Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with AMD Ryzen 7 3700X + AMD Radeon RX 9060

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 delivers a playable but not exceptional Lockdown Protocol experience, with the combo ranking 1647th out of 2828 tested combinations. The data reveals a system that scales predictably with resolution and settings, but the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions while the CPU shows its age in a game that benefits from strong multi-threaded performance. This analysis interprets the measured FPS data across three resolutions and four quality presets, contextualizing the results against the component benchmarks and nearest rivals.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, which is expected behavior for a GPU-bound workload. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 109 at 1080p to 80 at 1440p, then to 51 at 4K — a reduction of 26.6% from 1080p to 1440p, and another 36.3% from 1440p to 4K. This steep decline at 4K indicates the Radeon RX 9060 is the limiting component at that resolution, as the pixel throughput demands exceed what the GPU can deliver while maintaining high frame rates.

The scaling pattern shifts when examining Low settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 175 FPS average, dropping to 128 at 1440p (a 26.9% reduction) and 83 at 4K (a 35.2% reduction from 1440p). The percentage drops are remarkably similar across High and Low presets, suggesting that the resolution scaling is primarily driven by the GPU's rasterization limits rather than by settings-induced changes in CPU load. However, the absolute headroom at 1080p Low (175 FPS) versus 4K Low (83 FPS) reveals that the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for lower resolutions but become strained at 4K.

Medium settings provide the only preset with min/max FPS data across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 124 FPS with a minimum of 106 and maximum of 143. Moving to 1440p Medium, the average drops to 91 FPS with min/max of 77/105. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 59 FPS with min/max of 50/68. The consistency of the minimum FPS values relative to averages — roughly 85% of average at 1080p, 84.6% at 1440p, and 84.7% at 4K — indicates stable frame pacing without major stutters, even as the resolution increases.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling. The average FPS at 1080p Ultra is 81, which drops to 60 at 1440p (a 25.9% reduction) and 39 at 4K (a 35% reduction). The 4K Ultra result of 39 FPS average is below the typical 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay, confirming that this combo cannot handle maximum quality at 4K. The scaling curve suggests that the GPU's compute resources — 1792 shading units and 64 ROPs — are fully saturated at 4K Ultra, and no amount of CPU headroom can compensate.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance occurs at Medium settings across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 124 FPS average, which is 54.4% higher than Ultra's 81 FPS while still providing better visual fidelity than Low's 175 FPS. The min FPS of 106 at 1080p Medium ensures that frame drops remain above the 100 FPS threshold, making this the best experience for competitive play on high-refresh monitors.

For 1440p users, Medium settings again provide the sweet spot. The 91 FPS average at Medium is 51.7% higher than Ultra's 60 FPS, and the min FPS of 77 remains comfortably above the 60 FPS playability floor. High settings at 1440p yield 80 FPS average, which is playable but offers only marginal visual improvements over Medium while sacrificing 13.7% performance. Low settings at 1440p reach 128 FPS, but the visual degradation is substantial enough that Medium is the recommended compromise.

At 4K, the situation requires more careful consideration. Medium settings produce 59 FPS average with a minimum of 50 FPS, which borders on the edge of playability for a fast-paced FPS title. High settings drop to 51 FPS average, while Ultra falls to 39 FPS — both below the 60 FPS target. Low settings achieve 83 FPS average at 4K, making it the only preset that maintains fluid gameplay at that resolution. For 4K users prioritizing frame rate, Low is the only viable option; for those who can tolerate occasional drops below 60 FPS, Medium offers the best visual quality per frame rate trade-off.

The data indicates that the performance gap between Low and Medium is substantial (175 vs 124 FPS at 1080p, a 29.1% difference), while the gap between Medium and Ultra is smaller (124 vs 81 FPS at 1080p, a 34.7% difference). This suggests that Medium captures most of the visual benefits of higher settings without the disproportionate performance cost of Ultra. Across all resolutions, Medium consistently delivers the highest FPS-per-quality ratio, making it the recommended preset for this combination.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060, built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with the Navi 44 chip, provides 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1700 MHz and boosts to 2990 MHz, with a game clock of 2400 MHz. These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 334.9 GTexel/s, figures that directly impact Lockdown Protocol's rendering performance at various resolutions.

The GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gameplay across all settings, as evidenced by the stable FPS numbers at those resolutions. However, at 4K, the combination of higher texture demands and larger frame buffers likely pushes against the VRAM limit, contributing to the steep FPS drops observed. The 288.0 GB/s bandwidth, while respectable for a 128-bit bus, becomes a bottleneck at 4K Ultra where the 39 FPS average indicates severe memory bandwidth constraints.

The RX 9060's benchmark scores position it in the mid-range segment. Its PassMark G3D score of 17631 places it in the 59th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16014. The nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (average score 16129, deltaPct -0.7%), the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15862, deltaPct 1%), the AMD Radeon RX 7700 (15852, deltaPct 1%), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15679, deltaPct 2.1%). These deltas indicate that the RX 9060 performs nearly identically to the RTX 3060 Ti, being just 0.7% slower, and slightly faster than the R9 370X and RX 7700 by 1%.

The GPU's compute capabilities, measured at 21.43 TFLOPS FP32, are well-matched to Lockdown Protocol's requirements at lower resolutions but prove insufficient at 4K Ultra. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3322 reflects modern API performance, while the Geekbench Vulkan score of 39476 indicates solid Vulkan support, which is relevant for a game that likely uses modern graphics APIs. The DirectX 12 benchmark score of 44 in PassMark is notably low, but this is a synthetic test that may not fully represent real-world gaming performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 3700X and Radeon RX 9060 ranks 1647th out of 2828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the 41.8th percentile of all configurations. This ranking reflects a mid-pack position, indicating that while the combo is far from the top performers, it is also not in the bottom tier. The rank is consistent with the component-level benchmarks: the CPU sits in the 84th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU is in the 59th percentile, suggesting that the GPU is the weaker link in this pairing.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance. The Ryzen 7 3700X has an average benchmark score of 34260, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (34222, deltaPct 0.1%), the AMD EPYC 4244P (34220, deltaPct 0.1%), and the Intel Core i5-13450HX (34333, deltaPct -0.2%). The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is slightly slower at 34083 (deltaPct 0.5%). These tiny deltas (all within ±0.5%) indicate that the 3700X performs on par with these modern processors in synthetic benchmarks, despite being an older Zen 2 part.

The GPU's nearest rivals show a similar clustering. The RX 9060's average score of 16014 is within 2.1% of all four listed competitors. This tight grouping means that in real-world gaming, the choice between these GPUs would likely come down to driver optimizations and specific game titles rather than raw performance differences. For Lockdown Protocol specifically, the combo's 1647th rank out of 2828 suggests that many other pairings achieve higher frame rates, but the system remains functional for moderate settings.

The ranking data, combined with the measured FPS, indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming at Medium to High settings. The 59th percentile GPU ranking and 84th percentile CPU ranking create an imbalance where the CPU has more headroom than the GPU, meaning that future GPU upgrades would yield larger performance gains than CPU upgrades.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, fabricated on TSMC's 7 nm process. It operates at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boosts up to 4.40 GHz, with a 65W TDP. The processor features 32 MB of L3 cache, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 64 KB of L1 cache per core. Its memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s via dual-channel DDR4 is modest by modern standards but sufficient for the game's demands.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game logic. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (175 FPS average) indicates that the CPU can sustain high frame rates when the GPU is not the bottleneck. However, the fact that 1080p Ultra only reaches 81 FPS, while 1080p Low reaches 175 FPS, suggests that the game is GPU-limited at higher settings even at 1080p. The CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads provide ample multi-threading capability for a modern FPS title.

The CPU's benchmark scores reinforce its capability. Its Cinebench R15 multicore score of 2092 and single-core score of 204 show balanced performance, while Geekbench scores of 8899 (multicore) and 1593 (single-core) indicate solid computational throughput. The PassMark multithread score of 22458 and single-thread score of 2656 place it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, confirming that it is not the limiting factor in this combo for most scenarios.

The 3700X's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 and AMD EPYC 4244P, both with nearly identical average scores. The Intel Core i5-13450HX is marginally faster at 34333 (deltaPct -0.2%), while the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is slightly slower at 34083 (deltaPct 0.5%). These sub-1% differences mean that swapping the 3700X for any of these rivals would have negligible impact on Lockdown Protocol's performance, as the GPU remains the primary constraint.

The CPU's 65W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support are adequate for sustained gaming sessions. The PCIe Gen 4 interface with 24 lanes ensures that the GPU has sufficient bandwidth for data transfer, particularly at lower resolutions where CPU-GPU communication is more frequent. The lack of integrated graphics means the dedicated GPU handles all rendering, which is expected in a gaming configuration.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Lockdown Protocol with this combo?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 at Medium settings provides 124 FPS average with a minimum of 106 FPS, making it the best experience for smooth gameplay. At 2560x1440 Medium, the average drops to 91 FPS, which is still playable, while 3840x2160 Medium yields only 59 FPS average with a minimum of 50 FPS.

Q: How does the Radeon RX 9060 compare to its closest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 9060 has an average benchmark score of 16014, nearly matching the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti at 16129 (deltaPct -0.7%). It is 1% faster than the AMD Radeon R9 370X and AMD Radeon RX 7700, and 2.1% faster than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 3700X a bottleneck for the RX 9060 in this game?

A: The CPU ranks in the 84th percentile with an average benchmark score of 34260, while the GPU sits in the 59th percentile. The FPS scaling from Low to Ultra settings suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions, so the CPU is not significantly limiting performance.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured data shows 80 FPS average at 2560x1440 High settings. This is playable but lower than the 91 FPS at Medium settings, representing a 13.7% performance drop for the visual quality increase.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Lockdown Protocol?

A: At 4K, only Low settings achieve above 60 FPS, with an average of 83 FPS. Medium settings provide 59 FPS average with a minimum of 50 FPS, while High and Ultra drop to 51 and 39 FPS respectively, which are not ideal for a fast-paced FPS.

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

A: This combo ranks 1647th out of 2828 tested combos, placing it in the 41.8th percentile. This indicates a mid-pack performance level, where many other CPU-GPU pairings achieve higher frame rates in Lockdown Protocol.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table presents the exact measured FPS data for each resolution and settings combination.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|---------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 51 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 83 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 59 | 50 | 68 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 39 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | High | 80 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 128 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 91 | 77 | 105 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 60 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | High | 109 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 175 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 124 | 106 | 143 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 81 | — | — |

The data reveals a consistent pattern: Medium settings always provide the best balance of performance and stability, with the minimum FPS values showing only a 14.5-16.9% drop from the average across all resolutions. The highest FPS achieved is 175 at 1080p Low, while the lowest is 39 at 4K Ultra. The spread between Low and Ultra at each resolution is substantial — at 1080p, Low is 116.0% faster than Ultra; at 1440p, Low is 113.3% faster; and at 4K, Low is 112.8% faster. This consistent ratio suggests that the performance scaling between presets is largely independent of resolution, pointing to a GPU that responds predictably to quality settings.