Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB produces a measured performance profile in Lockdown Protocol that is heavily dictated by resolution and preset selection. This combination ranks 1054th out of 2828 tested combos in the game, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database. The data shows a system capable of smooth 4K play at Medium settings, but the transition from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU-bound trajectory, while the CPU's substantial 96 MB of shared L3 cache keeps frame pacing consistent at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this combo shows a steep and predictable decline as resolution increases, which is the classic signature of a GPU-limited scenario at higher pixel counts. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 219 FPS average; moving to 1440p drops that to 160 FPS, and at 4K it falls further to 104 FPS. That represents a 27% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 35% further reduction from 1440p to 4K at Low settings. The scaling is slightly less severe at High settings: 136 FPS at 1080p, 99 FPS at 1440p, and 64 FPS at 4K, corresponding to 27% and 35% drops respectively.

The pattern intensifies at Ultra settings. At 1080p Ultra, the combo produces 102 FPS; at 1440p Ultra, it falls to 75 FPS; and at 4K Ultra, it drops to 48 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is barely above the 48 FPS threshold often considered the minimum for playable frame rates, indicating that this preset at 4K is pushing the RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB to its limits. In contrast, the Medium preset shows the most balanced scaling across resolutions: 155 FPS at 1080p, 114 FPS at 1440p, and 74 FPS at 4K, with the 4K Medium result maintaining a comfortable margin above 60 FPS.

What the resolution scaling reveals is that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the high frame rates—particularly the 219 FPS Low result—suggest that the Ryzen 5 7500X3D's 12 threads and 96 MB L3 cache are sufficient to feed the GPU adequately, but the GPU itself becomes the bottleneck as pixel count rises. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 117 FPS, while at 4K that delta shrinks to 56 FPS, indicating that at 4K even the lowest preset cannot overcome the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading throughput constraints. The RTX 4060 Ti's 128-bit memory bus and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are the likely culprits, as higher resolutions demand more texture and geometry data per frame.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60+ FPS across all presets?

A: The data shows 1080p is the only resolution where every preset—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—exceeds 100 FPS average. At 1440p, all presets remain above 75 FPS, while at 4K, only Low (104 FPS) and Medium (74 FPS) stay above 60 FPS; High (64 FPS) is marginal, and Ultra (48 FPS) falls below.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 136 at 1920x1080 to 99 at 2560x1440, then to 64 at 3840x2160. This represents a 53% reduction from 1080p to 4K, with the largest single step being the 35 FPS loss between 1440p and 4K.

Q: Does the Medium preset offer a playable 4K experience?

A: Yes, the measured 3840x2160 Medium result shows 74 FPS average with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 85 FPS. The minimum frame rate staying above 60 FPS indicates consistent pacing, making this the highest preset reliably playable at 4K for this combo.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 2913. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell SFF, scores 2910 (0.1% slower), while the RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB scores 2907 (0.2% slower). The NVIDIA Quadro P600 scores 2923, which is 0.3% faster.

Q: What is the CPU's multithreaded performance relative to its closest competitors?

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

Q: Is the 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Lockdown Protocol at 4K Ultra?

A: The measured data shows 48 FPS average at 3840x2160 Ultra, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. The 8 GB memory size likely contributes to this limitation, as higher resolutions and Ultra settings typically demand more memory bandwidth and capacity than the 128-bit bus can provide.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with 4352 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. Its base clock is 2310 MHz with a boost clock of 2535 MHz, and it features 34 RT cores and 136 tensor cores. The GPU's memory configuration is 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The pixel rate is 121.7 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 344.8 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 22.06 TFLOPS.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution scales. The measured frame rates at 4K—ranging from 48 FPS at Ultra to 104 FPS at Low—suggest that the 128-bit memory bus is constraining performance at high pixel counts. The 288.0 GB/s bandwidth is the same figure shared with the 16 GB variant of the same card, but the 8 GB capacity limits how much texture data can be stored locally, which likely explains the steep drop to 48 FPS at 4K Ultra. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2913 places it at the 19th percentile of all GPUs, indicating it is a mid-range part in absolute terms.

The streaming multiprocessor count and boost clock of 2535 MHz allow the card to deliver strong 1080p performance, as evidenced by the 219 FPS Low result. However, the game's engine appears to scale poorly with this GPU's memory subsystem at higher resolutions. The delta between 1080p and 4K at Low settings is 115 FPS, while at Ultra it is 54 FPS, suggesting that the card's compute resources are sufficient for Low settings but the memory bandwidth becomes a hard ceiling as settings increase. The 1x 16-pin power connector and 160 W TDP indicate a power-efficient design, but that efficiency does not translate to 4K Ultra viability in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all presets. The Low preset achieves 219 FPS average, Medium reaches 155 FPS with a minimum of 132 FPS and maximum of 179 FPS, High produces 136 FPS, and Ultra drops to 102 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 117 FPS, showing that the GPU has headroom at this resolution even on the highest preset. The Medium preset's minimum of 132 FPS ensures no noticeable stutter, while Ultra's 102 FPS average remains well above the 60 FPS playability floor.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop consistently. Low delivers 160 FPS, Medium averages 114 FPS with a minimum of 97 FPS and maximum of 131 FPS, High hits 99 FPS, and Ultra falls to 75 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 97 FPS is still comfortably high, and even Ultra at 75 FPS provides a smooth experience for competitive play. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p ranges from 27% at Low (219 to 160 FPS) to 26% at Ultra (102 to 75 FPS), indicating a uniform scaling penalty across settings.

