Lockdown Protocol

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 brings six cores and twelve threads to the Lockdown Protocol test bench, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. The CPU's Zen 3 architecture, built on TSMC's 7 nm process, delivers a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16429 and a single-core score of 2319. In the broader CPU landscape, this chip sits at the 79th percentile against all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 20875.

The data suggests that Lockdown Protocol's frame pacing at lower resolutions is heavily influenced by this CPU's threading capabilities. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra settings is 92.4 FPS (238.8 down to 146.4), which is a much larger spread than what appears at 4K. This pattern indicates that at 1080p, the CPU's single-thread performance — evidenced by the 3DMark single-thread score of 836 — becomes a limiting factor when the GPU is not saturated.

Interestingly, the Ryzen 5 5500's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Core i5-12500 (deltaPct -0.1) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE (deltaPct -0.1). These near-identical average scores suggest that the CPU's real-world gaming behavior in Lockdown Protocol should be comparable to those chips, though the measured FPS data here reflects only the Ryzen 5 5500 paired with the RTX 5070 Ti. The 16 MB L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are moderate for a 2022-release CPU, and they likely contribute to the frame-time consistency observed across the resolution spectrum.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is the dominant component in this pairing, featuring 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its Blackwell 2.0 architecture, built on TSMC's 5 nm process, includes 8960 shading units, 70 RT cores, and 280 tensor cores. The GPU's boost clock of 2452 MHz and FP32 throughput of 43.94 TFLOPS place it at the 87th percentile among all tested GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 52086.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's VRAM capacity becomes a clear differentiator at higher settings. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 72.4, while 4K High holds 93.2 FPS — a 20.8 FPS gap that likely reflects the increased memory pressure and shading complexity of the Ultra preset. The RTX 5070 Ti's nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 with a deltaPct of 0, meaning these two cards are statistically tied in average score. This parity suggests that the 5070 Ti's 16 GB frame buffer is well-matched to Lockdown Protocol's demands, as the game does not appear to exceed that capacity at any tested setting.

The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6604 and Geekbench OpenCL score of 231226 provide context for its raw compute ability. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 238.8 FPS, which is only 19.4 FPS higher than 1440p Low (218.3 FPS). This relatively small delta at Low settings indicates that the GPU is not the primary bottleneck when graphical load is light — the CPU's six cores are likely holding back the frame rate ceiling.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

Examining the measured FPS across resolutions reveals a distinct scaling pattern. At High settings, the transition from 1080p (199.9 FPS) to 1440p (145.8 FPS) represents a 27.1% drop, while moving from 1440p to 4K (93.2 FPS) costs another 36.1%. This accelerating decline is classic GPU-bound behavior — the RTX 5070 Ti's rendering workload grows quadratically with pixel count, and the frame rate responds accordingly.

At Low settings, the scaling is less severe in absolute terms but still significant: 1080p (238.8 FPS) to 1440p (218.3 FPS) is only an 8.6% drop, but 1440p to 4K (151.2 FPS) falls by 30.7%. The relatively flat 1080p-to-1440p segment at Low suggests that the CPU is becoming the limiting factor at those lower resolutions — the Ryzen 5 5500's twelve threads max out before the GPU can stretch its legs.

Ultra settings tell a different story. The 1080p Ultra result (146.4 FPS) is actually lower than the 1440p High result (145.8 FPS), which is a remarkable convergence. This indicates that Ultra's added graphical features — likely more complex lighting or shadow calculations — create a GPU bottleneck even at 1080p, eliminating the resolution advantage that Low settings provide. The data implies that Lockdown Protocol's Ultra preset is disproportionately demanding relative to High, and that the RTX 5070 Ti's 16 GB VRAM and 96 ROPs are being pushed to their limits.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti ranks 216th out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places the pairing in the top 13.2% of all configurations, which is a strong showing given that the CPU is a mid-range 5000-series part. The ranking reflects the GPU's dominance — the RTX 5070 Ti's 87th percentile standing among all GPUs carries the combo, while the CPU's 79th percentile is slightly lower.

