Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol, a fast-paced FPS released in early 2024, presents a demanding workload for even the most modern hardware. The data for the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination shows a system capable of delivering extremely high frame rates, with performance scaling that reveals a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as resolution and settings change. The measured FPS across resolutions and presets provides a detailed look at how this specific pairing handles the game, from competitive low-settings play to maximum visual fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K in Lockdown Protocol reveals a classic scaling curve, but with an interesting twist at the high end. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves a staggering 319 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 287 FPS, an 11% reduction, while stepping up to 4K Low brings the average down to 190 FPS, a further 34% reduction from the 1440p figure. This pattern indicates that at lower resolutions and settings, the system is heavily CPU-bound, as the frame rate does not scale linearly with the massive increase in pixel count.

However, the scaling behavior changes dramatically when the settings are increased to High and Ultra. At High settings, the frame rates are 249 FPS at 1080p, 183 FPS at 1440p, and 118 FPS at 4K. The performance drop from 1080p to 1440p is 27%, and from 1440p to 4K is 36%. This steeper decline suggests that the GPU is beginning to play a more significant role, though the Ryzen 7 7700 still keeps pace well. The most telling data comes from the Ultra preset, where the 4K average falls to 88 FPS, a 36% decrease from the 1440p Ultra result of 137 FPS.

The data suggests that at 4K Ultra, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the primary limiting factor. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is substantial, with the Low preset delivering 190 FPS versus Ultra's 88 FPS, a 116% difference. This massive swing demonstrates that the GPU's load scales heavily with the visual complexity of the Ultra preset. Conversely, at 1080p, the difference between Low (319 FPS) and Ultra (187 FPS) is 71%, indicating that while the GPU is still working, the CPU's capability to feed frames becomes a ceiling at the lower resolution. The benchmark results indicate that the RTX 5090 D has enough headroom to push far beyond 200 FPS at 1080p, but the Ryzen 7 7700's limitations in this specific title prevent it from exceeding the 319 FPS ceiling observed.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a powerhouse built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, utilizing the GB202 chip manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process. It features a massive 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. This memory configuration is far beyond what Lockdown Protocol requires, meaning VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in any of the measured scenarios. The data shows no signs of texture streaming issues or performance drops that would suggest memory pressure, even at 4K Ultra. The GPU's 21,760 shading units and 176 ROPs, coupled with a boost clock of 2407 MHz, deliver the raw compute power needed for high-resolution rendering. The pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s provide the theoretical foundation for the high frame rates observed.

The GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution and settings increase. In the 4K Ultra scenario, the 88 FPS average suggests the GPU is working at near its limits for this title, despite its enormous theoretical throughput. The fact that the 4K Medium preset yields 135 FPS while 4K High yields 118 FPS confirms that each step up in settings has a direct and measurable cost on the GPU. The RTX 5090 D's 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is clearly being utilized, but the game's engine appears to have a heavy reliance on certain rendering features that scale strongly with the Ultra preset. The GPU's benchmark scores, such as a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,326 and a Passmark G3D score of 44,065, place it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs.

Interestingly, the nearest rivals for the RTX 5090 D in the database are not other high-end desktop cards, but rather mobile and data center parts like the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT and the NVIDIA Tesla P100. The RTX 5090 D's average benchmark score of 77,712 is 1.6% higher than the RX 6850M XT and 2.1% higher than the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB. This context highlights that while the 5090 D is a top-tier consumer card, its performance profile is unique, and the game-specific results here show it excels in Lockdown Protocol, particularly at higher resolutions where its memory bandwidth and compute power shine.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achievable with this hardware in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 319, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there moving from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 281 at 1080p to 135 at 4K. This represents a 52% reduction in frame rate.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB of VRAM a limiting factor in this game?

A: No. The measured data shows no indication that the 32 GB of GDDR7 memory is a bottleneck at any resolution or settings combination tested, including 4K Ultra.

Q: Which component is more likely to be the bottleneck at 1080p Low settings?

A: The data strongly suggests the CPU is the limiting factor. The frame rate of 319 FPS appears to be a ceiling that is not exceeded when moving to lower resolutions, indicating the Ryzen 7 7700 is the primary constraint.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: The High preset averages 183 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 137 FPS. The Ultra preset is 25% slower than High at this resolution.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 7700 compare to its nearest rival in average benchmark score?

