Lockdown Protocol

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Lockdown Protocol with the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT show a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 164.5 FPS, which drops to 122.8 FPS at 1440p and further to 80 FPS at 4K. This represents a 51% reduction in frame rate from 1080p Low to 4K Low, indicating that the GPU becomes progressively more stressed as pixel count grows. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings shows a 25.4% performance drop, while moving from 1440p to 4K at Low settings incurs a 34.9% loss.

The picture changes when examining higher settings. At Ultra, the combo produces 76.2 FPS at 1080p, 60 FPS at 1440p, and 35.1 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra is 21.3%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K at Ultra is 41.5%. This steeper decline at the highest settings suggests the GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus become limiting factors at 4K Ultra, where the game demands more memory bandwidth and capacity than the card can efficiently provide.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU still has headroom to feed the GPU, as evidenced by the wide gap between Low (164.5 FPS) and Ultra (76.2 FPS) settings. This gap narrows at 4K, where Low produces 80 FPS and Ultra produces 35.1 FPS. The ratio between Low and Ultra frame rates shrinks from 2.16x at 1080p to 2.28x at 4K, showing that the GPU is the dominant limiting component at every resolution tested. The Ryzen 7 7700's 8 cores and 16 threads are sufficient to avoid bottlenecking even at 1080p Low, where the GPU is working hardest relative to the CPU.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1080p provides the most comfortable experience, with Low settings hitting 164.5 FPS and High settings reaching 101.1 FPS. At 1440p, High settings still deliver a playable 72.6 FPS, while 4K High drops to 48 FPS, which falls below the smoothness threshold most FPS players expect.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at each resolution?

A: At 1080p, Ultra delivers 76.2 FPS versus 101.1 FPS on High, a 24.6% penalty for the extra visual fidelity. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 60 FPS versus 72.6 FPS on High (17.4% penalty), and at 4K, Ultra falls to 35.1 FPS versus 48 FPS on High (26.9% penalty). Ultra is only viable at 1080p for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the RX 6650 XT's 8 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate that 8 GB is workable but becomes a constraint at 4K Ultra, where the frame rate drops to 35.1 FPS. At 1440p and below, the card maintains playable frame rates across all settings, suggesting the VRAM capacity is adequate for those resolutions but not for maximum settings at 4K.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 7700's performance affect this game?

A: The CPU's 8 cores, 16 threads, and boost clock of 5.30 GHz provide ample processing power. Its 3DMark single-thread score of 1049 and multi-thread score of 8484 indicate strong performance that does not bottleneck the RX 6650 XT in this title, based on the measured FPS scaling.

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

A: The measured data shows 85.3 FPS at 1440p Medium, which is a solid balance between visual quality and performance. This is 17.5% higher than High settings at the same resolution and 42.2% higher than Ultra.

Q: Is the combo better suited for competitive or visual quality play?

A: For competitive play, 1080p Low at 164.5 FPS or 1080p Medium at 119.9 FPS are the strongest options. For visual quality, 1440p High at 72.6 FPS offers the best balance, while 4K is only viable at Low settings with 80 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows clearly indicate that the optimal experience depends on the user's priority. For maximum frame rates in competitive FPS scenarios, 1080p Low delivers 164.5 FPS, which provides the smoothest motion and lowest input latency. This setting also allows the Ryzen 7 7700 to flex its single-thread strength, as the GPU has more headroom relative to its workload.

For players who want a balance of visual quality and performance, 1440p Medium at 85.3 FPS is the best compromise. This setting maintains a frame rate above 60 FPS while offering noticeably better visuals than Low. The 1440p High setting at 72.6 FPS is also acceptable, but the 17.5% performance drop from Medium may not justify the modest visual improvement in fast-paced gameplay.

