Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with AMD Ryzen 5 5600X + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX delivers a high-refresh-rate experience in Lockdown Protocol, though the data reveals a clear pattern: this is a GPU-bound pairing at higher resolutions, with the CPU becoming more relevant as resolution drops. The measured frame rates span from 67 FPS at 4K Ultra to 264 FPS at 1080p Low, showing that the combo scales predictably with both settings and resolution. The RX 7900 XTX, with its 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth, provides ample headroom for the game's demands, while the 5600X's 6 cores and 12 threads at boost clocks up to 4.60 GHz handle the CPU side of the equation. Benchmark results indicate that the combination ranks 545 out of 3714 tested combos in this game, placing it in the upper tier of systems. The data is measured, not estimated, so the numbers below reflect actual performance.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is stark and consistent across all settings presets, revealing where the bottleneck shifts. At High settings, average FPS falls from 188 at 1920x1080 to 138 at 2560x1440, then to 89 at 3840x2160. That is a 53% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The pattern is similar at Low settings: 264 FPS at 1080p, 223 at 1440p, and 144 at 4K — a 45% drop. At Medium, the numbers are 216, 158, and 102 respectively, and at Ultra they are 141, 103, and 67.

The scaling behavior tells a clear story about the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the 264 FPS ceiling suggests the CPU is the primary constraint; the RX 7900 XTX is capable of far more, but the Ryzen 5 5600X's 6 cores and 12 threads cap the frame rate. As resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck. The 144 FPS at 4K Low versus 264 FPS at 1080p Low shows that even at the lowest settings, the GPU's rendering workload at 4K is substantial enough to halve performance. The fact that the RX 7900 XTX has 6144 shading units and 192 ROPs, with a pixel rate of 479.6 GPixel/s, means it is not a weak part — but 4K simply demands more from the memory subsystem and compute units.

The 4K Ultra result of 67 FPS is particularly telling. That is the only measured frame rate below 89 FPS across the entire dataset, and it represents a 52% drop from the 141 FPS at 1080p Ultra. The gap between Medium and Ultra at each resolution is also informative: at 4K, Medium hits 102 FPS while Ultra drops to 67, a 34% penalty for the highest preset. This suggests that Ultra settings impose a heavy shading or post-processing load that the GPU cannot fully absorb at 4K resolution. Meanwhile, the gap between Low and Medium at 4K is 42 FPS (144 to 102), indicating that Medium adds a meaningful workload without crippling performance. For competitive play, the data strongly favors lower resolutions; for visual fidelity, 1440p Ultra at 103 FPS is the sweet spot.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for competitive play with this combo?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 at Low settings delivers 264 FPS average, which is the highest measured frame rate. Even at Medium 1080p, the combo hits 216 FPS, so competitive players have headroom to raise settings without sacrificing high refresh rates.

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

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K High, the average FPS is 89, and at 4K Medium it is 102. The 4K Ultra preset drops to 67 FPS, which may be below the threshold for smooth gameplay on high-refresh displays. For 4K, Medium or High settings are the practical choices.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5600X hold up in this game?

A: The 5600X scores 917 in 3dmark single-thread and 5588 in 3dmark max threads, with a passmark single-thread score of 3364. The 1080p Low result of 264 FPS suggests the CPU is the ceiling at low resolutions, but it is not a weak link — it ranks in the 75th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: Is the RX 7900 XTX overkill for this game?

A: Not at higher resolutions. The GPU's 64th percentile ranking among all GPUs and its 31238 passmark g3d score indicate it is a strong part, but the 4K Ultra result of 67 FPS shows it is fully utilized under max load. At 1080p, the GPU is underutilized, but that is a function of the CPU limit.

Q: What settings preset gives the most balanced experience?

