the GPU’s compute capabilities.

The GPU’s boost clock of 2250 MHz and game clock of 2015 MHz indicate a high-performance part, and the benchmark results confirm this, placing it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs. The measured data shows a clear scaling pattern: moving from Low to Ultra at any resolution incurs a significant FPS cost, which is a direct result of increased GPU workload. For instance, at 2560x1440, the average FPS drops from 177.8 on Low to 81.2 on Ultra, a 54.3% decrease. This indicates that Lockdown Protocol is heavily GPU-bound, making the RX 6800 XT’s 16 GB VRAM a necessary buffer for the high-resolution textures and effects at the higher presets.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario, where the load on the RX 6800 XT increases exponentially with pixel count. At the High preset, the average FPS drops from 152.3 at 1920x1080 to 112.4 at 2560x1440, a 26.2% reduction. This decline steepens further at 3840x2160, where the average falls to 69.8 FPS, representing a 54.2% drop from the 1080p figure.

This pattern is consistent across all settings, but the absolute numbers tell a story about the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 237.6 FPS, which is likely approaching the CPU's limit given the Ryzen 5 5500's single-thread performance. However, the massive drop to 114 FPS at 4K Low—a 52% decrease—confirms that the GPU is the definitive bottleneck at higher resolutions. The data implies that for 4K gaming, users must compromise on settings to achieve smooth framerates, while 1080p and 1440p allow the system to flex its full potential.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark results provide a comprehensive look at the performance envelope. At 1920x1080, the system delivers an average of 237.6 FPS on Low, 170.1 FPS on Medium, 152.3 FPS on High, and 114.4 FPS on Ultra. This shows a 123.2 FPS spread between the lowest and highest presets, indicating that the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU until the very high frame rates of the Low preset.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 177.8 FPS (Low), 123.6 FPS (Medium), 112.4 FPS (High), and 81.2 FPS (Ultra). The relative performance gap between Low and Ultra narrows compared to 1080p, but the absolute numbers remain strong for high-refresh-rate monitors. The 1440p High setting, at 112.4 FPS, is particularly notable as it provides a fluid experience without needing to drop to lower presets.

At 3840x2160, the data shows a significant performance cliff. The averages are 114 FPS (Low), 80.4 FPS (Medium), 69.8 FPS (High), and 51.9 FPS (Ultra). While the Low preset remains playable, the Ultra preset falls below the 60 FPS standard. This suggests that 4K Ultra is not a viable option for this combo, and even 4K High, while playable, requires a compromise on graphical fidelity to maintain a stable framerate.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT ranks 583rd out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places the system in the top 35.6% of all configurations in the database, which is a respectable position given the CPU's mid-range status. The rank reflects a system that is more capable than average, primarily due to the GPU's high performance, but it is held back by the Ryzen 5 5500's lower overall benchmark scores compared to more modern or higher-tier processors.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 20875 puts it in the 79th percentile, with rivals like the Intel Core i5-12500 (20897, -0.1% delta) and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE (20900, -0.1% delta) essentially matching its performance. This indicates that the CPU is not a weak link in the chain, but it also does not boost the combo's ranking. The GPU, on the other hand, is in the 87th percentile, outperforming the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER by 2.6% in average benchmark score. The combo's 583rd rank suggests that while the GPU is strong, the pairing with a lower-tier CPU prevents it from breaking into the top tier of configurations.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, but not at the highest settings. The measured data shows an average of 69.8 FPS at 4K High and 114 FPS at 4K Low. However, the 4K Ultra preset drops to 51.9 FPS, indicating that the Ultra settings are too demanding for a smooth 4K experience.

Q: What is the best resolution for high-refresh-rate monitors?

A: At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 152.3 FPS, and the Low preset reaches 237.6 FPS. At 2560x1440, the High preset still provides 112.4 FPS, making 1440p a viable choice for monitors with a 144 Hz refresh rate.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5500 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score of 20875 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i5-12500 (20897, -0.1% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE (20900, -0.1% delta), indicating performance parity within a rounding error.

Q: Is the RX 6800 XT a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No, the data suggests the GPU is not the limiting factor at 1080p. The 237.6 FPS average on Low settings is high enough to potentially expose CPU limitations, but the GPU's performance is sufficient to drive frame rates well above standard refresh rates.

Q: What is the performance difference between Medium and High settings?

A: The difference is relatively small. At 1080p, Medium (170.1 FPS) is 17.8 FPS faster than High (152.3 FPS). At 1440p, the gap narrows to 11.2 FPS (123.6 vs 112.4 FPS). At 4K, the difference is 10.6 FPS (80.4 vs 69.8 FPS).

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

A: It ranks 583rd out of 1637 combos, placing it in the top 35.6% of all systems tested in the database for Lockdown Protocol.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. Its 16 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support provide a solid foundation for gaming. The benchmark data shows a 3DMark single-thread score of 836 and a multi-thread score of 5411, indicating balanced performance that is sufficient for modern FPS titles.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role becomes apparent at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 237.6 FPS, which is a frame rate that tests the CPU's ability to feed the GPU. The Ryzen 5 5500's single-thread performance, while not class-leading, is enough to handle this load, as evidenced by the 3DMark 2-thread score of 1645. However, the data suggests that this is near the CPU's limit, as the frame rate does not scale linearly with GPU load at this resolution.

The CPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks, such as Cinebench R23 (16429 multi-core, 2319 single-core), places it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-12500, has a nearly identical average score, confirming that the Ryzen 5 5500 is a competent mid-range processor. While it does not provide the raw throughput of higher-core-count CPUs, its 6 cores and 12 threads are well-suited for the demands of Lockdown Protocol, ensuring that the GPU is rarely starved for data at resolutions above 1080p.