Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol is a fast-paced FPS that stresses both the CPU and GPU heavily, and the pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D with the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT produces a balanced set of results across common gaming resolutions. The measured data shows that this combination delivers high frame rates at 1080p and remains very playable at 1440p, with 4K performance that depends heavily on the graphics settings you choose. The 6-core, 12-thread processor with its large 96 MB shared L3 cache pairs with a 16 GB RDNA 2.0 graphics card to create a system that scales predictably as resolution and visual fidelity increase.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K in Lockdown Protocol reveals a system that is clearly GPU-limited at higher resolutions, while the CPU has enough headroom to push very high frame rates at lower settings. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 150 FPS at 1920x1080 to 110 FPS at 2560x1440, then down to 71 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 26.7% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 35.5% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU that is doing progressively more work per frame as pixel count increases, while the CPU’s job stays relatively constant.

Looking at Low settings, the differences become even more pronounced. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 242 FPS average, which drops to 177 FPS at 2560x1440 and then to 115 FPS at 3840x2160. The 1080p to 1440p drop of 65 FPS (26.9%) is nearly identical to the High settings drop, but the 1440p to 4K drop of 62 FPS (35.0%) is also similar. This suggests that even at Low settings, the RX 6800 XT is the limiting factor at 4K, because the CPU is capable of feeding it well beyond 200 FPS at lower resolutions.

Medium settings show a similar trend with average FPS of 172 at 1080p, 126 at 1440p, and 81 at 4K. The minimum FPS numbers recorded for Medium settings are 146 at 1080p, 107 at 1440p, and 69 at 4K, which indicates that frame pacing remains stable even when the GPU is under heavy load. The gap between average and minimum FPS widens as resolution increases, from 26 FPS at 1080p to 19 FPS at 1440p and 12 FPS at 4K, meaning the frame time variance actually improves at higher resolutions because the GPU is more consistently saturated.

Ultra settings produce the lowest frame rates, with averages of 113 FPS at 1080p, 82 FPS at 1440p, and 53 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 31 FPS (27.4%), and from 1440p to 4K is 29 FPS (35.4%). This consistent percentage drop across all settings levels is a strong indicator that the RX 6800 XT’s rendering throughput is the bottleneck as resolution climbs, rather than any CPU limitation. The Ryzen 5 7500X3D’s 4.50 GHz boost clock and 6 cores are sufficient to maintain high instruction throughput even at 1080p Low where the GPU is producing 242 FPS, so the scaling curve is smooth and predictable.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a Navi 21 chip manufactured on a 7 nm process. It has 4608 shading units, 288 texture mapping units, and 128 raster operation units, with 72 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1825 MHz and a boost clock of 2250 MHz, with a game clock of 2015 MHz that represents typical sustained performance during gaming loads. The memory subsystem consists of 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is directly relevant to Lockdown Protocol’s results because the game’s High and Ultra settings likely increase texture and geometry data, and the 16 GB capacity prevents any VRAM-related stutters even at 4K.

The GPU’s pixel rate of 288.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 648.0 GTexel/s are reflected in the measured FPS numbers. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 53 suggests the GPU is heavily taxed by the combination of high resolution and maximum settings. The fact that 4K Medium produces 81 FPS while 4K High produces 71 FPS shows a 10 FPS difference, which is smaller than the 28 FPS difference between 4K Medium and 4K Low (81 to 115 FPS). This indicates that the transition from Low to Medium settings adds more rendering work than the transition from Medium to High, likely due to shadow quality and post-processing effects.

The RX 6800 XT’s FP32 compute of 20.74 TFLOPS and FP16 of 41.47 TFLOPS (2:1) provide the raw arithmetic throughput needed for modern FPS titles. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3689 and PassMark G3D score of 24980 place this GPU in the 85th percentile of all GPUs, which aligns with the observed performance in Lockdown Protocol. The GPU’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile with an average score of 47743 (1.5% higher), the Intel Arc A550M with 49737 (2.5% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti with 49957 (3% lower), and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 with 50001 (3% lower). These delta percentages are small, meaning the RX 6800 XT is competitively positioned in raw benchmark scores, but in Lockdown Protocol specifically, the 16 GB VRAM and high bandwidth give it an edge at 4K where other cards with less memory might struggle.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT ranks 837 out of 2828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the 70.4th percentile of all CPU-GPU pairings that have been measured in this game. The rank of 837 out of 2828 means that roughly 70% of tested combos perform worse in terms of average FPS across all tested settings and resolutions, while about 30% perform better. This is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a previous-generation high-end GPU, and it reflects the balance between the two components.

The Ryzen 5 7500X3D has an average benchmark score of 44573 and sits in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H with an average score of 44466 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i9-13950HX with 44342 (0.5% higher), the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 with 44309 (0.6% higher), and the Intel Core i5-14600 with 44889 (0.7% lower). These tiny deltas show that the 7500X3D is effectively tied with several high-end mobile and desktop processors in general compute performance. However, in Lockdown Protocol, the 3D V-Cache technology (evidenced by the 96 MB shared L3 cache) likely provides a gaming-specific advantage that synthetic benchmarks do not fully capture.

