Lockdown Protocol

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data for Lockdown Protocol reveals a steep performance curve as resolution climbs, and the shape of that curve tells a clear story about where the bottleneck shifts. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo of AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT delivers 254.9 FPS. Dropping to 1440p Low still produces 204.1 FPS, a 19.9% reduction. Moving to 4K Low, the frame rate falls to 133.7 FPS, which is 34.5% below the 1440p result. The consistent, steep decline across all three resolutions at Low settings suggests the GPU is already the primary limiting factor even at 1080p, since the CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads are unlikely to be saturated at over 250 FPS in this title.

The scaling pattern changes character when settings rise. At High settings, 1080p yields 176.2 FPS, 1440p drops to 126.4 FPS (a 28.3% decrease), and 4K falls to 82.1 FPS (a 35.0% decrease from 1440p). The percentage drops between 1440p and 4K are remarkably similar across Low (34.5%) and High (35.0%) presets. This uniformity indicates that the RX 7900 XT's rendering workload scales predictably with pixel count, independent of the quality preset. The 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus with 800.0 GB/s bandwidth never appears to become a constraint, as the frame rate drops align closely with pure pixel-count increases rather than sudden memory-related cliffs.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the combo manages 129.8 FPS, but 1440p Ultra drops to 93.4 FPS (a 28.0% decrease), and 4K Ultra falls to 63.6 FPS (a 31.9% decrease from 1440p). The 4K Ultra result sits just barely above the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that this preset pushes the GPU to its limits. The gap between 1080p Ultra (129.8 FPS) and 4K Ultra (63.6 FPS) is a 51.0% reduction, which is larger than the equivalent gap at Low settings (47.5% reduction from 1080p to 4K). This widening gap at higher presets confirms that the GPU's compute resources, not memory bandwidth or CPU throughput, are the binding constraint as both resolution and visual complexity increase.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average FPS is 254.9, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K with maximum settings?

A: Yes, but barely. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 63.6, which clears the 60 FPS mark by a narrow margin.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 176.2 at 1080p to 126.4 at 1440p, a 28.3% reduction in frame rate.

Q: Which settings preset at 1440p provides the highest frame rate above 100 FPS?

A: Medium settings at 2560x1440 delivers 148.5 FPS, while High produces 126.4 FPS. Both exceed 100 FPS, but Medium is the fastest preset that still clears that threshold.

Q: Does the 4K Low preset outperform the 1080p Ultra preset?

A: Yes. 4K Low achieves 133.7 FPS, which is 3.9 FPS higher than 1080p Ultra's 129.8 FPS. This indicates that resolution scaling is less punishing than the Ultra preset's extra visual effects.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank among tested systems for this game?

A: The combo ranks 354th out of 1,637 tested combinations, placing it in the top 21.6% of all systems in the database for Lockdown Protocol.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D brings 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. The standout feature is the 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is unusually large for a desktop processor of this generation. This cache configuration, combined with the 7 nm process node and 8,850 million transistors, positions the CPU to handle games that benefit from large data footprints in cache. Lockdown Protocol, as a fast-paced FPS, likely benefits from this cache design when handling physics calculations and game state data.

Benchmark scores place this CPU in the 83rd percentile of all processors tested. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 24,063 and single-core score of 3,397 indicate strong performance across both heavily threaded and lightly threaded workloads. The 3DMark scores show a scaling pattern from 1,746 at 2 threads to 7,285 at max threads, with 8-thread performance at 5,906. This scaling suggests the 8-core, 16-thread configuration provides solid headroom for games that can use multiple threads, though the diminishing returns from 8 to 16 threads (5,906 to 7,285) imply that Lockdown Protocol's engine may not fully utilize all 16 threads.

The nearest rivals in the database include the AMD EPYC 8024P (0.1% ahead), Intel Core i9-11900K (0.1% ahead), AMD Ryzen 5 7600 (0.2% behind), and Intel Core i9-12900HK (0.4% behind). These delta values are all within a fraction of a percent, meaning the 5800X3D sits in a tightly contested performance band. For Lockdown Protocol specifically, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU, given that the frame rate drops follow GPU-bound scaling patterns. However, the high single-thread score of 3,397 in Cinebench R23 and the 16 threads ensure the CPU does not become a bottleneck at any of the measured settings, even at the 254.9 FPS peak at 1080p Low.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of performance across presets, and the optimal choice depends on the target display resolution. At 1080p, the Low preset produces 254.9 FPS, Medium 199.5 FPS, High 176.2 FPS, and Ultra 129.8 FPS. All four presets exceed 120 FPS, so players with 120Hz or 144Hz monitors can safely choose High or Ultra and still maintain excellent smoothness. The jump from High to Ultra costs 46.4 FPS (a 26.3% reduction), which is substantial for the visual fidelity gain, but the 129.8 FPS result remains well above typical refresh rate targets.

