Lockdown Protocol

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Lockdown Protocol with the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 show a clear downward trend as resolution increases, but the shape of that curve is revealing. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 190.8 FPS, which drops to 136.8 FPS at 1440p Low and further to 90.8 FPS at 4K Low. That is a 52.4% reduction from 1080p to 4K at the Low preset, indicating that the GPU is being progressively more stressed as pixel count grows, yet the frame rates remain high enough to suggest the CPU is still contributing meaningfully at the lower resolutions.

Moving to the High preset, the pattern shifts. At 1080p High, the system delivers 119.8 FPS. At 1440p High, it falls to 84.2 FPS, and at 4K High it reaches 57.8 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 29.7%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 31.4%. These are substantial reductions, and they indicate that at the High preset, the RTX 4060's rendering workload is becoming the dominant factor. The 8 GB VRAM buffer and 128-bit memory interface are likely contributing to this scaling behavior, as higher resolutions demand more memory bandwidth and capacity.

The Ultra preset tells a similar story with lower absolute numbers. At 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 86.5 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, that drops to 65.5 FPS, a 24.3% reduction. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate falls to 40.8 FPS, which is a 37.7% drop from 1440p. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured configuration that falls below 60 FPS, and it does so by a significant margin. This suggests that the Ultra preset at 4K is simply too demanding for this hardware combination, and the limiting component at that point is unambiguously the GPU.

What is notable is the gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 104.3 FPS (190.8 vs 86.5). At 1440p, the gap narrows to 71.3 FPS (136.8 vs 65.5). At 4K, the gap shrinks further to 50.0 FPS (90.8 vs 40.8). This convergence indicates that as resolution rises, the GPU becomes the bottleneck regardless of settings, and the CPU's ability to drive higher frame rates at lower settings is being masked. The data shows that for users targeting high refresh rates at 1080p, the CPU is still relevant, but at 4K, the RTX 4060 is the clear limiter.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using the AD107 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC with 18,900 million transistors. Its base clock runs at 1830 MHz and boosts to 2460 MHz, with memory clocked at 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective). The GPU has 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, along with 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores. The memory subsystem consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s.

In Lockdown Protocol, the RTX 4060's performance characteristics are directly observable in the measured data. The GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for 1080p and 1440p at all tested presets, as frame rates remain playable even at Ultra settings. However, at 4K Ultra, the combination of higher resolution textures and increased shading load pushes the GPU to its limit, resulting in 40.8 FPS. The 272.0 GB/s memory bandwidth, while respectable for the GPU's class, appears to be a constraint at 4K, where the pixel throughput requirement grows exponentially.

The GPU's compute capabilities, rated at 15.11 TFLOPS for FP32, correlate with the frame rates observed. At 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 135.8 FPS, and at 1080p High it manages 119.8 FPS. These numbers suggest that the GPU has sufficient headroom at lower resolutions to maintain high frame rates, but the gap between Medium and High (15.9 FPS) and between High and Ultra (33.3 FPS) shows that the Ultra preset imposes a significant additional load. The pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s are consistent with the observed scaling, as higher presets increase both shading complexity and texture fetch demands.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the RTX 4060 sits close to the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, which has an average benchmark score of 23321 versus the 4060's 23181, a delta of -0.6%. The Intel Arc B580 scores 23021, putting it 0.7% behind the 4060. These narrow margins in synthetic benchmarks suggest that the RTX 4060's real-world performance in Lockdown Protocol, as measured by the FPS data, is representative of its class positioning.

How This Combo Ranks

Among the 1,637 tested combinations in the database for Lockdown Protocol, the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks at 943. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the distribution, which is consistent with the hardware's generational positioning. The CPU was released in July 2019 and the GPU in May 2023, so this pairing spans different technology eras. The combo's percentile standing is not explicitly listed, but the rank of 943 out of 1,637 indicates that roughly 57.6% of tested combos outperform it, while about 42.4% are slower.

The CPU itself holds an 85th percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 28631. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-12600 (28654, -0.1% delta), the Intel Core i5-12600H (28666, -0.1% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT (28591, +0.1% delta), and the AMD EPYC 7203P (28583, +0.2% delta). These deltas are all within 0.2%, meaning the Ryzen 7 3700X sits in a tightly clustered performance band. The GPU, by contrast, holds a 66th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23181.

