Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT

The measured frame rates for this pairing reveal a system that scales predictably across resolutions, with the Radeon RX 6800 XT acting as the primary performance arbiter at higher pixel counts while the Ryzen 7 9700F keeps pace at lower settings. Across twelve measured data points spanning three resolutions and four quality presets, the combo delivers playable frame rates in nearly every configuration, though the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens dramatically as resolution increases, suggesting a GPU-bound scenario at 4K and a more balanced workload at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K follows a steep curve that strongly indicates the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 242 at 1920x1080 to 177 at 2560x1440, then to 115 at 3840x2160 — that is a 53% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling pattern is consistent: each step up in resolution costs roughly a third of the remaining performance headroom, which is the classic signature of a graphics card approaching its fillrate and bandwidth ceiling.

At Medium settings, the same trajectory holds with averages of 172 FPS at 1080p, 126 FPS at 1440p, and 81 FPS at 4K. The 4K figure represents a 53% drop from 1080p, nearly identical to the Low preset's scaling. High settings show 150 FPS at 1080p, 110 FPS at 1440p, and 71 FPS at 4K — here the 4K result is 53% lower than 1080p as well. Ultra settings produce 113 FPS at 1080p, 82 FPS at 1440p, and 53 FPS at 4K, with the 4K figure dropping 53% from the 1080p baseline. This consistent ~53% reduction across all presets is remarkable; it implies the resolution scaling penalty is largely independent of the quality preset, pointing to a fixed bottleneck that shifts with pixel count rather than with shading complexity.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the system is not fully GPU-bound at lower settings — the 242 FPS Low result at 1080p versus 177 FPS at 1440p shows a 37% drop, which is less severe than the 1440p-to-4K drop of 35% (from 177 to 115 FPS). The CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads with a 5.50 GHz boost clock are likely sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p Low, but the GPU's 512.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 20.74 TFLOPS FP32 throughput become the dominant constraints as resolution climbs. At 4K, even the Low preset's 115 FPS average suggests the RX 6800 XT is working near its practical limits for this title, given its 16 GB GDDR6 memory and 256-bit bus.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 6800 XT's specifications directly explain the measured results. With a base clock of 1825 MHz, a game clock of 2015 MHz, and a boost clock of 2250 MHz, the GPU's dynamic range allows it to sustain high throughput under sustained load, but the 300 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate a power-hungry part that will thermal-throttle if airflow is inadequate. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 256-bit bus yields 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth — ample for 4K textures but not unlimited, as evidenced by the Ultra preset's 53 FPS average at 3840x2160.

The GPU's 4608 shading units and 288 texture mapping units provide substantial raw compute, yet the 128 ROPs appear to be a bottleneck at 4K Ultra, where pixel fillrate demands outstrip the 288.0 GPixel/s pixel rate. The 72 ray tracing cores are present, but the game's measured data does not isolate RT performance; the results reflect rasterization only. The GPU's percentile ranking of 85 versus all GPUs places it above the majority of installed hardware, and its nearest rival comparisons show it within 3% of the NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti (deltaPct of -3) and the Intel Arc A550M (deltaPct of -2.5), while being 1.5% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile and 3% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64.

The 4K Ultra result of 53 FPS is telling: it falls below the 60 FPS threshold often considered the baseline for smooth play, while the 4K High result of 71 FPS clears it. This suggests the Ultra preset's additional shading complexity — likely higher shadow resolution, more volumetric effects, or increased draw distance — taxes the GPU's 20.74 TFLOPS more heavily than the High preset. The 4K Medium result of 81 FPS with a minimum of 69 FPS and maximum of 94 FPS shows the GPU can maintain playable frame rates with some headroom, but the variance of 25 FPS between minimum and maximum indicates occasional dips that could be perceptible in fast-paced FPS scenarios.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 offers the most balanced experience, delivering 126 FPS average with a minimum of 107 FPS and maximum of 145 FPS. This configuration keeps the frame rate well above the 100 FPS mark while providing a visual quality bump over Low, and the minimum of 107 FPS ensures no significant stutter during intense firefights. At 4K, the High preset's 71 FPS average is the best compromise between visual fidelity and smoothness, as the Ultra preset's 53 FPS average dips into marginal territory and the Medium preset's 81 FPS average with a 69 FPS minimum still maintains playability but with less graphical detail.

For competitive play at 1920x1080, the Low preset's 242 FPS average is the clear choice for maximum refresh rate utilization, assuming the display supports it. The Medium preset at 1080p delivers 172 FPS average with a minimum of 146 FPS and maximum of 198 FPS, which remains excellent for high-refresh monitors while offering better image quality. The High preset at 1080p (150 FPS average) and Ultra preset (113 FPS average) are both viable, but the diminishing returns from Medium to Ultra — a 59 FPS drop from 172 to 113 FPS — suggest the Ultra preset's visual gains are not worth the performance cost at this resolution.

