Lockdown Protocol

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti pairing produces some of the lowest frame rates recorded in Lockdown Protocol, ranking 2797th out of 2828 tested combinations. This is a stark illustration of a modern high-end CPU being almost entirely neutralized by a legacy entry-level GPU, resulting in a system that is strictly for 1080p Low settings at playable, but not comfortable, frame rates.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is a desktop processor from the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename. It is manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads. The base clock is 3.80 GHz, which can boost up to 5.50 GHz. The processor has a 65 W TDP and supports DDR5 memory via a dual-channel bus, offering a memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. It operates on the AMD Socket AM5 platform with PCIe Gen 5, providing 24 lanes from the CPU itself. The chip is unlocked, meaning the multiplier can be adjusted for overclocking.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 9700F demonstrates strong computational performance across the board. It scores 4691 in Passmark single-thread tests and 36470 in Passmark multithread tests. Its floating-point math score is 77955, while integer math reaches 120788. The data compression score is 421988, and data encryption hits 21488. Extended instructions score 33688, random string sorting is 45890, and find prime numbers is 183. The physics score is 2122. These results place the CPU in the 94th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 69996.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the 9700F is virtually tied with the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, which has an average score of 69875, a delta of only 0.2%. It is also nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-14700KF, which scores 70163, a 0.2% difference in favor of the Intel chip. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69515, making the 9700F 0.7% faster, and the Intel Core i7-14700K scores 69355, making the 9700F 0.9% faster. This indicates the 9700F is positioned at the top tier of desktop CPUs for raw compute.

However, in the context of Lockdown Protocol, the CPU’s role is almost moot. The measured frame rates show that even at the lowest resolution and settings, the system cannot break past 61 FPS. The bottleneck is unequivocally the GPU. The 9700F’s high single-thread score of 4691 suggests it can feed frames quickly, but the GTX 1050 Ti is incapable of rendering them. The data shows a CPU with top-6% processing power paired with a GPU that sits in the bottom quartile, creating an extreme imbalance where the CPU sits idle waiting for the GPU to finish each frame.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is a legacy part from the GeForce 10-series, based on the Pascal architecture with the GP107 chip. It is built on a 14 nm process at Samsung, with 3,300 million transistors on a 132 mm² die. The GPU has 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units. Its base clock is 1291 MHz with a boost clock of 1392 MHz. The memory runs at 1752 MHz, which translates to 7 Gbps effective, across a 128-bit bus. This provides 4 GB of GDDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 112.1 GB/s. The card has a 75 W TDP, requires no external power connectors, and is dual-slot in width.

In synthetic benchmarks, the GTX 1050 Ti scores 6340 in Passmark G3D and 2652 in Passmark GPU compute. Its DirectX 11 score is 45, DirectX 12 is 26, and DirectX 9 is 104. The Geekbench Vulkan score is 10001, while OpenCL is 18129 and Metal is 7834. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 305. These results place the GPU in the 25th percentile of all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 4193.

The nearest rivals for the GTX 1050 Ti are other low-end parts. The AMD Radeon R5 M330 scores 4170, a 0.6% difference in favor of the GTX 1050 Ti. The NVIDIA Quadro K2100M scores 4151, making the GTX 1050 Ti 1% faster. Conversely, the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M scores 4241, which is 1.1% faster than the GTX 1050 Ti, and the AMD Radeon Vega 3 scores 4268, which is 1.8% faster. This shows the GTX 1050 Ti is at the very bottom of the performance hierarchy, barely edging out mobile workstation parts from years prior.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU’s limitations are front and center. The 4 GB VRAM buffer and 112.1 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for high-resolution textures. The measured FPS data shows that the card is the primary constraint at every setting. At 4K Ultra, the average frame rate is 14 FPS, which is unplayable. Even at 1080p Low, the best-case scenario for this card, the average is only 61 FPS, with no minimum or maximum recorded. The frame rates scale almost linearly with resolution and settings, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario where the CPU is not the limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti ranks 2797th out of 2828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the bottom 1% of all systems tested. The ranking is a direct reflection of the GPU’s performance, as the CPU is among the fastest available. The data shows that the 9700F’s 94th percentile standing does nothing to lift the combo out of the bottom tier.

