Lockdown Protocol

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 580 produces a very specific performance profile in Lockdown Protocol, one that is heavily dictated by the graphics settings and resolution chosen. The measured data shows a system that can achieve playable frame rates, but only within a narrow window of configurations. This analysis walks through the measured FPS rows to determine the optimal settings, the role of each component, and how this combination stacks up against other tested configurations.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data indicates that the Low preset is the only setting level that consistently delivers a fluid experience across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 85 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo. Moving to 2560x1440 on Low still produces an average of 62 FPS, which remains comfortably playable. Even at 3840x2160, the Low preset manages an average of 40 FPS, which is borderline but playable for slower-paced moments.

The Medium preset is a viable alternative, but only at 1920x1080, where it hits an average of 60 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS. This suggests that Medium at 1080p is the best balance of visual fidelity and smoothness for users who want more than the bare minimum. However, at 2560x1440, Medium drops to an average of 44 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS, which is noticeably less fluid. At 3840x2160, Medium falls to 29 FPS, which is not recommended for a competitive FPS.

The High and Ultra presets are largely unusable for this hardware combination. At 1080p, High produces 53 FPS, which is acceptable but not ideal, while Ultra drops to 40 FPS. At 1440p, High yields 39 FPS and Ultra only 29 FPS. At 4K, High is at 25 FPS and Ultra is at 19 FPS. Benchmark results indicate that for a game like Lockdown Protocol, maintaining a frame rate above 60 FPS is critical for responsive aiming, which narrows the recommendation to the Low preset at 1080p, or the Medium preset at 1080p if the visual upgrade is worth the 25 FPS penalty.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is the primary bottleneck in this configuration. Its specifications from the fact pack reveal a GPU based on the Polaris 20 chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, built on a 14 nm process. It features 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU clocks are listed with a base of 1257 MHz and a boost of 1340 MHz. The shading units number 2304, with 144 TMUs and 32 ROPs. Its pixel rate is 42.88 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 193.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 6.175 TFLOPS.

The GPU's average benchmark score is 12928, placing it in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs. This mid-range standing is reflected in the measured FPS. The data shows that the RX 580’s raw compute power is insufficient for the higher graphical presets in Lockdown Protocol. The frame rate collapse from Low to Ultra across all resolutions is a direct symptom of the GPU struggling with increased shading and texture work. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game, but the processing power to fill those buffers is lacking. The variance between the Low and Medium presets, which often represents a 25-30% drop in FPS, shows that the GPU is extremely sensitive to the additional load.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, confirming the GPU-bound nature of this combo in Lockdown Protocol. At the Low preset, the average FPS scales from 85 at 1920x1080, to 62 at 2560x1440, and finally to 40 at 3840x2160. This represents a 27% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 35% drop from 1440p to 4K. The overall reduction from 1080p to 4K is 53%.

This pattern strongly indicates that the limiting component is the GPU. The CPU, an AMD Ryzen 7 9700X, has enough headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but as the pixel count increases, the RX 580’s fill rate and shader processing capabilities become the ceiling. For example, on the Medium preset, the FPS goes from 60 at 1080p, to 44 at 1440p, to 29 at 4K. The consistent halving of performance from 1080p to 4K across all presets (53% for Low, 52% for Medium, and 52.5% for High) suggests that the workload is scaling linearly with pixel count, which is typical for a GPU-limited scenario. The CPU is not the constraint here; the GPU is simply overwhelmed by the resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this CPU and GPU combo?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 85, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

*Q: Is this combo capable of running Lockdown Protocol at 2560x1440 with a 60 FPS average?*

A: No. The highest average FPS at 2560x1440 is 62 on the Low preset. The Medium preset drops to 44 FPS, and the High preset to 39 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its nearest rival, the GTX 1660 SUPER, in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 580 has an average benchmark score of 12928, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER scores 12986. This represents a delta of -0.4%, meaning the RX 580 is marginally slower in that specific aggregate metric.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 3840x2160 on Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows a minimum FPS of 24 at 3840x2160 on Medium settings.

Q: Given the FPS data, what is the primary performance limitation for this system?

A: The data indicates that the AMD Radeon RX 580 is the primary limitation. The FPS drops proportionally with resolution, and the gap between Low and Ultra presets is significant at all resolutions, which is characteristic of a GPU bottleneck.

*Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations for Lockdown Protocol?*

A: This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 3384 out of 3714 tested combos for this game.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is a high-end processor that is clearly not the limiting factor in this pairing. It is an 8-core, 16-thread CPU from the 9000 series, based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), built on a 4 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The CPU features 32 MB of shared L3 cache, alongside 1 MB of L2 and 80 KB of L1 per core. It supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus and a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s.

Its synthetic benchmarks are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20485 and a single-core score of 2211. Its average benchmark score is 37943, putting it in the 86th percentile of all CPUs. It sits very close to rivals like the Intel Core i9-14901E, which has a delta of only 0.1%. Given this processing power, the CPU can easily handle the game's logic and physics at 1080p, as evidenced by the high FPS on Low settings. However, as the resolution increases, the CPU has more idle time waiting for the GPU to render frames. The fact that the FPS drops consistently with resolution, rather than fluctuating due to CPU bottlenecks, confirms that the Ryzen 7 9700X is providing more than enough performance headroom for the RX 580 in Lockdown Protocol.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is a complete breakdown of the measured average FPS, with minimum and maximum values where provided.

At 1920x1080:

• Ultra: Average 40 FPS.
• High: Average 53 FPS.
• Medium: Average 60 FPS, with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS.
• Low: Average 85 FPS.

At 2560x1440:

• Ultra: Average 29 FPS.
• High: Average 39 FPS.
• Medium: Average 44 FPS, with a minimum of 38 FPS and a maximum of 51 FPS.
• Low: Average 62 FPS.

At 3840x2160:

• Ultra: Average 19 FPS.
• High: Average 25 FPS.
• Medium: Average 29 FPS, with a minimum of 24 FPS and a maximum of 33 FPS.
• Low: Average 40 FPS.

The data shows a clear hierarchy. The Low preset is the only one that breaks the 60 FPS barrier, and it does so only at 1080p. The Medium preset offers a playable experience at 1080p but falls below 45 FPS at 1440p. The High and Ultra presets are unsuitable for competitive play at any resolution, struggling to maintain even 40 FPS at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of all tested hardware combinations for Lockdown Protocol, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and the AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 3384 out of 3714 combos. This places it in the lower percentile of tested systems, which is consistent with the measured FPS data.

The CPU itself is a strong performer, ranking in the 86th percentile of all CPUs and closely matching the performance of the Intel Core i9-14901E (delta of 0.1%) and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (delta of 0.1%). However, the GPU is only in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs, and it is the weaker link. The combination of a top-tier CPU with a mid-range, older GPU results in a system that underperforms relative to its processor's capabilities in this specific game. The rank of 3384 indicates that most other tested combinations, likely featuring more balanced or newer components, deliver better frame rates in Lockdown Protocol. The CPU’s high standing does little to lift the overall combo rank because the game's performance is so heavily gated by the GPU's rendering capabilities.