Given that the combo rank is 837 out of 2828, there are many combinations that achieve higher frame rates, but most of those likely involve more expensive CPUs or newer GPUs. The data suggests that this pairing is well-balanced because the CPU is not holding back the GPU at 1080p (where 242 FPS is achieved) and the GPU is not severely underpowered at 4K (where 53 FPS minimum on Ultra is still playable). The rank reflects a system that can handle competitive FPS gaming at high refresh rates on 1080p and 1440p monitors, while also being capable of 4K gaming at reduced settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS across all settings shows a clear progression. Low settings produce 242 FPS average, which is the highest result in the entire dataset. Medium settings produce 172 FPS with a minimum of 146 FPS and a maximum of 198 FPS. High settings produce 150 FPS average. Ultra settings produce 113 FPS average. The gap between Low and Ultra is 129 FPS, meaning Ultra settings cost roughly 53% of the performance available at Low settings. The minimum FPS recorded for Medium at 1080p is 146, which is only 26 FPS below the average, indicating stable frame delivery without major dips.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops proportionally. Low settings produce 177 FPS average. Medium settings produce 126 FPS with a minimum of 107 FPS and a maximum of 145 FPS. High settings produce 110 FPS average. Ultra settings produce 82 FPS average. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 95 FPS, which is a smaller absolute gap than at 1080p but a similar percentage reduction (46.3% versus 53.3%). The minimum FPS of 107 at Medium settings is still well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and even Ultra’s 82 FPS average is comfortable for most monitors.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the primary constraint. Low settings produce 115 FPS average. Medium settings produce 81 FPS with a minimum of 69 FPS and a maximum of 94 FPS. High settings produce 71 FPS average. Ultra settings produce 53 FPS average. The minimum FPS of 69 at Medium settings is just above the standard 60 FPS refresh rate, so players targeting 4K should use Medium settings to ensure consistent frame delivery. The jump from Low to Medium at 4K costs 34 FPS on average, while the jump from Medium to High costs only 10 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 18 FPS. This non-linear scaling suggests that Medium settings provide the best balance of visual quality and performance at 4K for this combo.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The highest average FPS is 242, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Is this combo capable of 4K gaming in Lockdown Protocol?

A: Yes, but settings matter. At 4K with Low settings, the average FPS is 115; with Medium settings it drops to 81; with High settings it is 71; and with Ultra settings it falls to 53. For a stable 60 FPS experience, Medium settings are recommended.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 7500X3D compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 7500X3D has an average benchmark score of 44573, which is 0.2% lower than the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H (44466), 0.5% lower than the Intel Core i9-13950HX (44342), 0.6% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 (44309), and 0.7% higher than the Intel Core i5-14600 (44889).

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo at 1440p Medium settings?

A: The minimum FPS recorded at 2560x1440 with Medium settings is 107, with an average of 126 and a maximum of 145.

Q: How does the RX 6800 XT rank among all GPUs?

A: The RX 6800 XT is in the 85th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48477. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile, which scores 47743 (1.5% higher).

Q: What is the combo’s overall rank in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The combo ranks 837 out of 2828 tested combinations, meaning it performs better than approximately 70% of all tested CPU-GPU pairings in this game.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 7000 series, built on the Zen 4 (Raphael) architecture using a 5 nm process from TSMC. It has a base clock of 4.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W, making it a power-efficient choice for gaming systems. The processor features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and a substantial 96 MB of shared L3 cache. This large L3 cache is the defining feature of the X3D lineup and is particularly beneficial in games like Lockdown Protocol that have large working sets of data. The CPU supports DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s, and it has ECC memory support. It is not multiplier unlocked, so overclocking headroom is limited, but the boost clock of 4.50 GHz is sufficient for gaming workloads.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 5 7500X3D scores 25047 in PassMark Multithread, 3494 in PassMark Single Thread, 43594 in Floating Point Math, and 70774 in Integer Math. These scores place it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, which is impressive for a 6-core processor. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600, scores 44889 on average, which is only 0.7% higher, showing that the 7500X3D competes directly with higher-core-count Intel parts. The CPU’s performance in Lockdown Protocol is evident from the 1080p Low result of 242 FPS, which indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU with frames at a rate that exceeds most monitors’ refresh rates.

The CPU’s role in this combo becomes clearer when examining the resolution scaling. At 1080p, the FPS difference between Low (242) and Ultra (113) is 129 FPS, which is driven by GPU load. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the FPS to plateau at a certain level regardless of settings. Instead, the FPS scales with GPU workload, confirming that the 7500X3D is not limiting performance even at 1080p Low. The 96 MB L3 cache likely reduces memory latency for game data, which helps maintain high average FPS in CPU-intensive scenes. The CPU’s 12 threads are also sufficient for Lockdown Protocol’s multi-threaded rendering and physics, as evidenced by the consistent minimum FPS values at Medium settings across all resolutions.

The 65 W TDP is worth noting because it means the processor does not require aggressive cooling, and the 5 nm process node keeps temperatures manageable. The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s is adequate for the GPU to receive data without stalling, and the PCIe Gen 5 interface with 24 lanes provides ample bandwidth for the RX 6800 XT’s PCIe 4.0 x16 bus. Overall, the Ryzen 5 7500X3D provides a solid foundation for this GPU, and the measured FPS data shows no signs of CPU-induced frame drops. The combo rank of 837 out of 2828 confirms how well this mid-range CPU pairs with a high-end previous-generation GPU, delivering a gaming experience that is smooth at 1080p and 1440p and acceptable at 4K with settings adjusted.