Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol is a demanding FPS title, and the data for the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination reveals a system that is consistently bound by the graphics card, especially as resolution increases. The measured frame rates show that this pairing is viable for competitive play at 1080p, becomes a solid 1440p performer with settings adjustments, and struggles to maintain smooth gameplay at 4K. The RTX 2060, with its 6 GB of VRAM and Turing architecture, is the primary limiting factor in this configuration, while the Ryzen 5 7600 provides ample headroom to prevent CPU-related bottlenecks.

Resolution Scaling

The most telling data point in the entire benchmark set is the frame rate collapse when moving from 1440p to 4K. At 1080p with High settings, the system produces 90 FPS. Dropping to 1440p High reduces that to 66 FPS, a 26.7% decrease. However, the jump from 1440p High to 4K High is far more punishing, with the average FPS falling from 66 to 43, a 34.8% decline. This disproportionate drop indicates that the RTX 2060 is running out of pixel throughput and memory bandwidth at 4K, moving from a GPU-limited scenario at 1440p to a severely overburdened one at 2160p.

The scaling pattern across all settings confirms this analysis. At Low settings, the system achieves 145 FPS at 1080p, 106 FPS at 1440p, and 69 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is telling: even with the lowest graphical load, the GPU cannot maintain a 60 FPS average, yielding only 69 FPS. This is a stark contrast to the 1080p Low result, which is nearly double that figure. The gap between 1440p Low (106 FPS) and 4K Low (69 FPS) is 34.9%, almost identical to the percentage drop seen at High settings, suggesting that the GPU's raw compute and memory subsystems, rather than specific graphical features, are the bottleneck.

Examining the Medium preset offers the only complete dataset with min and max FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 103 FPS with a minimum of 88 and a maximum of 119. At 1440p Medium, the average falls to 76 FPS, with a minimum of 64 and a maximum of 87. At 4K Medium, the average plummets to 49 FPS, with a minimum of 41 and a maximum of 56. The 4K Medium minimum of 41 FPS is particularly concerning, as it indicates significant frame time spikes that would be noticeable as stutter. The consistent ~30% reduction in average FPS between 1080p and 1440p, and again between 1440p and 4K, points to a linear scaling problem typical of a GPU that is saturated at higher resolutions.

The 4K Ultra setting delivers an average of just 32 FPS, which is essentially unplayable for a fast-paced FPS. This represents a 52.2% drop from the 4K High setting's 43 FPS, showing that the Ultra preset's additional graphical demands are disproportionately expensive for this GPU at this resolution. In contrast, the difference between High and Ultra at 1080p is from 90 FPS to 67 FPS, a 25.6% reduction, which is more manageable but still significant. The data clearly shows that 4K is not a viable resolution for this combination in Lockdown Protocol, regardless of settings, as even the lowest preset fails to reach the 70 FPS mark.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing smooth, responsive gameplay, the Low preset at 1080p is the clear choice, delivering a 145 FPS average. This is the only configuration in the measured data that approaches high-refresh-rate territory, and it is 40.8% faster than the next best option, which is Low at 1440p. Competitive players should consider this setup to maximize frame pacing and minimize input latency, as the 145 FPS average provides substantial headroom above standard 60 Hz displays.

The Medium preset at 1080p offers a more balanced experience, with a 103 FPS average and a minimum of 88 FPS. This ensures that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate stays comfortably above 60 FPS. The minimum of 88 FPS is particularly important, as it suggests that the system will not experience jarring drops below the refresh rate of most mainstream monitors. For those with 144 Hz displays, the Medium preset at 1080p will not fully saturate the panel, but the consistent 88-119 FPS range (as indicated by the min and max values) provides a smooth experience without the visual compromises of the Low preset.

At 1440p, the Low preset yields a 106 FPS average, which is the best option for high frame rates at this resolution. The Medium preset at 1440p produces a 76 FPS average with a 64 FPS minimum, which is acceptable for slower-paced gameplay but may feel less responsive in fast firefights. For a more visually rich experience at 1440p, the High preset's 66 FPS average is workable, but the lack of a reported minimum FPS is a cause for caution, as the GPU is clearly under heavy load. The Ultra preset at 1440p, at 49 FPS, should be avoided for serious play.

The data strongly suggests that 4K should be avoided entirely for this combination. Even the Low preset at 4K, with its 69 FPS average, will struggle to maintain consistent frame pacing in intense combat situations. The Medium preset at 4K, with a 41 FPS minimum, is prone to noticeable stutter. The most sensible recommendation is to use the Medium preset at 1080p as the default for a balanced experience, or the Low preset at 1080p for competitive play. At 1440p, the Low preset is recommended for performance, while High is acceptable for those who prefer visual fidelity over frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the dominant performance determinant in this system. Its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. In Lockdown Protocol, the 4K results indicate that this memory configuration is insufficient for the higher resolution's demands. The 4K Medium preset's minimum FPS of 41 and the 4K High average of 43 FPS suggest that the GPU is hitting memory capacity or bandwidth limits, causing significant performance degradation compared to lower resolutions.

The GPU's clock speeds are a base of 1365 MHz with a boost of 1680 MHz. These clocks, combined with the 1920 shading units and 48 ROPs, produce a pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance of 6.451 TFLOPS is modest by modern standards, which explains the difficulty in maintaining high frame rates at 4K. The 12 nm process node and 10,800 million transistors on a 445 mm² die also indicate an older architecture that lacks the efficiency of newer GPUs.

The benchmark data for the RTX 2060 shows a PassMark G3D score of 14111 and a PassMark DirectX 12 score of 53, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score is 15290, which is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (15283, 0% deltaPct) and the AMD Radeon 680M (15270, 0.1% deltaPct). It is also closely matched by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM (15199, 0.6% deltaPct) and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 (15171, 0.8% deltaPct). This indicates that the RTX 2060 sits in a specific performance tier, and its behavior in Lockdown Protocol is consistent with this mid-range positioning.