At 3840x2160, the limitations of the RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB become apparent. Low produces 104 FPS, Medium averages 74 FPS with a minimum of 62 FPS and maximum of 85 FPS, High drops to 64 FPS, and Ultra falls to 48 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one that maintains a minimum above 60 FPS, while High's 64 FPS average leaves little margin for demanding scenes. Ultra at 48 FPS is below the standard playability threshold, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay at 4K. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 56 FPS, significantly narrower than at 1080p, confirming that the GPU is the binding constraint.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing frame rate at 1080p, the Ultra preset is viable with a 102 FPS average, but the Medium preset offers a better balance with 155 FPS and a minimum of 132 FPS. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot at 1080p because it provides over 50% more frames than Ultra while still delivering a visually upgraded experience over Low. At 1440p, Medium remains the recommended preset with 114 FPS average and a 97 FPS minimum, whereas High at 99 FPS is acceptable but closer to the edge, and Ultra at 75 FPS may dip in busy scenes.

At 4K, the choice is more constrained. Low at 104 FPS is the only preset that delivers high refresh rate performance, but Medium at 74 FPS with a 62 FPS minimum is the highest preset that guarantees a minimum above 60 FPS. High at 64 FPS average is borderline—playable in many scenarios but risky during intensive combat sequences. Ultra at 48 FPS should be avoided for competitive play, as the average falls below the standard refresh rate threshold. The measured data indicates that Medium at 4K is the optimal trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate consistency, as its minimum of 62 FPS ensures no prolonged drops below the playability line.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset's minimum-to-average ratio is consistent: 85% at 1080p, 85% at 1440p, and 84% at 4K. This consistency suggests that Medium is well-optimized for this hardware combination, providing predictable performance regardless of the chosen resolution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 Raphael architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process. It has a base clock of 4.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU's defining feature is its 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is substantially larger than typical desktop processors and is designed to improve gaming performance by reducing memory latency. The L1 cache is 64 KB per core, L2 is 1 MB per core, and the CPU supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel interface with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p, where the combo achieves 219 FPS on Low settings. That frame rate is high enough that the CPU must be capable of feeding the GPU with draw calls and physics updates without becoming a bottleneck. The 96 MB L3 cache likely helps maintain consistent frame pacing, as the game's data sets can be cached on-die rather than fetched from system memory. The CPU's Passmark single-thread score of 3494 and multithread score of 25047 indicate strong per-core performance, which is critical for FPS games that often rely on a few primary threads.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it at the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44573. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i5-14600 (0.7% faster), Intel Core Ultra X9 388H (0.2% faster), and Intel Core i9-13950HX (0.5% faster), showing that the 7500X3D is competitive with top-tier mobile and desktop parts. At 1440p and 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes as the GPU becomes the limiting factor; the frame rate drops between resolutions are consistent with GPU-bound scaling, not CPU stalls. The 12 threads are sufficient to avoid bottlenecking even at 4K Low where the GPU produces 104 FPS, confirming that the processor is not a weak link in this pairing.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB combination ranks 1054th out of 2828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the 63rd percentile of all tested systems. This rank reflects the mid-range positioning of the GPU—the RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB sits at the 19th percentile of all GPUs based on its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2913—while the CPU at the 89th percentile helps boost the overall standing. The rank indicates that this combo outperforms roughly 63% of tested systems, but it is not near the top tier, which would require a higher-performing GPU.

The GPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell SFF (2910, 0.1% slower), the RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB (2907, 0.2% slower), and the NVIDIA Quadro P600 (2923, 0.3% faster). These tiny deltas show that the 8 GB variant performs nearly identically to the 16 GB version in the Steel Nomad test, suggesting that the 8 GB memory capacity does not significantly affect raw compute throughput in synthetic workloads. However, in Lockdown Protocol's 4K Ultra preset, the 8 GB capacity may contribute to the 48 FPS result.

The CPU's nearest rivals show a similarly tight cluster: the Intel Core i5-14600 is 0.7% faster, the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H is 0.2% faster, and the Intel Core i9-13950HX is 0.5% faster, while the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 is 0.6% faster. The 7500X3D's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it is a strong gaming processor, but the combo's overall rank is dragged down by the GPU's mid-range standing. For players targeting 1080p or 1440p, this combo delivers competitive frame rates, but at 4K, the GPU's 19th percentile ranking becomes the limiting factor, capping performance at Medium settings for a consistently smooth experience.