Lockdown Protocol

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Lockdown Protocol with the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 242.6 FPS, which drops to 177.8 FPS at 1440p and further to 112.8 FPS at 4K. That represents a 53.5% reduction from 1080p Low to 4K Low, showing that the rendering load scales heavily with pixel count.

The High preset tells a similar story: 148.1 FPS at 1080p, 111.9 FPS at 1440p, and 71.6 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is particularly steep at 36%, which indicates the GPU is the primary limiting component at higher resolutions. The RX 6800 XT, with its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth, has the memory capacity to handle 4K textures, but raw shading throughput becomes the bottleneck.

Interestingly, the scaling from Medium to High settings at each resolution is relatively modest compared to the jump from Low to Medium. At 1080p, Medium yields 174.2 FPS versus 242.6 FPS at Low, a 28% penalty. The Ultra preset imposes the heaviest cost, dropping 1080p performance to 115.7 FPS and 4K to just 53.7 FPS. This suggests that Ultra settings include effects that disproportionately tax the GPU, likely related to the RDNA 2.0 architecture's ray tracing capabilities, though the data does not isolate individual features.

The data implies that at 1080p Low, the CPU may start to play a role in limiting performance. With 242.6 FPS, the Ryzen 7 7700's 8 cores and 16 threads, boosted by a 5.30 GHz clock, are likely keeping pace, but the gap between 1080p Low and 1440p Low (36.5%) is smaller than the pixel count difference would suggest. This hints at a partial CPU limitation at the lowest resolution and settings. At 4K, however, the GPU is unquestionably the bottleneck, as the FPS drops align closely with the increased pixel workload.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain above 100 FPS?

A: The data shows that 1440p with Medium settings achieves 125 FPS, and 1440p High reaches 111.9 FPS. At 4K, only Low settings (112.8 FPS) stay above 100 FPS; Medium drops to 83.9 FPS.

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

A: At 2560x1440, High delivers 111.9 FPS while Ultra drops to 86 FPS. This is a 23.2% reduction in average FPS for the Ultra preset.

Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM on the RX 6800 XT help at 4K?

A: The GPU has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is ample for 4K textures. The measured 4K High result of 71.6 FPS suggests memory is not the limiting factor; rather, the 20.74 TFLOPS FP32 throughput constrains performance.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 7700 holding back the GPU at 1080p?

A: The 1080p Low result of 242.6 FPS is high, but the smaller-than-expected drop to 1440p Low (177.8 FPS) suggests some CPU limitation at the lowest settings. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 1049 and 16-thread score of 8484 indicate strong performance, yet the scaling pattern implies the CPU may cap framerates near 240 FPS in lighter scenes.

Q: What preset offers the most balanced experience at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, Low settings produce 112.8 FPS, which is fluid for competitive play. Medium drops to 83.9 FPS, still playable, while High (71.6 FPS) and Ultra (53.7 FPS) sacrifice significant smoothness for visual fidelity.

Q: How does this combo's overall rank compare to other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 546th out of 1637 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the 66.6th percentile of all tested systems. This indicates it is a strong performer, though not at the very top tier.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is the dominant factor in Lockdown Protocol's performance across most settings and resolutions. With a boost clock of 2250 MHz and a game clock of 2015 MHz, the GPU operates at high frequencies, delivering 20.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The memory subsystem includes 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, providing 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This configuration supports the measured 4K Ultra result of 53.7 FPS, which, while low, demonstrates the card's ability to handle the most demanding preset at the highest resolution.

The GPU's benchmark scores corroborate its in-game performance. The PassMark G3D score of 24980 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3689 place it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs. Compared to its nearest rivals, the RX 6800 XT's average benchmark score of 49982 is 0.5% ahead of the Intel Arc A550M (49737) and 2.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER (48704). However, it trails the NVIDIA RTX A1000 by 1.7% (50826). These relationships suggest that the RX 6800 XT sits in a competitive mid-to-high tier, which aligns with its in-game results.