At 1440p, the recommendation shifts toward Medium or High. Medium delivers 148.5 FPS, while High drops to 126.4 FPS. Both are viable for high-refresh-rate monitors, but Medium offers a 17.5% performance advantage over High. Ultra at 1440p falls to 93.4 FPS, which is still playable but loses the triple-digit advantage. For players prioritizing smoothness, Medium at 1440p is the best balance, as it clears 144 FPS with a comfortable margin.

At 4K, the choices narrow. Low produces 133.7 FPS, Medium 92.9 FPS, High 82.1 FPS, and Ultra 63.6 FPS. For 60Hz displays, Ultra is acceptable at 63.6 FPS, but the margin is thin. High at 82.1 FPS provides more headroom and is likely the sweet spot for 4K, offering a 29.1% improvement over Ultra while still looking substantially better than Medium. Medium at 92.9 FPS is the strongest choice for 4K displays with 90Hz or higher refresh rates, as it outperforms High by 13.2% while maintaining most visual quality features.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 354th out of 1,637 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol. This places the system in the top 21.6% of all configurations in the database, which is a strong showing for a pairing of an end-of-life CPU and end-of-life GPU. The rank reflects the measured FPS across all resolutions and settings, and the data suggests that the RX 7900 XT's 82nd percentile standing among all GPUs is the primary driver of this ranking, with the CPU's 83rd percentile providing complementary support.

The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (0.0% delta), NVIDIA CMP 70HX (0.3% ahead), NVIDIA GeForce MX570 (0.4% behind), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (0.6% ahead). These deltas are negligible, indicating that the RX 7900 XT performs in a tightly packed tier. The CPU's rivals show a similar pattern, with all four nearest competitors within 0.4% of the 5800X3D's average score. The combo's rank of 354 out of 1,637 suggests that while individual components are well-matched to their peers, the overall system does not crack the top 20% of combinations, likely because some higher-tier GPUs push past the RX 7900 XT in this specific game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low settings produce 254.9 FPS, Medium produces 199.5 FPS, High produces 176.2 FPS, and Ultra produces 129.8 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 49.1% reduction in frame rate, with the largest single-step drop occurring between High and Ultra (46.4 FPS loss, a 26.3% decrease).

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low 204.1 FPS, Medium 148.5 FPS, High 126.4 FPS, and Ultra 93.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra here is 110.7 FPS, a 54.2% reduction. The Medium preset at 148.5 FPS stands out as the only 1440p preset that comfortably exceeds 144 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the values are: Low 133.7 FPS, Medium 92.9 FPS, High 82.1 FPS, and Ultra 63.6 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 70.1 FPS, a 52.4% reduction. The 4K Low result of 133.7 FPS is notable because it exceeds the 1080p Ultra result of 129.8 FPS, demonstrating that the Ultra preset's rendering cost is higher than the cost of quadrupling the pixel count from 1080p to 4K.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently provides the most balanced performance: at 1080p it beats High by 13.2% (199.5 vs 176.2), at 1440p it beats High by 17.5% (148.5 vs 126.4), and at 4K it beats High by 13.2% (92.9 vs 82.1). This consistency suggests that Medium settings are the most efficient tier in Lockdown Protocol's rendering pipeline.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 31 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC with 57,700 million transistors. Its 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus provides 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth, and the GPU operates with a base clock of 1387 MHz, a game clock of 2025 MHz, and a boost clock of 2394 MHz. The memory runs at 2500 MHz with 20 Gbps effective speed. These specifications combine to deliver 51.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power, with a pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 804.4 GTexel/s.

The GPU's benchmark results place it in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5,623 and a PassMark G3D score of 29,009. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (0.0% delta), NVIDIA CMP 70HX (0.3% ahead), NVIDIA GeForce MX570 (0.4% behind), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (0.6% ahead). These tight deltas indicate that the RX 7900 XT sits at the boundary between mobile and desktop GPU performance tiers.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's role is clearly dominant. The measured FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K follows the expected pattern of a GPU-bound workload, with frame rates dropping by roughly 30-35% per resolution step at most settings. The 20 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for this game, as no memory-related anomalies appear in the data — the frame rates do not exhibit sudden cliffs that would indicate VRAM overflow. The boost clock of 2394 MHz and the 5376 shading units provide ample compute headroom for the game's effects, as evidenced by the 129.8 FPS result at 1080p Ultra. The only scenario where the GPU appears fully saturated is 4K Ultra at 63.6 FPS, where the pixel throughput demands and the effects workload combine to push the card near its limits.