The rank of 216 is notable because it suggests that many combos with more powerful CPUs (such as those with higher single-thread scores) achieve better results in this game, even if they pair with slightly weaker GPUs. This aligns with the resolution scaling analysis: at 1080p, the CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 836 and PassMark single-thread score of 3058 may not be sufficient to fully utilize the RTX 5070 Ti's potential. However, the combo still outperforms the vast majority of configurations tested, likely because the GPU's raw rasterization power (43.94 TFLOPS FP32) compensates for CPU limitations at higher resolutions.

The data does not reveal how many combos rank above 216 or what specific CPUs they use, but the deltaPct values for the CPU's rivals (all within ±0.2%) suggest that swapping to an Intel Core i5-12500 or AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE would not meaningfully change the ranking. The GPU's nearest rival, the RTX 4080, has a deltaPct of 0, meaning that combo's rank would likely be similar if paired with the same CPU.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1080p, High settings (199.9 FPS) offer a 46.6% improvement over Ultra (146.4 FPS) while sacrificing only the extra visual features that Ultra provides. The Medium preset (214.5 FPS) is also viable, delivering 14.6 FPS more than High, but the gap between High and Medium (14.6 FPS) is smaller than the gap between High and Ultra (53.5 FPS), suggesting that High is the sweet spot for quality-per-frame at 1080p.

At 1440p, High settings (145.8 FPS) are the clear recommendation for most users, as they provide a smooth experience above the 144 Hz threshold while maintaining visual fidelity. Medium (166.1 FPS) is also a strong choice for competitive play, offering 20.3 FPS more than High. Ultra (107 FPS) is borderline for 144 Hz displays but perfectly playable on 100 Hz monitors. Low (218.3 FPS) is excessive for most displays but useful for esports-style play where maximum frame rate is prioritized.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. High settings (93.2 FPS) are the best balance, as they keep the experience above 90 FPS while preserving most graphical features. Medium (105.1 FPS) is actually the highest non-Low setting that exceeds 100 FPS, making it the recommended choice for 4K 100 Hz displays. Ultra (72.4 FPS) and Low (151.2 FPS) represent opposite extremes — the former for maximum visual quality at a playable 72 FPS, the latter for competitive play where the graphical downgrade is acceptable.

FAQ

Q: Which resolution provides the highest average FPS for this combo?

A: At 1080p Low, the system achieves 238.8 FPS, which is the highest measured average across all resolutions and settings.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 Ti compare to its closest GPU rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5070 Ti's average benchmark score of 52086 is exactly matched by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, with a deltaPct of 0.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p High and 4K High?

A: The 1080p High preset averages 199.9 FPS, while 4K High averages 93.2 FPS, representing a 106.7 FPS drop when moving to 4K.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance more at 1080p Low settings?

A: The data suggests the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p Low, as the 238.8 FPS result is likely constrained by the Ryzen 5 5500's single-thread performance rather than the GPU's capability.

Q: Is the Ultra preset at 4K playable with this combo?

A: At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 72.4 FPS, which is playable on a 60 Hz display but below the 100 FPS threshold preferred for competitive FPS games.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking among all tested configurations?

A: This pairing ranks 216th out of 1637 total combos tested in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 13.2% of all configurations.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low settings produce 238.8 FPS, Medium settings produce 214.5 FPS, High settings produce 199.9 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 146.4 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 92.4 FPS, with the largest single-step drop occurring between High and Ultra (53.5 FPS).

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low settings at 218.3 FPS, Medium settings at 166.1 FPS, High settings at 145.8 FPS, and Ultra settings at 107 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each setting is 20.5 FPS (Low), 48.4 FPS (Medium), 54.1 FPS (High), and 39.4 FPS (Ultra).

At 3840x2160, the measured values are: Low settings at 151.2 FPS, Medium settings at 105.1 FPS, High settings at 93.2 FPS, and Ultra settings at 72.4 FPS. From 1440p to 4K, the drops are 67.1 FPS (Low), 61 FPS (Medium), 52.6 FPS (High), and 34.6 FPS (Ultra).

The most consistent performance across all resolutions occurs at Ultra settings, where the difference between 1080p and 4K is 74 FPS (146.4 down to 72.4). In contrast, Low settings show a 87.6 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K (238.8 down to 151.2). This pattern indicates that the GPU's workload scaling is more predictable at Ultra, while Low settings expose CPU limitations that compress the frame rate range.