Lockdown Protocol

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 delivers a playable experience in Lockdown Protocol, with the data indicating a system that is clearly GPU-bound at higher settings, while the CPU provides ample headroom for high frame rates at lower presets. The measured results show a combination that ranks in the 78th percentile of tested configurations, offering a versatile platform for competitive FPS play.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience in Lockdown Protocol. Across all four tested resolutions, the Low preset yields the highest average frame rates, with a peak of 146 FPS at 1920x1080. The data shows a consistent pattern where the Medium preset provides a significant frame rate advantage over High while retaining moderate visual quality. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset achieves 103 FPS, which is 13 FPS higher than High and only 43 FPS lower than Low. This makes Medium the recommended preset for players seeking a balance between competitive frame rates and visual fidelity.

For players prioritizing maximum smoothness on high-refresh-rate displays, the Low preset at 1920x1080 delivers 146 FPS, which is 43 FPS above the Medium preset’s 103 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs 43 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High costs 13 FPS. This indicates diminishing returns when moving from Medium to High, making Medium the optimal choice for most users. The Ultra preset, while offering the highest visual quality, sees a substantial performance hit, dropping to 68 FPS at 1080p, which is 35 FPS below the High preset’s 90 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the pattern holds, with the Medium preset achieving 76 FPS, which is 10 FPS above High and 31 FPS below Low. The Ultra preset falls to 50 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold commonly associated with smooth gameplay. For 4K resolution, the data shows that only the Low preset (69 FPS) maintains playable frame rates above 60 FPS, while Medium (49 FPS) and High (43 FPS) fall below this mark. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 32 FPS, which is not recommended for competitive play.

The analysis suggests that the Medium preset provides the best overall experience across resolutions, as it offers a 13% to 17% improvement over High while maintaining frame rates that are suitable for most displays. For 1080p and 1440p users, Medium is the clear recommendation. For 4K users, the Low preset is the only viable option for maintaining frame rates above 60 FPS.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average FPS is 146, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low preset. This represents the maximum frame rate observed in the data.

Q: How does the Ultra preset affect performance compared to High?

A: The Ultra preset causes a significant performance drop across all resolutions. At 1080p, it falls from 90 FPS (High) to 68 FPS (Ultra), a reduction of 22 FPS. At 1440p, it drops from 66 FPS to 50 FPS, and at 4K, it falls from 43 FPS to 32 FPS.

Q: Is this combo capable of 4K gaming?

A: At 4K resolution, the combo only achieves above 60 FPS with the Low preset (69 FPS). The Medium preset reaches 49 FPS, while High and Ultra fall to 43 FPS and 32 FPS respectively. This indicates 4K gaming is only viable at the lowest settings.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 1440p at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the 1920x1080 preset achieves 103 FPS, while the 2560x1440 preset achieves 76 FPS. This represents a 27 FPS (26%) reduction when moving from 1080p to 1440p.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations in this game?

A: The combo ranks 2901st out of 3714 tested combinations, placing it in the 78th percentile. This indicates that it performs better than 78% of the tested configurations for Lockdown Protocol.

Q: Are the frame rates stable at Medium settings?

A: The data includes minimum and maximum FPS values for the Medium preset. At 1080p, the range is 88 to 119 FPS, at 1440p it is 64 to 87 FPS, and at 4K it is 42 to 56 FPS. This shows good frame time consistency at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 146 at 1080p to 107 at 1440p, a reduction of 39 FPS (27%). Moving from 1440p to 4K, the frame rate falls further to 69 FPS, another 38 FPS (36%) reduction. This steep decline indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At Medium, the frame rates are 103 FPS (1080p), 76 FPS (1440p), and 49 FPS (4K). The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 27 FPS, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is also 27 FPS. This linear scaling suggests that the rendering workload increases proportionally with pixel count, with no evidence of CPU bottlenecks emerging at lower resolutions.

At the High preset, the frame rates are 90 FPS (1080p), 66 FPS (1440p), and 43 FPS (4K). The percentage drops are 27% and 35% respectively, mirroring the Low preset’s scaling. This uniformity across presets indicates that the GPU’s performance is the dominant factor in determining frame rates, regardless of the visual quality settings.

The fact that the frame rate drops by roughly 25-35% for each resolution step up (from 1080p to 1440p, and from 1440p to 4K) suggests that the RX 6600’s 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated at higher resolutions. The 4K results, which fall below 50 FPS at Medium and above, further confirm that this GPU is not designed for 4K gaming at high settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X + AMD Radeon RX 6600 combination ranks 2901st out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the 78th percentile of all tested configurations. This means that 78% of the tested combos perform worse than this pairing, while 22% perform better. Given the mid-range positioning of both components, this ranking is consistent with expectations.

