Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F pairs with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti to deliver a playable Lockdown Protocol experience across most settings, though the data shows a clear pattern: this is a GPU-limited combo at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strength emerges at 1080p. The Ryzen 7 9700F, an 8-core, 16-thread Zen 5 part on AMD Socket AM5, ranks in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, while the RTX 3060 Ti, an Ampere-generation card with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, sits in the 59th percentile among all GPUs. That imbalance shows up directly in the measured frame rates, where 1080p Low reaches 196 FPS but 4K Ultra drops to 43 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, revealing that the RTX 3060 Ti becomes the primary bottleneck as pixel count rises. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 196 FPS at 1920x1080 to 144 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 93 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 53% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low. At High settings, the drop is from 121 FPS at 1080p to 89 FPS at 1440p, then 57 FPS at 4K — a 53% reduction as well, though the absolute numbers are lower across the board. The Medium preset shows 139 FPS at 1080p, 102 FPS at 1440p, and 66 FPS at 4K, a 52.5% reduction. Ultra settings follow the same trajectory: 91 FPS at 1080p, 67 FPS at 1440p, and 43 FPS at 4K, a 52.7% drop.

The consistency of that ~52-53% scaling across every preset is telling. It indicates that the resolution penalty is almost entirely a function of the GPU's pixel throughput, not the settings level. The RTX 3060 Ti's 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 8 GB frame buffer are the limiting factors here; the Ryzen 7 9700F, with its 89.6 GB/s dual-channel DDR5 memory support and 32 MB shared L3 cache, has ample headroom at every resolution. The data shows that moving from 1440p to 4K costs roughly 35-37% of the frame rate at any given preset, which is a typical pattern for a mid-range GPU like this one. At 1080p, the combo is CPU-bound at Low settings — 196 FPS is far beyond what the GPU's 16.20 TFLOPS FP32 throughput would suggest for a demanding FPS title — but by 1440p, the GPU is clearly the limiting component.

GPU Role

The RTX 3060 Ti's specifications explain its behavior in Lockdown Protocol. The card has 4864 shading units, 152 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output pipelines, with a boost clock of 1665 MHz. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, yielding 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. That memory configuration is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at most settings, but the 4K Ultra result of 43 FPS suggests the frame buffer and bandwidth are stretched thin at higher resolutions and quality levels. The card's 38 ray tracing cores and 152 tensor cores are present, but the measured data shows no ray tracing-specific results, so their impact on Lockdown Protocol remains unquantified here.

The GPU's benchmark scores align with its in-game performance. Its Passmark G3D score of 20349 places it in the 59th percentile among all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (0.7% higher average score), the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (1.4% lower), and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (1.4% lower). The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2626 is a modest result for a card of this class. The GPU's compute performance is also notable: Passmark GPU Compute score of 10006 and Geekbench OpenCL score of 78927, with Vulkan at 47784. These numbers suggest the card handles compute workloads adequately, but Lockdown Protocol's frame rates are more dependent on rasterization and memory throughput than raw compute.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is a critical constraint at 4K. With High settings at 3840x2160 yielding 57 FPS and Medium at 66 FPS, the card is managing to stay within its memory budget, but the step to Ultra drops to 43 FPS — likely a combination of memory pressure and shader complexity. At 1080p, the VRAM is never a problem: even Ultra settings produce 91 FPS, and Low hits 196 FPS. The data suggests that for this game, the RTX 3060 Ti is best treated as a 1080p-to-1440p card, with 4K reserved for lower presets or users willing to accept sub-60 FPS averages.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific CPU-GPU pairing ranks 1402 out of 2828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the upper half of the database but well below the top tier. That rank of 1402 reflects a combination that is neither a high-end pairing nor a budget one — it sits squarely in the mid-range of tested configurations. The ranking makes sense given the component-level data: the Ryzen 7 9700F is a strong CPU (94th percentile, average benchmark score of 69996), but the RTX 3060 Ti is a mid-tier GPU (59th percentile, average benchmark score of 16129). The combo's rank is dragged down by the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions, even though the CPU is capable of much more.

To put the CPU's performance in context, its nearest rivals in the benchmark database are the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.2% higher average score), the Intel Core i7-14700KF (0.2% lower), the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.7% higher), and the Intel Core i7-14700K (0.9% higher). These are all formidable desktop and mobile processors, and the 9700F essentially matches them within a single percentage point. In Lockdown Protocol, that CPU strength means the 9700F is never the bottleneck at 1440p or 4K — the GPU is. At 1080p Low, however, the CPU's 16 threads and 5.50 GHz boost clock are pushing the frame rate to 196 FPS, which is a clear sign of CPU headroom.