A: The Ryzen 7 7700 has an average benchmark score of 40,081. This is 0.2% lower than the Intel Core 5 221E, which scores 40,144, and 0.1% higher than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365, which scores 40,048.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the system delivers competitive frame rates even at maximum settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 319 FPS, the Medium preset 281 FPS (with a minimum of 238 and maximum of 323), the High preset 249 FPS, and the Ultra preset 187 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 41% reduction in frame rate, which is significant but still leaves the Ultra preset comfortably above the 144 FPS threshold for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains exceptionally high. Low settings produce an average of 287 FPS, which is still a phenomenal result for competitive play. Medium settings average 209 FPS (minimum 178, maximum 241), while High settings deliver 183 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 137 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is most pronounced at the Medium preset, where the average FPS falls by 25.6%, from 281 to 209. At the Ultra preset, the drop from 187 FPS to 137 FPS represents a 26.7% decrease.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's workload becomes the dominant factor. The Low preset still manages a highly playable 190 FPS average. Medium settings yield 135 FPS (minimum 115, maximum 155), which is a solid result for 4K gaming. High settings produce 118 FPS, and the Ultra preset brings the average down to 88 FPS. The transition from Medium to High at 4K costs 17 FPS, while the move from High to Ultra costs another 30 FPS. This steep decline at the top end highlights the significant computational cost of the Ultra preset's effects at 4K. The minimum FPS recorded across all tests is 115, which occurs at 4K Medium, ensuring a smooth experience even in demanding scenes.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700, based on the Zen 4 architecture (codenamed Raphael), is an 8-core, 16-thread processor with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. It features a 32 MB shared L3 cache and a dual-channel DDR5 memory interface offering 83.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The CPU's benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18,760 and a single-core score of 1,930, place it in the 87th percentile of all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 40,081 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (40,048) and Intel Core 5 221E (40,144), differing by less than 0.2%.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings. The fact that the 1080p Low preset achieves 319 FPS and the 1440p Low preset achieves 287 FPS suggests that the CPU is able to maintain a high level of throughput, but the frame rate ceiling is being approached. The 1080p Low result of 319 FPS is the highest in the entire dataset, and it is telling that the 1440p Low result is only 10% lower, despite rendering 78% more pixels. This indicates that at these settings, the CPU's ability to prepare frames is the limiting factor, not the GPU's ability to render them.

The Ryzen 7 7700's 8-core, 16-thread configuration is well-suited for modern FPS games. The Passmark multithread score of 34,470 and the 3DMark 16-thread score of 8,484 show robust multi-core performance, which helps maintain consistent frame pacing during intense gameplay scenes. However, the data from the 4K Ultra preset, where the average FPS is 88, shows that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at that setting. The GPU is clearly the limiting component there. The benchmark results indicate that the Ryzen 7 7700 provides a strong foundation for high-FPS gaming, but its performance ceiling in this title is reached at around 319 FPS, which is a limitation that only the fastest gaming CPUs might overcome.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data offers clear guidance for optimizing the gameplay experience with the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D in Lockdown Protocol. For players prioritizing maximum competitive performance and frame rate, the Low preset at 1080p is the top choice, delivering an exceptional 319 FPS average. This setting provides the fastest possible response times and is ideal for high-refresh-rate esports displays. At 1440p, the Low preset still provides an outstanding 287 FPS, making it a strong option for those who want a higher resolution without sacrificing significant frame rate.

For a balanced experience that maintains high visual quality while ensuring smooth gameplay, the Medium preset is an excellent compromise. At 1440p, it averages 209 FPS, which is well above the typical 144 Hz refresh rate, and at 4K it manages a solid 135 FPS. The Medium preset offers a significant visual upgrade over Low while only costing 10% of the frame rate at 1080p (281 FPS vs. 319 FPS). Given that the minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 115, this setting is likely to provide a consistently smooth experience on 4K displays.

The High preset is a suitable choice for those who prioritize image quality and have a high-refresh-rate 1440p monitor. It delivers 183 FPS at 1440p and 249 FPS at 1080p, both of which are excellent results. However, at 4K, the High preset's 118 FPS average is only slightly higher than the Medium preset's 135 FPS. The Ultra preset is best reserved for players with 4K displays who demand the highest visual fidelity, as it yields an average of 88 FPS. While this is playable, it falls short of the 100+ FPS target many competitive players seek. The data suggests that for most players, the Medium preset at 1440p or 4K offers the best combination of high frame rates and enhanced visual quality, while the Low preset remains the definitive choice for maximum performance.