The GPU’s percentile ranking of 63rd among all GPUs suggests that the RX 6600 is a mid-tier performer, which aligns with the combo’s overall ranking. The CPU’s percentile ranking of 81st among all CPUs indicates that the Ryzen 5 9600X is a stronger performer relative to its peers, but the combo’s ranking is dragged down by the GPU’s lower relative performance. This is typical for systems where the GPU is the primary bottleneck in gaming workloads.

The combo’s rank of 2901 places it in the lower half of the field, but it is important to note that the database includes many high-end configurations with flagship GPUs. The data shows that this combo outperforms 813 other tested combinations, which include various older or less powerful hardware. The 78th percentile ranking indicates that this is a solid mid-range setup capable of handling competitive FPS titles like Lockdown Protocol at 1080p with high frame rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X features 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. This Zen 5 architecture processor, built on a 4 nm process, demonstrates strong single-threaded performance, as evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 1253 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2183.5. These scores indicate that the CPU is well-suited for gaming workloads, which often rely heavily on single-thread performance.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU’s role appears to be secondary to the GPU at most settings. The measured FPS data shows that the frame rates scale primarily with resolution and settings, suggesting that the CPU is not the limiting factor. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 146 FPS, which is a high frame rate that would require a capable CPU to maintain. The Ryzen 5 9600X’s 12 threads provide sufficient multi-threading for the game’s background tasks while maintaining high frame rates.

The CPU’s multi-threaded performance, as shown by its 3DMark 16-thread score of 7585 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 17528.5, ensures that the system has ample headroom for any CPU-intensive game logic or physics calculations. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache also helps reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for gaming performance. The CPU’s 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth, when paired with DDR5 support, ensures that data can be fed to the GPU quickly, reducing potential bottlenecks.

The fact that the combo ranks in the 78th percentile despite the GPU being a mid-range part suggests that the CPU is doing its job effectively. The Ryzen 5 9600X’s high single-thread performance, as indicated by its 4570 Passmark single-thread score, ensures that the system can push high frame rates at lower resolutions where the CPU has more influence.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 146 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo. The Medium preset reaches 103 FPS (min 88, max 119), while the High preset drops to 90 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 68 FPS, representing a 53% reduction from Low.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop significantly. The Low preset averages 107 FPS, which is still well above 60 FPS. The Medium preset achieves 76 FPS (min 64, max 87), while High falls to 66 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 50 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The data shows a consistent 27-31 FPS drop between settings presets at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more constrained. The Low preset averages 69 FPS, which is the only preset to maintain playable frame rates above 60 FPS. The Medium preset achieves 49 FPS (min 42, max 56), while High falls to 43 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 32 FPS, which is generally considered unplayable for a fast-paced FPS game.

The frame time consistency, as shown by the min and max FPS for the Medium preset, is better at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 88-119 FPS (a 31 FPS spread), while at 1440p it is 64-87 FPS (a 23 FPS spread), and at 4K it is 42-56 FPS (a 14 FPS spread). This indicates that frame times become more consistent at higher resolutions, likely due to the GPU being fully utilized.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is a RDNA 2.0 architecture GPU with 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. It features a boost clock of 2491 MHz and a game clock of 2044 MHz, with a base clock of 1626 MHz. The GPU is equipped with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

The GPU’s performance in Lockdown Protocol is the primary determinant of frame rates at higher resolutions. The data shows that at 4K, only the Low preset achieves frame rates above 60 FPS (69 FPS), while all other presets fall below this threshold. This indicates that the GPU’s 8 GB memory capacity and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for high-quality 4K rendering in this game.

The RX 6600’s 63rd percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the mid-range segment. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1492 and Passmark G3D score of 15096 indicate solid DirectX 12 performance. The GPU’s FP32 performance of 8.928 TFLOPS is adequate for 1080p gaming at high settings, as demonstrated by the 90 FPS average at High settings.

The GPU’s 28 ray tracing cores and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) enable advanced visual features, but these come at a performance cost. The data shows that the Ultra preset, which likely enables ray tracing or other advanced effects, results in a significant frame rate drop across all resolutions. At 1080p, the Ultra preset achieves 68 FPS, which is 22 FPS below High, indicating that the GPU’s ray tracing capabilities have a substantial performance impact.

The GPU’s 132 W TDP and dual-slot design make it a power-efficient option for mid-range systems. The 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p gaming but becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions. The data clearly shows that the RX 6600 is best suited for 1080p gaming at Medium to High settings, with the ability to handle 1440p at Low to Medium settings for competitive play.