Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with AMD Ryzen 7 9700X + AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT ranks 1248 out of 1637 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. This rank reflects a pairing where an 8-core Zen 5 processor from the 9000 series meets an RDNA 1.0 graphics card from 2019, and the benchmark results confirm that the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The CPU, with its 3.80 GHz base and 5.50 GHz boost clock, sits at the 89th percentile among all tested CPUs, while the GPU sits at the 68th percentile among all GPUs. This disparity in relative standing between the two components is the defining characteristic of this combo's performance profile in Lockdown Protocol.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1248 out of 1637 places this pairing in the 24th percentile of tested combinations, meaning roughly three-quarters of all combos deliver higher average frame rates in this FPS title. This is a significant underperformance relative to what the CPU alone might suggest, as the Ryzen 7 9700X's average benchmark score of 36029 places it among strong desktop processors. The explanation lies in the GPU's relative weakness: the RX 5700 XT's average benchmark score of 24731 puts it just 0.1% behind the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile, 0.3% ahead of the Intel Arc A350M, 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile, and 0.9% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000. These are not large margins, and the GPU's 68th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms it is a mid-tier performer in the current landscape.

The CPU side tells a different story. The Ryzen 7 9700X outperforms the Intel Core i5-14500HX by 0.2%, trails the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H by 0.4%, beats the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 by 0.6%, and trails the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H by 0.8%. These narrow deltas place the CPU in a tightly contested group, but its single-thread performance of 1280 in 3dmark, 4459 in Cinebench R23, and 3353 in Geekbench indicates a processor capable of feeding most GPUs adequately. The bottleneck in this combo is not the CPU; the data shows the GPU's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth become the limiting factor as resolution and settings increase.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 5700 XT operates with a base clock of 1605 MHz, a game clock of 1755 MHz, and a boost clock of 1905 MHz, paired with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus. This memory configuration provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p gaming but becomes strained at higher resolutions. The GPU's 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units deliver a pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s. Its FP32 performance of 9.754 TFLOPS is modest by current standards.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's role is decisive. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 155.7 FPS, but this drops to 96.9 FPS at High settings — a 37.8% reduction. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is even starker: 155.7 FPS versus 72.0 FPS, a 53.8% drop. This sensitivity to settings indicates that the GPU's shading and memory subsystems are fully utilized, and the 8 GB VRAM capacity does not appear to be the limiting factor at 1080p. However, at 4K Ultra, the average frame rate falls to 32.9 FPS, suggesting the GPU is overwhelmed by the pixel throughput demands. The GPU's DirectX 12 benchmark score of 64 and PassMark G3D score of 16277 provide context: this is a GPU that can handle 1080p gaming comfortably but struggles with 4K high-fidelity workloads.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear resolution scaling pattern. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings reduces average FPS from 96.9 to 69.3, a 28.5% decrease. From 1440p to 4K at High settings, FPS drops from 69.3 to 49.0, another 29.3% decrease. The cumulative effect from 1080p High to 4K High is a 49.4% reduction in frame rate. This near-linear scaling pattern with resolution indicates that the GPU is the limiting component throughout the range — if the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect smaller FPS differences as resolution increases.

At Low settings, the pattern is similar but with higher absolute values. 1080p Low delivers 155.7 FPS, 1440p Low delivers 115.0 FPS (a 26.1% drop), and 4K Low delivers 77.1 FPS (a 33.0% drop from 1440p). The fact that even at Low settings the frame rate continues to fall substantially with resolution confirms that the GPU, not the CPU, is the constraining factor. The CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads, with a max-thread 3dmark score of 9771, are capable of sustaining higher frame rates than the GPU can deliver at these resolutions. The 4K Ultra result of 32.9 FPS is particularly telling — it represents a 78.9% reduction from the 1080p Low result, demonstrating the GPU's inability to maintain playable frame rates at maximum settings in 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings produce 155.7 FPS average, Medium settings yield 114.4 FPS, High settings achieve 96.9 FPS, and Ultra settings result in 72.0 FPS. The step from Low to Medium represents a 26.5% reduction, while the step from Medium to High is a 15.3% reduction, and High to Ultra is a 25.7% reduction. These figures indicate that each settings tier has a meaningful impact on GPU load, with the largest jumps occurring at the extremes.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS values are 115.0 at Low, 81.0 at Medium, 69.3 at High, and 54.0 at Ultra. The percentage drops from 1080p are consistent: Low falls by 26.1%, Medium by 29.2%, High by 28.5%, and Ultra by 25.0%. This consistency suggests the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading capabilities are being taxed proportionally across all settings. At 1440p, only the Low settings configuration exceeds 100 FPS, and Ultra settings fall below 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are 77.1 FPS at Low, 55.7 FPS at Medium, 49.0 FPS at High, and 32.9 FPS at Ultra. The 4K Low result is the only 4K configuration that approaches playable competitive frame rates, and even it represents a 50.5% reduction from the 1080p Low result. The 4K Ultra result of 32.9 FPS is below what most FPS players would consider acceptable, indicating that this combo is not suited for 4K gaming in Lockdown Protocol. The data shows that 1080p is the sweet spot for this pairing, with all settings except Ultra capable of exceeding 90 FPS.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 1920x1080 with High settings delivers 96.9 FPS average, which is the highest frame rate at High settings across all resolutions. For maximum frame rates, 1080p Low achieves 155.7 FPS, but 1080p High offers a better balance of visual quality and performance.

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

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X has an average benchmark score of 36029, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i5-14500HX (35940), 0.4% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (36165), 0.6% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35802), and 0.8% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H (36328).

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the limiting factor in this combo?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU ranks at the 89th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU ranks at the 68th percentile among all GPUs. The resolution scaling data confirms this, as frame rates drop consistently with increasing resolution, which indicates GPU-bound performance.

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

A: Only at Low settings, where it achieves 77.1 FPS average. At Medium settings, it drops to 55.7 FPS, at High settings to 49.0 FPS, and at Ultra settings to 32.9 FPS. For competitive play, 4K is not recommended above Low settings.

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

A: The RX 5700 XT has an average benchmark score of 24731, which is 0.1% lower than the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (24763), 0.3% higher than the Intel Arc A350M (24647), 0.6% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile (24592), and 0.9% higher than the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 (24519).

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At 1080p High, the combo achieves 96.9 FPS, while at 4K High it achieves 49.0 FPS. This represents a 49.4% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings.