Lockdown Protocol

The pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER in Lockdown Protocol produces a performance profile that is heavily dictated by resolution and settings. The measured data shows a system that is capable of high refresh rates at 1080p but transitions into a GPU-bound experience as pixel count increases. This analysis examines the scaling behavior, the role of the CPU and GPU, and provides a detailed breakdown of the recorded frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data reveals a clear and consistent pattern: performance degrades significantly as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. This is the classic signature of a GPU-limited scenario at higher resolutions. At 1080p with High settings, the system averages 98.8 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 drops that average to 74.7 FPS, a reduction of 24.1 FPS. The jump to 4K (3840x2160) further reduces the average to 44.7 FPS. This scaling curve indicates that the rendering load is scaling almost linearly with the pixel count, which strongly suggests the GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary bottleneck at 1440p and 4K.

The impact of resolution is even more pronounced at the higher quality presets. At Ultra settings, the system delivers 77.1 FPS at 1080p, but this falls to 51.7 FPS at 1440p and a demanding 37.4 FPS at 4K. The delta between 1080p and 4K at Ultra is 39.7 FPS, showing a 51.5% performance loss. This steep drop-off confirms that the 8 GB of VRAM and the GPU's compute throughput are being saturated by the increased detail and pixel workload. The 4K Ultra result of 37.4 FPS is below the threshold for smooth competitive play, indicating that users targeting 4K will need to rely on lower settings or resolution scaling technologies.

Interestingly, the scaling pattern changes character when comparing Low settings across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 161.9 FPS, but at 4K Low, it still manages 72.4 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 55.3%, which is similar to the drop at High settings (54.7%). However, the absolute frame rates are much higher, suggesting that while the GPU is still the main constraint, the reduced shader complexity at Low settings allows the CPU to feed the GPU more effectively, preventing the frame rate from collapsing entirely.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X provides a solid foundation for this gaming workload. With 8 cores and 16 threads, it offers substantial parallel processing capability. The benchmark data shows it scores 19,087 points in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,694 points in single-core, which places it in the 85th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-12600, has an average benchmark score of 28,654, which is only 0.1% higher than the Ryzen's 28,631 average. This near-identical performance suggests that the CPU is not a differentiator in most gaming scenarios.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The evidence is found in the frame rate scaling. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 161.9 FPS. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect the frame rate to plateau at a certain level regardless of resolution or settings. However, the data shows that even at 1080p, lowering settings from High to Low increases performance by 63.1 FPS (from 98.8 to 161.9). This indicates that the GPU is still the primary constraint even at the lowest resolution. The Ryzen 7 3700X is clearly capable of feeding the RTX 2060 SUPER with enough data to keep it busy, as the frame rate continues to rise when graphical load is reduced.

The single-threaded performance of the Ryzen 7 3700X is adequate for this title. Its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,694 points is respectable, and the 4.40 GHz boost clock ensures that game logic and draw call submission are handled without introducing stutter or frame pacing issues. The 32 MB of L3 cache also helps with data locality, which can be beneficial in open-world or high-entity-count scenarios. The data suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this configuration; even at the highest frame rates observed (161.9 FPS at 1080p Low), the CPU is able to maintain a stable frame delivery.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for achieving 60+ FPS with this setup?

A: Based on the measured data, 2560x1440 is the boundary for 60+ FPS. At 1440p High, the system averages 74.7 FPS, and at Medium it averages 83.2 FPS. At 4K, only the Low preset (72.4 FPS) reaches above 60 FPS; High (44.7 FPS), Medium (52.9 FPS), and Ultra (37.4 FPS) all fall below.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 19,774. Its closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN with an average score of 19,706, which is 0.3% lower. The RTX 2070 scores 19,680, which is 0.5% lower than the 2060 SUPER, indicating they are statistically tied in performance.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 3700X a bottleneck for the RTX 2060 SUPER?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. The frame rate scales consistently with resolution and settings, suggesting the GPU is the limiting component. At 1080p, the system can reach 161.9 FPS on Low settings, showing the CPU is capable of driving high frame rates without holding back the GPU.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 161.9 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 77.1 FPS. This represents a performance increase of 84.8 FPS (or 110%) when moving from Ultra to Low, demonstrating a significant impact from graphical settings.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Ryzen 7 3700X has an average benchmark score of 28,631. The Intel Core i5-12600 has a score of 28,654, which is 0.1% higher. The AMD EPYC 7203P scores 28,583, which is 0.2% lower. The differences are negligible, placing the Ryzen in a performance tie with these competitors.

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

A: Yes, but only with reduced settings. At 4K Low, the system averages 72.4 FPS, which is playable. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 52.9 FPS, and at High it drops further to 44.7 FPS. Ultra settings at 4K result in an average of 37.4 FPS, which may not provide a smooth experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data represents the measured average frame rates for the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combination in Lockdown Protocol.

At 1920x1080, the system performs best. The Low preset delivers an average of 161.9 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded across all configurations. The Medium preset averages 115.4 FPS, representing a 28.7% reduction from Low. High settings produce an average of 98.8 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 77.1 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 84.8 FPS, indicating that users can trade visual fidelity for significant frame rate gains.

At 2560x1440, performance remains solid but begins to feel the GPU's limitations. The Low preset averages 117.6 FPS, which is still excellent for competitive play. Medium averages 83.2 FPS, and High averages 74.7 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 51.7 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. The difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 65.9 FPS, showing a similar scaling pattern to 1080p but with lower absolute values.

At 3840x2160, the system is clearly GPU-bound. The Low preset is the only one that maintains a playable frame rate, averaging 72.4 FPS. Medium falls to 52.9 FPS, and High drops to 44.7 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 37.4 FPS, which is the lowest recorded value. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is a 35.0 FPS difference, demonstrating that at this resolution, the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are the defining constraints.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the definitive performance limiter in this configuration. Its benchmark data shows a PassMark G3D score of 16,462 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,011, placing it in the 63rd percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN, scores 19,706 on average, which is 0.3% lower, making them effectively equivalent. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a critical factor for Lockdown Protocol's texture and geometry loading.

The GPU's clock speeds are modest, with a base clock of 1470 MHz and a boost clock of 1650 MHz. The 2,176 shading units and 64 ROPs determine the raw pixel throughput, and the measured data shows that this is sufficient for 1080p high-refresh gaming but struggles at 4K. The FP32 performance of 7.181 TFLOPS is the theoretical ceiling for the GPU's compute work, and the frame rate data suggests the GPU is hitting close to that limit at 4K Ultra.

The role of the GPU is clear: it provides excellent performance at 1080p and 1440p with appropriate settings, but it cannot sustain high frame rates at 4K with high-quality presets. The 37.4 FPS result at 4K Ultra is indicative of the GPU's compute units being fully saturated. The 72.4 FPS at 4K Low shows that by reducing the shader complexity, the GPU can still deliver a playable experience, but the headroom is limited. The data confirms that the RTX 2060 SUPER is best paired with a 1080p or 1440p display for this game, where it can leverage its 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth to provide smooth, high-fidelity gameplay.