The data indicates that the RX 6800 XT's 16 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor at any resolution or preset in this game, as even 4K Ultra does not appear to exceed memory capacity — the frame rate drops are consistent with compute and bandwidth limits rather than memory swapping. Players targeting a locked 60 FPS experience at 4K should select High settings, while those with 144Hz displays at 1440p should favor Medium or High depending on their tolerance for visual compromises.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces an average of 242 FPS on Low, 172 FPS on Medium (minimum 146, maximum 198), 150 FPS on High, and 113 FPS on Ultra. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 129 FPS drop, or 53% of the Low value, demonstrating that the GPU's shading workload scales significantly with preset quality even at the lowest resolution tested.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 177 FPS on Low, 126 FPS on Medium (minimum 107, maximum 145), 110 FPS on High, and 82 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 95 FPS, or 54% of the Low value — nearly identical to the 1080p scaling. The Medium preset's minimum of 107 FPS is notably higher than the Ultra average of 82 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset introduces frame time spikes that the Medium preset avoids.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 115 FPS on Low, 81 FPS on Medium (minimum 69, maximum 94), 71 FPS on High, and 53 FPS on Ultra. The Low-to-Ultra drop is 62 FPS, or 54% of the Low value, maintaining the consistent scaling pattern across all resolutions. The 4K Medium result's minimum of 69 FPS is close to the High preset's average of 71 FPS, indicating that the Medium preset at 4K provides a more stable experience than the High preset despite similar average performance.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT ranks 837th out of 2828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the 70th percentile of all configurations tested. This ranking reflects the GPU's strong but not top-tier performance — the RX 6800 XT's 85th percentile ranking among all GPUs is tempered by the fact that many faster GPUs exist, and the CPU's 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates the processor is not the limiting factor in this pairing.

The combo's rank of 837 out of 2828 suggests that while the system delivers solid performance in this game, there are 837 configurations that produce higher average frame rates. Given the GPU's nearest rivals — the NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti (which scores 3% higher in average benchmarks) and the Intel Arc A550M (2.5% higher) — the RX 6800 XT is positioned near the upper-midrange of current GPUs, and the combo's rank reflects that placement. The CPU's nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.2% higher average score) and the Intel Core i7-14700KF (0.2% lower), indicate that the Ryzen 7 9700F is competitive with flagship processors from the previous generation, meaning the GPU is more likely to be the performance ceiling in most scenarios.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average is 242 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 177 FPS at 2560x1440 with Low settings, followed by 172 FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K in Lockdown Protocol?

A: Yes, at 4K with Medium settings the average is 81 FPS with a minimum of 69 FPS, and at High settings the average is 71 FPS. However, at 4K with Ultra settings the average drops to 53 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RX 6800 XT compare to its nearest GPU rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RX 6800 XT's average benchmark score of 48477 is 1.5% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile (47743), 2.5% lower than the Intel Arc A550M (49737), 3% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (49957), and 3% lower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (50001).

Q: What is the frame rate variance at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the system produces an average of 126 FPS with a minimum of 107 FPS and a maximum of 145 FPS, representing a 38 FPS spread between the lowest and highest measured frame rates.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700F a bottleneck at any resolution in this game?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at 4K, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. At 1080p Low settings, the 242 FPS average indicates the CPU can feed the GPU effectively, but the consistent 53% frame rate drop across all presets when moving from 1080p to 4K implies the GPU becomes the constraint at higher resolutions.

Q: How does the combo's in-game ranking compare to its component percentiles?

A: The combo ranks 837th out of 2828 tested configurations (approximately the 70th percentile) in Lockdown Protocol, while the CPU sits in the 94th percentile and the GPU in the 85th percentile among all comparable components. This suggests the game's performance is more dependent on GPU capability than CPU capability for this pairing.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F's specifications provide context for its role in this system. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge codename), the CPU operates at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a 65 W TDP that is notably low for a desktop processor with this core count. The 4 nm process node from TSMC, with 8,315 million transistors on a 70.6 mm² die, contributes to its efficiency, while the 32 MB shared L3 cache and 1 MB L2 cache per core provide ample data storage for game logic and physics calculations.

The CPU's benchmark scores are substantial: a Passmark multithread score of 36470, a single-thread score of 4691, and an integer math score of 120788. The floating point math score of 77955 and extended instructions score of 33688 indicate strong computational throughput that benefits game simulation. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking versus all CPUs places it ahead of the vast majority of installed processors, and its nearest rivals — the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.2% higher average score), Intel Core i7-14700KF (0.2% lower), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.7% higher), and Intel Core i7-14700K (0.9% higher) — show that it trades blows with flagship and high-end desktop parts from competing platforms.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU based on the resolution scaling data. The fact that frame rates drop by ~53% from 1080p to 4K across all presets indicates that the GPU's rendering workload dominates performance, and the CPU's 16 threads are sufficient to handle the game's simulation overhead without becoming a limiting factor. The 5.50 GHz boost clock ensures high single-threaded performance for game logic, and the DDR5 memory support with dual-channel configuration and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth provides adequate data throughput to the CPU's cache hierarchy. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 24 lanes (CPU only) offers ample bandwidth for the GPU's PCIe 4.0 x16 connection, ensuring no data transfer bottleneck between the processor and graphics card.