Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol presents an interesting scaling challenge for the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination. The measured data reveals a system that transitions from being heavily CPU-bound at lower resolutions to firmly GPU-bound at 4K, with the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate gameplay sitting firmly in the 1440p and 1080p territory.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about component utilization. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 292.8 FPS at 1920x1080 to 155.3 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of roughly 47%. This is a massive performance hit that indicates the GPU is being saturated at 4K, while at 1080p the CPU is likely holding the frame rate back from going even higher. The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets, with the gap between 1080p and 1440p being smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K, which is typical of a GPU that has ample headroom at lower resolutions but gets progressively more strained as pixel count increases.

Looking at the High preset specifically, performance drops from 202.6 FPS at 1080p to 152.1 FPS at 1440p, then further down to 96 FPS at 4K. The 4K result is particularly telling because it falls below the 100 FPS threshold that many gamers consider the minimum for smooth competitive play. The data suggests that the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of VRAM and 736.3 GB/s memory bandwidth are sufficient for 4K, but the sheer pixel workload at that resolution becomes the limiting factor. At 1080p, the frame rates exceed 200 FPS on High, which strongly implies the Ryzen 7 7800X3D's 8 cores and 16 threads are doing the heavy lifting to keep the GPU fed.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER's specifications align well with the measured results. Its boost clock of 2550 MHz and 10240 shading units provide substantial compute throughput, evidenced by the 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 performance. The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for feeding the GPU at 4K resolution where texture data demands are highest. The data shows that at Ultra settings, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, with 4K performance dropping to 72.5 FPS compared to 155.5 FPS at 1080p.

The memory configuration appears well-suited to Lockdown Protocol's demands. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly pushing its limits, but the fact that it maintains playable frame rates at 4K High suggests the 16 GB VRAM capacity is not being exceeded. The 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present but their impact on this particular FPS title is not directly measured in the FPS data. What is clear is that the GPU's raw rasterization performance, as indicated by the 285.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 816.0 GTexel/s texture rate, is what drives the majority of the frame rate differences between settings presets.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 114th out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 7% of all configurations in the database. This is a strong result that reflects the high-end nature of both components. The CPU sits in the 87th percentile versus all CPUs, while the GPU is in the 88th percentile versus all GPUs, so both components are performing near the top of their respective categories. The combo ranking suggests that this pairing is well-balanced for this game, though not at the absolute pinnacle of performance.

The nearest rivals for the CPU provide context: the Intel Core i7-12700F scores 31543 versus the 7800X3D's 31580 average, a delta of just 0.1%. The AMD Ryzen 9 5980HX and Ryzen 7 8700G are similarly close, with deltas of 0.3% and 0.6% respectively. This indicates that in synthetic benchmarks, the 7800X3D is not dramatically ahead of its peers, yet its 96 MB of shared L3 cache and 5.00 GHz boost clock give it an edge in gaming workloads that may not be fully captured by average benchmark scores. For the GPU, the nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT with a delta of 0.2%, showing that the RTX 4080 SUPER is competitive but not overwhelmingly dominant over previous generation flagships.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the results show a clear progression: Low settings produce 292.8 FPS, Medium 233.6 FPS, High 202.6 FPS, and Ultra 155.5 FPS. The jump from Ultra to Low represents a 88.5% performance increase, which is substantial. At 2560x1440, the numbers are 240.4 FPS on Low, 176.1 FPS on Medium, 152.1 FPS on High, and 112.4 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p results show less relative spread between settings, with the difference between Low and Ultra being 128 FPS compared to 137.3 FPS at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the performance hierarchy compresses further: Low delivers 155.3 FPS, Medium 110.5 FPS, High 96 FPS, and Ultra 72.5 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only configuration that drops below 75 FPS, which could be a concern for gamers with high-refresh-rate 4K displays. The data reveals that at 4K, the gap between Low and Medium is 44.8 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is only 14.5 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns as settings increase and the GPU becomes more constrained.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K gaming, the High preset at 96 FPS provides the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, as Ultra drops to 72.5 FPS which may be too low for fast-paced FPS gameplay. Medium at 110.5 FPS is also viable if the visual difference is acceptable. At 1440p, the Ultra preset at 112.4 FPS is the clear choice for gamers prioritizing image quality, though High at 152.1 FPS offers a significant frame rate advantage that could be more valuable in competitive scenarios. For 1080p, even Ultra at 155.5 FPS exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors, so the choice between presets becomes a matter of preference rather than necessity. The data indicates that High settings at 1440p offers the best combination of high frame rates and visual quality, with 152.1 FPS being sufficient for even 144Hz displays.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 7800X3D's 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 4 architecture, provide solid multi-threaded performance as shown by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29149. The 96 MB of shared L3 cache is a standout feature that likely contributes to the high frame rates at 1080p, where the CPU's ability to feed the GPU quickly becomes the bottleneck. The CPU's 4.20 GHz base clock and 5.00 GHz boost clock, combined with its 120 W TDP, indicate strong single-thread performance that is critical for FPS games. This is reflected in the 3DMark single-thread score of 959 and the Passmark single-thread score of 3759.

The CPU's influence is most apparent in the 1080p results. At Low settings, the 292.8 FPS average suggests the CPU is approaching its limits, as the GPU could likely render even more frames if the CPU could supply them faster. The fact that 1080p Ultra still achieves 155.5 FPS, which is higher than 4K Low at 155.3 FPS, underscores how the CPU maintains high throughput regardless of resolution while the GPU struggles with increased pixel counts. This pattern indicates that for Lockdown Protocol, the 7800X3D is a capable partner that does not hold back the RTX 4080 SUPER until frame rates exceed the 300 FPS threshold.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Lockdown Protocol with this hardware?

A: Based on the measured data, 2560x1440 on High settings delivers 152.1 FPS, which balances visual quality and smoothness. At 4K, High drops to 96 FPS, while 1080p Ultra reaches 155.5 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: At 1080p Low, the 292.8 FPS result indicates the CPU is likely the limiting factor, as the GPU has more headroom at lower resolutions. At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck with frame rates dropping to as low as 72.5 FPS on Ultra.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested configurations?

A: This pairing ranks 114th out of 1637 combos, placing it in the top 7% of all tested systems. The CPU is in the 87th percentile and the GPU in the 88th percentile versus their respective categories.

Q: Is Ultra settings playable at 4K?

A: The 4K Ultra preset averages 72.5 FPS, which is playable but may not be ideal for competitive FPS play. The High preset at 96 FPS provides a better frame rate while maintaining high visual quality.

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

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 240.4 FPS while Ultra produces 112.4 FPS, a difference of 128 FPS. The Medium preset at 176.1 FPS offers a middle ground between the two extremes.

Q: How much performance is gained by lowering resolution from 4K to 1080p?

A: On High settings, dropping from 3840x2160 to 1920x1080 increases average FPS from 96 to 202.6, a gain of 106.6 FPS. On Low settings, the gain is 137.5 FPS, going from 155.3 to 292.8 FPS.