The GPU's nearest rivals — the RX 9060, Radeon Pro 5600M, RX 5700 XT, and Radeon R9 370X — are all within 1.7% of its average benchmark score, indicating that the RTX 3060 Ti is closely matched with several other mid-range cards. In Lockdown Protocol, that translates to the measured FPS figures: competitive at 1080p and 1440p, but struggling to maintain 60 FPS at 4K on anything above Medium settings. The combo rank of 1402 out of 2828 means roughly half of tested combos perform better, but many of those likely feature more powerful GPUs paired with similar or weaker CPUs.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience for this combo depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience: 139 FPS average with a minimum of 118 FPS and a maximum of 160 FPS. That provides a comfortable margin above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on modern monitors, and the minimum frame rate indicates no significant stutters. High settings at 1080p yield 121 FPS, which is still smooth, but the step to Ultra drops to 91 FPS — playable but not ideal for competitive FPS play. For 1080p, Medium is the sweet spot, with High as a viable alternative if visual fidelity is prioritized over raw frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset again provides the best balance: 102 FPS average with a minimum of 87 FPS and a maximum of 117 FPS. That is sufficient for 100 Hz or 120 Hz displays, and the minimums remain above 60 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay. High settings at 1440p yield 89 FPS, which is acceptable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. Low settings at 1440p hit 144 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play, but the visual compromise may not be worth it for most users. Ultra at 1440p drops to 67 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a fast-paced FPS. The data suggests 1440p Medium is the recommended configuration for this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. Medium settings produce 66 FPS on average, with a minimum of 56 FPS and a maximum of 76 FPS. That is just above the 60 FPS threshold for playability, but the minimum dipping to 56 FPS means occasional dips below that mark. High settings at 4K yield 57 FPS, which is borderline, and Ultra drops to 43 FPS, which is not recommended for competitive play. Low settings at 4K produce 93 FPS, which is surprisingly strong and suggests that the 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient at lower quality levels. For 4K, Medium is the best choice if 60 FPS is the goal, with Low as a high-refresh-rate alternative.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results are as follows: Low settings average 196 FPS, Medium averages 139 FPS with a minimum of 118 FPS and a maximum of 160 FPS, High averages 121 FPS, and Ultra averages 91 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 57 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 18 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 30 FPS. This suggests diminishing returns beyond Medium, with the largest performance hit occurring when jumping from Low to Medium.

At 2560x1440, Low settings average 144 FPS, Medium averages 102 FPS with a minimum of 87 FPS and a maximum of 117 FPS, High averages 89 FPS, and Ultra averages 67 FPS. The relative gaps are similar to 1080p: a 42 FPS drop from Low to Medium, 13 FPS from Medium to High, and 22 FPS from High to Ultra. The Medium preset's minimum of 87 FPS is notably higher than the 4K Medium minimum of 56 FPS, indicating that 1440p is a much more comfortable operating point for this GPU.

At 3840x2160, Low settings average 93 FPS, Medium averages 66 FPS with a minimum of 56 FPS and a maximum of 76 FPS, High averages 57 FPS, and Ultra averages 43 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 27 FPS, from Medium to High is 9 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 14 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 56 FPS is the only sub-60 FPS minimum recorded in the entire dataset, highlighting how 4K stresses the RTX 3060 Ti. Across all resolutions, the Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values, providing the most complete picture of frame time consistency.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 2560x1440 at Medium settings offers the best combination of performance and quality, with an average of 102 FPS and a minimum of 87 FPS. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average rises to 139 FPS, but 1440p provides a sharper image with only a 37 FPS penalty.

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

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average FPS is 66 with a minimum of 56 FPS, which is playable. Low settings at 4K yield 93 FPS, making them the better choice for consistent frame rates. Ultra settings at 4K drop to 43 FPS, which is not recommended.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 9700F compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The 9700F's average benchmark score is 69996, placing it within 0.9% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515), the Intel Core i7-14700KF (70163), the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875), and the Intel Core i7-14700K (69355). In Lockdown Protocol, this means the CPU is rarely the limiting factor.

Q: Is the RTX 3060 Ti's 8 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: The data suggests yes for 1080p and 1440p, where even Ultra settings produce playable frame rates (91 FPS and 67 FPS respectively). At 4K, the 8 GB frame buffer appears to be a constraint, as Ultra drops to 43 FPS and High to 57 FPS, though Low at 93 FPS shows the memory can handle lower quality settings.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings average 196 FPS, while Ultra averages 91 FPS. That is a difference of 105 FPS, or a 53.6% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 1402 out of 2828 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the upper half of the database, though the GPU's mid-tier status (59th percentile) limits the overall ranking despite the CPU's strong performance (94th percentile).