This rank is significant because it shows that in Lockdown Protocol, the GPU is the sole arbiter of performance. A system with a weaker CPU but a stronger GPU would rank much higher. The 2797th rank indicates that this combo is only suitable for the lowest possible settings and resolutions, and even then, it struggles to maintain high frame rates. The data suggests that any upgrade to the GPU would result in a massive ranking improvement, while a CPU upgrade would yield no benefit at all.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings levels, providing a complete picture of the combo’s capabilities.

At 1920x1080, the system achieves its best results. On Low settings, the average FPS is 61. On Medium settings, the average drops to 44 FPS, with a minimum of 37 and a maximum of 50. High settings yield an average of 38 FPS. Ultra settings produce an average of 29 FPS. This shows that at 1080p, the card can handle Low settings at a playable frame rate, but anything above that dips below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, the performance degrades further. Low settings average 45 FPS. Medium settings average 32 FPS, with a minimum of 27 and a maximum of 37. High settings average 28 FPS. Ultra settings drop to an average of 21 FPS. None of these are ideal for a fast-paced FPS, as even the Low setting fails to reach 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system is largely unplayable. Low settings average 29 FPS. Medium settings average 21 FPS, with a minimum of 18 and a maximum of 24. High settings average 18 FPS. Ultra settings average 14 FPS. These numbers indicate that 4K is not a viable option for this combo, as even the lowest settings cannot maintain a consistent 30 FPS.

The data shows a clear pattern: for every resolution, the difference between Low and Ultra is roughly half the frame rate. At 1080p, it goes from 61 to 29 FPS; at 1440p, from 45 to 21 FPS; at 4K, from 29 to 14 FPS. This consistency underscores the GPU’s fixed performance ceiling.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The resolution scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a nearly perfect inverse relationship with pixel count, which is the hallmark of a GPU-bound system. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 61 FPS at 1080p to 45 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 26%. Moving to 4K, the frame rate falls to 29 FPS, which is a 52% drop from 1080p. The pixel count increases by 78% from 1080p to 1440p and by 300% from 1080p to 4K. The frame rate drops are roughly proportional to these increases, indicating the GPU is working at its maximum capacity regardless of resolution.

At Ultra settings, the pattern is similar. The average FPS goes from 29 at 1080p to 21 at 1440p, a 28% drop, and then to 14 at 4K, a 52% drop from 1080p. The consistency of these percentages across all settings levels confirms that the GTX 1050 Ti is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would be more consistent across resolutions, as the CPU’s workload does not scale with pixel count. The fact that higher resolutions produce proportionally lower frame rates proves that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are the constraints.

This analysis is further supported by the CPU’s synthetic performance. The 9700F’s single-thread score of 4691 is more than sufficient for any modern game at these settings. The data suggests that even at 1080p Low, the CPU is not fully utilized, as the GPU cannot render frames fast enough to keep up. The scaling behavior is a clear indicator that upgrading the GPU would provide a linear improvement in frame rates across all resolutions, while upgrading the CPU would yield no measurable gains in Lockdown Protocol.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, the only playable configuration is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which achieves an average of 61 FPS. Medium settings at 1080p drop to 44 FPS, and all higher resolutions fail to reach 60 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Lockdown Protocol?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the average frame rates range from 14 FPS on Ultra to 29 FPS on Low. The minimum recorded FPS at Medium settings is 18, which is far below playable standards for an FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F has an average benchmark score of 69996, placing it 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X. It trails the Intel Core i7-14700KF by 0.2% and beats the Intel Core i7-14700K by 0.9%.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti has an average benchmark score of 4193. It is 0.6% faster than the AMD Radeon R5 M330 and 1% faster than the NVIDIA Quadro K2100M. It is 1.1% slower than the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M and 1.8% slower than the AMD Radeon Vega 3.

Q: What is the performance gap between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 38 FPS at 1920x1080 to 28 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 18 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 53% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: The GPU is the definitive bottleneck. The CPU ranks in the 94th percentile of all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 25th percentile. The frame rates scale proportionally with resolution, which is a classic sign of a GPU limitation, not a CPU one.