The VRAM capacity of 16 GB is particularly relevant for Lockdown Protocol at 4K. The fact that 4K Low (112.8 FPS) is nearly double 4K Ultra (53.7 FPS) indicates that the bottleneck shifts from memory bandwidth to shading workload as settings increase. The 512.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for Low settings, but the Ultra preset's additional effects tax the 4608 shading units and 72 ray tracing cores more heavily.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a wide range of framerates depending on settings. Low settings produce 242.6 FPS, which is the highest measured result across all configurations. Medium settings yield 174.2 FPS, a 28.2% drop from Low. High settings reach 148.1 FPS, and Ultra drops to 115.7 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 126.9 FPS, showing that settings have a dramatic impact at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the results are: Low at 177.8 FPS, Medium at 125 FPS, High at 111.9 FPS, and Ultra at 86 FPS. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p ranges from 24.7% (High) to 28.3% (Ultra), indicating consistent scaling. At 1440p Ultra, 86 FPS is still smooth for most displays, while Low and Medium clearly exceed 120 FPS thresholds.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. Low settings still manage 112.8 FPS, which is respectable for 4K. Medium falls to 83.9 FPS, High to 71.6 FPS, and Ultra to 53.7 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured configuration below 60 FPS, making it the weakest point in the dataset. The transition from 1440p to 4K at each preset costs approximately 36-40% of performance, which aligns with the pixel count increase from 3.7 million to 8.3 million pixels.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT ranks 546th out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the upper 33.4% of all configurations tested, which is a strong showing for a mid-to-high-end pairing. The rank reflects the measured FPS data, which shows the combo handling 1080p and 1440p with ease while remaining playable at 4K on lower presets.

The CPU's individual percentile of 91 (vs. all CPUs) and the GPU's percentile of 87 (vs. all GPUs) suggest that both components are well above average. However, the combo's in-game rank of 546/1637 is lower than what the component percentiles might imply, likely because Lockdown Protocol is an FPS that benefits from extremely high framerates, and the top-ranked combos include more powerful GPUs that push 1080p results even higher.

When comparing to the nearest rivals, the GPU's average benchmark score is 0.5% above the Intel Arc A550M and 2.6% above the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, yet the in-game rank suggests that these differences translate into meaningful FPS variations at the high end. The data does not include rival in-game FPS figures, so the exact impact cannot be quantified, but the rank position indicates the combo is competitive within its tier.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 provides the processing foundation for this combo, with 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture. Its boost clock of 5.30 GHz and base clock of 3.80 GHz deliver strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by the 3DMark single-thread score of 1049 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4136. The multi-threaded results are equally impressive, with Cinebench R23 multicore reaching 29302 and PassMark multithread scoring 34470.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU at most settings. However, the 1080p Low result of 242.6 FPS hints at a potential CPU ceiling. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 4063 and 3DMark 2-thread score of 2043 suggest it can handle high framerates, but the relatively small drop from 1080p Low to 1440p Low (from 242.6 to 177.8 FPS) indicates that the CPU may limit performance in less demanding scenes. At 1080p Ultra (115.7 FPS), the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the CPU has ample headroom.

The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth with DDR5 support are well-suited for gaming workloads. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 8484 and max-thread score of 8479 show consistent scaling across cores, which is beneficial for FPS games that utilize multiple threads for physics and AI. The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H, scores 0.1% higher on average, indicating that the 7700 is on par with mobile flagship CPUs in synthetic benchmarks.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired framerate. At 1080p, High settings (148.1 FPS) offer a balanced experience, providing solid visual quality while maintaining framerates well above 144 Hz refresh rates. For competitive play, Low settings (242.6 FPS) maximize responsiveness, though the visual downgrade may be noticeable. Ultra at 1080p (115.7 FPS) is acceptable for 120 Hz displays but sacrifices performance for marginal visual gains.

At 1440p, Medium settings (125 FPS) deliver the best combination of visual fidelity and performance, comfortably exceeding 120 FPS. High settings (111.9 FPS) are also viable for 100 Hz monitors, while Ultra (86 FPS) remains playable but may feel less smooth on high-refresh displays. Low settings (177.8 FPS) are recommended for esports-oriented play where framerate is paramount.

For 4K gaming, the data suggests that Low settings (112.8 FPS) are the only preset that fully utilizes high-refresh 4K monitors. Medium (83.9 FPS) and High (71.6 FPS) are suitable for 60-75 Hz displays, providing better visuals without dropping below playable thresholds. Ultra at 4K (53.7 FPS) is the least recommended, as it falls below 60 FPS and may introduce noticeable stutter in fast-paced FPS gameplay.

The overall recommendation is to prioritize Medium or High settings at 1440p for the most balanced experience, as this resolution and settings tier maximizes the combo's strengths without pushing the GPU to its limits. For 4K, accepting Medium settings allows for a solid 60+ FPS experience while retaining meaningful visual improvements over Low.