A: Medium settings at 1440p provide 158 FPS average with a measured minimum of 134 FPS, which is a good balance of visual quality and frame rate. At 1080p, Medium hits 216 FPS, making it the best choice for high-refresh monitors.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 545 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 15% of all configurations tested. This is a strong result, though not top-tier — the rank reflects the CPU's mid-range position relative to newer parts.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame data places this pairing at 545 out of 3714 tested combos. That puts it in roughly the 85th percentile of all tested systems for Lockdown Protocol, which is a strong result for a CPU released in 2020 and a GPU released in 2022. The rank is driven largely by the GPU's raw throughput — the RX 7900 XTX has 61.39 TFLOPS FP32 performance and a texture rate of 959.2 GTexel/s, which are high-end figures. The CPU's contribution is more modest: the Ryzen 5 5600X has an avgBenchmarkScore of 21771 and sits at the 75th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals like the Intel Core i7-11700 (avgScore 21891, deltaPct -0.5) and AMD Ryzen 7 4800H (avgScore 21749, deltaPct 0.1) showing that it is competitive with but not superior to other mid-range parts.

The rank of 545 out of 3714 means there are 544 tested combos that deliver higher frame rates in this game. Given that the GPU is end-of-life and the CPU is from the 5000 series, this is expected — newer parts with higher single-thread performance and more cores will push ahead. However, the data shows the combo is far from obsolete: the 4K Medium result of 102 FPS and the 1440p High result of 138 FPS are both solid numbers for a game released in March 2024. The rank also reflects the fact that many tested combos likely use higher-end CPUs like the Ryzen 7 or Intel Core i7/i9 parts, which would close the gap at 1080p where the CPU is the limiter.

It is worth noting the deltaPct values for the CPU's nearest rivals: the Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U and Intel Core i7-11700 are within 0.5% of the 5600X's average score, meaning the CPU is not a differentiator in this pairing. The GPU's nearest rivals are more varied — the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB is within 0.4% of the RX 7900 XTX's avgBenchmarkScore, which is a surprising data point given the vast difference in raw specs, but it speaks to the benchmark's weighting. In practical terms, the RX 7900 XTX's 64th percentile ranking shows it outperforms most GPUs, even if it is not at the very top.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data covers 12 configurations — three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) at four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). At 1080p, the Low preset yields 264 FPS average, Medium yields 216 FPS with a minimum of 183 and maximum of 248, High yields 188 FPS, and Ultra yields 141 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 123 FPS, which is the largest of any resolution, showing that settings have a massive impact when the CPU is not the primary constraint. The Medium preset's minimum of 183 FPS indicates that even in heavy scenes, the frame rate stays well above 144 Hz.

At 1440p, the numbers are: Low at 223 FPS, Medium at 158 FPS (min 134, max 182), High at 138 FPS, and Ultra at 103 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 120 FPS, nearly identical to 1080p. The Medium minimum of 134 FPS is still above 120 Hz but below 144 Hz, so players with 144 Hz monitors may notice occasional dips. The High preset at 138 FPS average is close to the Medium minimum, which suggests that High settings are playable but not ideal for high-refresh displays.

At 4K, the results are: Low at 144 FPS, Medium at 102 FPS (min 87, max 117), High at 89 FPS, and Ultra at 67 FPS. This is where the GPU's workload becomes dominant. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 87 FPS, which is below 90 FPS and might feel less smooth on a 144 Hz display. The Ultra preset at 67 FPS is the only measured result below 70 FPS, and it is the only configuration where the frame rate approaches the 60 FPS threshold. The gap between Low and Medium at 4K is 42 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 22 FPS — the scaling is not linear, with Medium providing the best balance of quality and speed.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently provides the highest average FPS that is still above 100 FPS at every resolution except 4K, where it hits 102. The Low preset is always the fastest, but the difference between Low and Medium narrows as resolution increases: 48 FPS at 1080p, 65 FPS at 1440p, and 42 FPS at 4K. This suggests that at 4K, the GPU is so loaded that the settings difference matters less.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 5600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on Zen 3 architecture, built on TSMC's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with 32 MB of L3 cache. Its benchmark scores include a cinebench r23 multicore score of 11838 and a singlecore score of 1541, plus a geekbench multicore of 9173 and singlecore of 1989. The passmark data shows a multithread score of 21858 and a single-thread score of 3364. These numbers place the CPU at the 75th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21771.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p with Low settings, where the 264 FPS result is likely near the CPU's practical limit for this game. The 3dmark single-thread score of 917 and the cinebench r23 singlecore of 1541 indicate that the Zen 3 architecture's single-thread performance is strong but not class-leading — newer CPUs with higher IPC or higher clocks would push this number higher. The 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for the game's threading model, as evidenced by the fact that the 1080p Low result does not collapse under load; the 3dmark 16-thread score of 5582 and max-thread score of 5588 show that the CPU scales well up to 12 threads.