The Ultra preset is only recommended at 1080p, where it achieves 76.2 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra drops to exactly 60 FPS, which is borderline for competitive play but acceptable for single-player or less demanding scenarios. 4K Ultra at 35.1 FPS is not recommended for any serious gameplay, as the frame rate is too low for responsive aiming. 4K Low at 80 FPS is the only viable option at that resolution, though it sacrifices significant visual fidelity.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT ranks 1100 out of 1637 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol. This places the combo in the 67.2nd percentile of all tested configurations, meaning roughly one-third of tested combos perform better. The ranking reflects the mid-range positioning of the RX 6650 XT, which sits at the 72nd percentile among all GPUs, paired with a strong CPU that ranks at the 91st percentile among all CPUs.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H (0.1% higher average score), the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (0.5% higher), the Intel Core i9-13905H (0.6% lower), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 235T (1.2% lower). These margins are negligible, indicating the Ryzen 7 7700 is well-matched against comparable processors. The GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (0% difference), the AMD Radeon RX 470 (0.1% higher), the Intel Arc A370M (0.5% lower), and the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH (0.6% lower). The RX 6650 XT effectively sits at parity with these alternatives in synthetic workloads.

Given that the combo ranks in the lower half of the tested pool, the data suggests that Lockdown Protocol is more demanding on GPU resources than CPU resources. The 1100th rank out of 1637 indicates that many combos with faster GPUs outperform this setup, even if their CPUs are weaker. This is consistent with the resolution scaling analysis, which showed the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions and settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 brings 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process by TSMC. Its base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz provide strong single-threaded performance, reflected in a 3DMark single-thread score of 1049 and a PassMark single-thread score of 4063. Multi-threaded performance is equally robust, with a 3DMark 16-thread score of 8484, a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29302, and a PassMark multithread score of 34470.

In Lockdown Protocol, the measured FPS results indicate that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution. The frame rate drops consistently as resolution increases, which is characteristic of GPU-bound scenarios. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 164.5 FPS, and even at 1080p Ultra it maintains 76.2 FPS, suggesting the CPU can feed the GPU sufficiently for high frame rates. The L3 cache of 32 MB shared across 8 cores helps maintain consistent performance in gaming workloads, and the 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth from dual-channel DDR5 support reduces potential memory bottlenecks.

The CPU's 91st percentile ranking among all CPUs further confirms its strength. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H, scores only 0.1% higher on average, while the Intel Core i9-13905H scores 0.6% lower. These differences are within noise, meaning the Ryzen 7 7700 is competitively positioned for gaming. The CPU's 65 W TDP and unlocked multiplier allow for efficient operation and potential overclocking, though the stock performance is already sufficient for this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 164.5 FPS on Low, 119.9 FPS on Medium, 101.1 FPS on High, and 76.2 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 88.3 FPS, representing a 53.7% reduction in performance when maxing out settings. Medium offers a 27.1% improvement over High, while High offers a 32.7% improvement over Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the measured frame rates are 122.8 FPS on Low, 85.3 FPS on Medium, 72.6 FPS on High, and 60 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 62.8 FPS, or 51.1%. Medium is 17.5% faster than High, and High is 21% faster than Ultra. The 1440p results show a consistent 25-30% performance penalty compared to 1080p at the same settings.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates fall to 80 FPS on Low, 56 FPS on Medium, 48 FPS on High, and 35.1 FPS on Ultra. The reduction from Low to Ultra is 44.9 FPS, or 56.1%. Medium is 16.7% faster than High, and High is 36.8% faster than Ultra. The 4K results demonstrate that only Low settings provide a consistently playable experience above 60 FPS, while Medium and High hover near the 50-60 FPS range and Ultra falls well below.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, using a 7 nm process from TSMC. It features 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation pipelines, with 32 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2055 MHz, a game clock of 2410 MHz, and a boost clock of 2635 MHz. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 280.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming but strained at 4K Ultra.

The GPU's 72nd percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the upper-mid range. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6800M, has an identical average score (0% delta), while the AMD Radeon RX 470 scores 0.1% higher and the Intel Arc A370M scores 0.5% lower. These close margins indicate the RX 6650 XT is well-positioned against comparable hardware. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 17166 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1859 reflect its DirectX 12 capabilities, which are relevant for Lockdown Protocol's modern rendering pipeline.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's role is pivotal. The measured FPS scaling shows that the RX 6650 XT becomes the primary bottleneck at 4K, where even Low settings only produce 80 FPS. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for 1080p and 1440p across all settings, but 4K Ultra at 35.1 FPS suggests the card's memory bandwidth and capacity are insufficient for maximum settings at that resolution. The GPU's 176 W TDP and PCIe 4.0 x8 interface are consistent with its mid-range positioning, and the 450 W suggested PSU provides adequate power headroom for the combo.