The GPU's 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores are present but do not appear to provide a significant advantage in this game's standard rendering paths, as the 4K results are uniformly poor. The data suggests that the RTX 2060's raw rasterization performance, rather than its ray tracing capabilities, is what determines the measured FPS. With a launch MSRP of 349 USD, this GPU was positioned as a mid-range option, and its performance in Lockdown Protocol reflects that, offering playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p but failing at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its best performance. The Low preset achieves an average FPS of 145, which is the highest recorded in the entire dataset. The Medium preset delivers 103 FPS average, with a minimum of 88 FPS and a maximum of 119 FPS, providing a stable and playable experience. The High preset drops to 90 FPS average, while the Ultra preset falls further to 67 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 53.8% reduction in performance, from 145 to 67 FPS, which is a significant penalty for the visual improvements offered by the Ultra preset.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down as expected. The Low preset yields 106 FPS average, which remains above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset produces 76 FPS average, with a minimum of 64 FPS and a maximum of 87 FPS, indicating that the game remains playable but with less headroom. The High preset averages 66 FPS, which is borderline for a competitive FPS, as any significant scene complexity could push it below 60 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 49 FPS, which is not suitable for fast-paced action. The difference between the 1080p and 1440p Low presets is 39 FPS, a 26.9% drop, while the Medium preset drops by 27 FPS, a 26.2% reduction.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 2060 is clearly overmatched. The Low preset averages 69 FPS, which is the only 4K setting that comes close to a playable frame rate, but it still lacks the consistency of lower resolutions. The Medium preset averages 49 FPS, with a minimum of 41 FPS and a maximum of 56 FPS, showing that the frame rate is not only low but also inconsistent. The High preset drops to 43 FPS average, and the Ultra preset falls to 32 FPS. Comparing 1440p to 4K, the Low preset drops from 106 to 69 FPS, a 34.9% reduction, while the Medium preset drops from 76 to 49 FPS, a 35.5% reduction. The High preset drops from 66 to 43 FPS, a 34.8% reduction, and the Ultra preset drops from 49 to 32 FPS, a 34.7% reduction. These consistent ~35% drops across all settings at 4K confirm that the GPU is the sole bottleneck, with its performance scaling almost linearly with pixel count.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Lockdown Protocol at 4K smoothly?

A: No. The data shows that even at the Low preset, the 4K average FPS is only 69, which is below the 70 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum FPS of 41, indicating significant frame drops. The High and Ultra presets at 4K produce averages of 43 and 32 FPS, respectively, which are not suitable for a competitive FPS.

Q: What is the best setting for 1080p gaming on this hardware?

A: For maximum performance, the Low preset at 1080p delivers the highest average FPS at 145. However, for a balanced experience that maintains a high frame rate, the Medium preset at 1080p is recommended, as it provides a 103 FPS average with a minimum of 88 FPS, ensuring consistent performance without the visual degradations of the Low preset.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals in terms of benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 15290. Its closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580, which scores 15283 with a 0% deltaPct. The AMD Radeon 680M scores 15270 (0.1% deltaPct), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM scores 15199 (0.6% deltaPct), and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 scores 15171 (0.8% deltaPct). This means the RTX 2060 is effectively tied with these GPUs in aggregate benchmark performance.

Q: What is the performance difference between the High and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the High preset averages 66 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 49 FPS. This represents a 25.8% reduction in performance when moving from High to Ultra. The Ultra preset's 49 FPS average is below the 60 FPS threshold, making it less ideal for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 7600 CPU a bottleneck for the RTX 2060 in this game?

A: The data suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck. The consistent frame rate drops between resolutions (e.g., 145 to 106 to 69 FPS at Low settings for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K) indicate GPU-bound performance. The Ryzen 5 7600, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 999 and a multi-thread score of 6503, provides sufficient processing power to keep up with the GPU's output.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded across all settings and resolutions?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 41, which occurs at the 4K resolution with Medium settings. The 1440p Medium setting has a minimum of 64 FPS, and the 1080p Medium setting has a minimum of 88 FPS. The 4K Medium configuration also has a maximum FPS of 56, showing a narrow and low performance range.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Raphael. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. In the context of Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The benchmark data indicates that the CPU is not a limiting factor, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution changes that affect GPU load more than CPU load.

The CPU's benchmark scores show strong single-threaded performance, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 999 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1852. Its multi-threaded performance is also robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12735 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 13413. The PassMark single-thread score of 3910 and multi-thread score of 27058 further corroborate this. This level of performance is more than adequate for a game like Lockdown Protocol, which is typically GPU-bound in most scenarios.

The Ryzen 5 7600 has an average benchmark score of 26324, placing it in the 78th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX (26274, 0.2% deltaPct), the AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS (26402, -0.3% deltaPct), the Intel Core i9-11900KF (26212, 0.4% deltaPct), and the AMD Ryzen 5 8540U (26187, 0.5% deltaPct). These are all within a 1% performance delta, meaning the Ryzen 5 7600 is statistically tied with these processors in aggregate benchmarks.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s and DDR5 support, along with its 32 MB of shared L3 cache, ensure that data can be fed to the GPU efficiently. The 5 nm process node and 6,570 million transistors on a 71 mm² die indicate a modern, efficient design. Given that the RTX 2060's performance drops by roughly 35% at each resolution step, while the CPU's load would not increase proportionally, it is clear that the GPU is the limiting component. The Ryzen 5 7600 provides enough headroom that even the 145 FPS result at 1080p Low does not appear to be CPU-limited, as the same CPU would likely sustain even higher frame rates with a more powerful GPU.