However, the data suggests that this CPU is the bottleneck at low resolutions. The 1080p Low result of 264 FPS is only 18% higher than the 1440p Low result of 223 FPS, even though the pixel count drops by 44%. That disproportionate scaling indicates that the CPU cannot push more frames regardless of the GPU's capacity. At 4K Low, the 144 FPS result is 45% lower than 1080p Low, showing that the GPU workload finally becomes the dominant factor. The nearest rival data reinforces this: the Intel Core i7-11700 has an avgScore of 21891 (deltaPct -0.5) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U has 21874 (deltaPct -0.5), so the 5600X is not meaningfully different from its peers in synthetic benchmarks, but its 6-core limit is a real constraint in CPU-bound scenarios.

The TDP of 65 W and the fact that it is an unlocked multiplier part (with a launch MSRP of $299) suggest it was designed as a mainstream gaming CPU, and the data shows it fulfills that role. For Lockdown Protocol specifically, the CPU delivers enough single-thread performance to drive high frame rates, but players seeking to exceed 264 FPS at 1080p would need a CPU with higher single-thread scores, such as those in the top 25th percentile that this chip does not reach.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting the highest possible frame rates, the 1080p Low preset is the clear choice — 264 FPS average is the fastest measured result in the entire dataset. This is ideal for competitive play where responsiveness matters more than visual fidelity. The 1080p Medium preset at 216 FPS is a strong alternative, offering a minimum of 183 FPS that keeps the experience consistently smooth on 144 Hz or even 240 Hz displays. The data does not show any advantage to High or Ultra at 1080p for competitive players, as the 188 FPS and 141 FPS results are lower without a proportionate visual benefit.

For 1440p gaming, the Medium preset is the best overall value in terms of frame rate and stability: 158 FPS average with a minimum of 134 FPS. The High preset at 138 FPS is also viable, but the minimum is not measured, so the Medium result is the safer recommendation for avoiding dips below 120 FPS. The Ultra preset at 103 FPS is playable but starts to approach the threshold where fast motion may appear less fluid. The Low preset at 223 FPS is for players who prioritize frame rate above all else, though the visual downgrade may be significant.

At 4K, the Medium preset is the only configuration that delivers both a high average (102 FPS) and a measured minimum (87 FPS) that stays above the 60 FPS baseline. The High preset at 89 FPS is slightly slower, and the Ultra preset at 67 FPS is best reserved for players with 60 Hz displays who want maximum visual quality. The Low preset at 144 FPS is surprisingly strong at 4K, suggesting that the RX 7900 XTX has enough raw power to run the game at low settings without major compromises. However, the Medium preset's minimum of 87 FPS is a concern for 90 Hz or 100 Hz displays, so players with such monitors might prefer the Low preset for a more consistent experience.

The overall recommendation is to use Medium settings as the default, as it provides the best balance of visual quality and frame rate across all three resolutions. For 1080p competitive play, drop to Low; for 4K visual fidelity, use High or Ultra only if 60-90 FPS is acceptable. The data shows no configuration where Ultra settings are the best choice for high-refresh displays, as the frame rate cost is steep.