The combination of an 85th percentile CPU with a 66th percentile GPU results in a combo rank that reflects the GPU being the weaker component. In Lockdown Protocol, which is a fast-paced FPS title, the data shows that the frame rates are more constrained by the GPU than the CPU, particularly at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 190.8 FPS, which is competitive with higher-ranked combinations, but at 4K Ultra, the 40.8 FPS result pulls the overall ranking down. The rank of 943 suggests that users with this combo should expect mid-pack performance relative to the broader database, with the understanding that the GPU is the primary limiter in demanding scenarios.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 190.8 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset still provides 135.8 FPS, a 55.0 FPS reduction from Low but with improved visual quality. The High preset yields 119.8 FPS, which remains above the 100 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay on most displays. The Ultra preset drops to 86.5 FPS, which is playable but represents a 33.3 FPS loss from High for marginal visual gains.

At 1440p, the Low preset produces 136.8 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play. The Medium preset delivers 99.4 FPS, still comfortably above 60 FPS. The High preset achieves 84.2 FPS, which is acceptable for most users, while the Ultra preset falls to 65.5 FPS. Given the measured data, the High preset at 1440p appears to be the sweet spot, balancing visual fidelity with a frame rate that remains above 80 FPS.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset reaches 90.8 FPS, which is playable. The Medium preset drops to 65.9 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay. The High preset delivers 57.8 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 40.8 FPS. For 4K usage, the Low or Medium preset is recommended, as the High and Ultra settings push the GPU beyond its comfortable operating range in this title. The data indicates that the RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for high-fidelity 4K rendering in Lockdown Protocol.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The measured data shows that 1080p provides the highest frame rates across all presets, with the Low preset reaching 190.8 FPS and High at 119.8 FPS. 1440p is also viable, with High at 84.2 FPS, while 4K is only recommended at Low (90.8 FPS) or Medium (65.9 FPS).

Q: Can this combo handle Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the combo delivers 86.5 FPS, which is playable. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 65.5 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 40.8 FPS. The data suggests Ultra is only recommended at 1080p or 1440p, not at 4K.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 3700X has an average benchmark score of 28631, which is within 0.2% of the Intel Core i5-12600 (28654), Intel Core i5-12600H (28666), AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT (28591), and AMD EPYC 7203P (28583). These deltas are negligible.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is still relevant, as frame rates vary significantly between Low (190.8 FPS) and Ultra (86.5 FPS). However, at 4K, the GPU becomes the clear limiter, with the gap between Low and Ultra shrinking to 50.0 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: This combo ranks 943 out of 1,637 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the distribution.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p High settings?

A: The measured data shows 84.2 FPS at 1440p High, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and suitable for most monitors.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture (Matisse codename), manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC with 3,800 million transistors. Its base clock is 3.60 GHz with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, and it carries a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of L3 cache. Memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel configuration and 51.2 GB/s bandwidth, and it uses the AMD Socket AM4 platform with PCIe Gen 4 (24 lanes).

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is less burdened. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 190.8 FPS, which is a frame rate that requires strong single-thread performance. The Ryzen 7 3700X's single-core benchmark scores are 271 in Cinebench R15, 1131 in Cinebench R20, and 2694 in Cinebench R23. These scores indicate that the CPU is capable of driving high frame rates in FPS titles, though it is not at the top of the performance hierarchy.

The CPU's multicore performance is more robust, with Cinebench R20 multicore at 8016 and Cinebench R23 multicore at 19087. The PassMark multithread score is 22458, and the data compression score is 296379. These results show that the CPU can handle the background tasks and game logic that FPS titles require, but in Lockdown Protocol, the frame rate scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p suggests that the GPU is the primary driver of performance differences. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 28631, places it in a competitive position relative to its peers.

The CPU's nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i5-12600 and AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT, all have average scores within 0.2% of the Ryzen 7 3700X. This means that in CPU-bound scenarios, the 3700X performs essentially identically to these alternatives. However, the measured FPS data for this combo shows that the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions and presets are the dominant factor in determining overall performance. The 8-core, 16-thread configuration with a 32 MB L3 cache is well-suited for modern games, but the aging Zen 2 architecture's single-thread performance is not exceptional by 2024 standards, which is reflected in the combo's rank of 943 out of 1,637.