Lockdown Protocol

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT combination ranks 1263rd out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. This position is largely defined by the GPU, which sits at the 68th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU performs more strongly at the 82nd percentile. The pairing creates a noticeable imbalance, with the processor capable of feeding frames faster than the graphics card can render them, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. The data indicates this is a system that can handle the game, but it will require deliberate settings adjustments to achieve a consistently smooth experience.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1263 out of 1637 places it within the bottom quarter of all tested configurations, yet this does not tell the full story. The Ryzen 5 8400F is a strong performer in isolation, with an average benchmark score of 25064 and a nearest rival delta of just 0.3% against the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F. This suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor in most scenarios. Conversely, the RX 5700 XT, with an average benchmark score of 24731, sits just 0.1% below the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile and 0.9% below the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000, indicating it is competitive with those older workstation-class parts but is clearly a generation behind modern gaming GPUs.

In practical terms, the rank reflects a system where the GPU holds back the CPU’s potential. The 8400F’s single-thread performance, as evidenced by a 3dmark_single_thread score of 951, is more than adequate for Lockdown Protocol’s FPS mechanics. However, the RX 5700 XT’s 9.754 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth define the upper ceiling of what this combo can deliver. The result is a configuration that will play the game, but its standing is firmly in the mid-to-low range, closer to the 2700X-class CPUs paired with mid-range GPUs than to any high-end combination.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of which settings offer the best playable experience. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 158.4 FPS, which is the highest average frame rate recorded across all tests. This is a massive jump over the High preset’s 94.9 FPS and the Ultra preset’s 71.7 FPS. For competitive play, where frame rate is king, the Low preset at 1080p is the clear choice, offering headroom well above the 60 FPS threshold and even approaching high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset drops to 116.7 FPS, which remains excellent for most displays, while the Medium preset at 82.4 FPS is still comfortably playable. The High preset at 68.4 FPS approaches the edge of acceptability for smooth motion, and the Ultra preset at 53.6 FPS falls below the 60 FPS target, making it a poor choice for this resolution. At 3840x2160, no preset achieves a solid 60 FPS; the Low preset reaches 74.2 FPS, but the Medium preset drops to 54.6 FPS, and the High preset falls to 45.1 FPS. For 4K, the Low preset is the only viable option for playable frame rates, while High and Ultra are best avoided.

The optimal experience balances visual fidelity with frame rate. Given the data, the Medium preset at 1080p (112.4 FPS) offers a reasonable middle ground, but the Low preset’s 158.4 FPS is the strongest competitive choice. At 1440p, the Low preset is recommended for consistent smoothness, while the Medium preset is acceptable for those who prioritize visuals over maximum frame rate.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p with the Low preset, the combo produces 158.4 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops this to 116.7 FPS, a reduction of 41.7 FPS, and at 4K it falls further to 74.2 FPS. This pattern holds across all settings, with the gap between resolutions widening as the pixel count increases. For the Ultra preset, the drop from 1080p (71.7 FPS) to 4K (35.5 FPS) is a 36.2 FPS reduction, showing that the GPU cannot maintain performance as the render load grows exponentially.

The data indicates that the RX 5700 XT is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU’s performance is nearly constant across resolutions, as its 3dmark_max_threads score of 6165 and 3dmark_16_threads score of 6091 suggest it can handle the game’s logical operations without strain. The GPU, however, sees its workload increase dramatically with resolution, and its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256-bit bus width become limiting factors at 4K. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly steep, with an average FPS loss of approximately 36% across all settings, confirming that this combo is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming, not 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 158.4 FPS, which is the highest recorded result. The Medium preset produces 112.4 FPS, and the High preset yields 94.9 FPS. The Ultra preset lags significantly at 71.7 FPS. This shows a wide spread of 86.7 FPS between the lowest and highest settings, indicating that the GPU has substantial headroom at this resolution when settings are reduced.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 116.7 FPS, a 41.7 FPS drop from 1080p. The Medium preset produces 82.4 FPS, while the High preset delivers 68.4 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 53.6 FPS, which is the first time it dips below the 60 FPS threshold. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 63.1 FPS, suggesting the GPU is starting to saturate.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset is the only one to exceed 60 FPS, at 74.2 FPS. The Medium preset produces 54.6 FPS, the High preset drops to 45.1 FPS, and the Ultra preset bottoms out at 35.5 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 38.7 FPS, a smaller absolute gap than at lower resolutions, but the relative performance loss is severe. The Ultra preset at 4K is only 22.4% of the 1080p Low result, underscoring the GPU’s inability to handle high pixel counts with maximum settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is the dominant component in this combo’s gaming performance. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes strained at 4K with higher settings. The GPU’s base clock of 1605 MHz and boost clock of 1905 MHz, with a game clock of 1755 MHz, define its operational envelope. The data shows that this GPU, despite being end-of-life, can still deliver playable frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, but only with careful settings management.

The GPU’s benchmark scores reinforce its mid-range positioning. Its 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 score of 2134 and passmark_g3d score of 16277 place it near the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (-0.1% delta) and ahead of the Intel Arc A350M (+0.3% delta). The 9.754 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the raw processing power available for rendering, and the 64 ROPs handle pixel output, giving a pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s. These figures explain why the GPU performs well at 1080p but struggles at 4K, where the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth become critical bottlenecks.

The CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with data, and the Ryzen 5 8400F does this effectively. Its 6 cores and 12 threads, based on Zen 4 architecture, provide strong single-thread performance, as seen in its 3dmark_single_thread score of 951 and cinebench_r23_singlecore score of 2943. The 16 MB of shared L3 cache and 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth ensure the GPU is not starved of data. However, the benchmark results show that at 4K, the GPU is the clear limiting factor, as the FPS drops are consistent with a GPU-bound workload. The combination of a capable CPU and an aging GPU means that Lockdown Protocol’s performance is almost entirely dictated by the RX 5700 XT’s capabilities.