Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol, a 2024 FPS title, presents an interesting stress test for the pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti. The benchmark data reveals a configuration that is capable of high refresh rates at lower resolutions but becomes increasingly GPU-bound as resolution and fidelity demands rise. The measured frames per second (FPS) across twelve distinct settings and resolution combinations provide a clear picture of where this hardware excels and where its age begins to show.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the data shows substantial headroom, making the High preset the best balance of visual quality and performance. The average FPS at 1080p High is 112, which is a significant 28 FPS drop from the Low preset's 182 FPS but provides a much better visual experience while still comfortably exceeding the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Pushing to Ultra at 1080p yields 84 FPS, a 25% reduction from High, which may not justify the marginal visual gains for most users prioritizing frame rate.

For 2560x1440, the Medium preset emerges as the sweet spot. The 92.7 FPS average at 1440p Medium is substantial and maintains fluidity, while the High preset at 82.3 FPS offers a minor visual uplift for a 10.4 FPS cost. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 62.7 FPS, which is playable but begins to approach the lower bounds of what is ideal for a competitive FPS. At 3840x2160, the GTX 1080 Ti's limitations become apparent. Even the Medium preset only manages 63.7 FPS, and the High preset falls to 51.3 FPS. For a consistently smooth 4K experience, the Low preset is the only viable option, delivering 83.2 FPS. Consequently, the best experience is found at 1080p High or 1440p Medium, where the hardware can maintain high frame rates without compromising too heavily on visual fidelity.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is the primary performance limiter in this pairing, particularly at higher resolutions. Its 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 484.4 GB/s, which is sufficient for the game's data demands at 1080p and 1440p, but the architecture's age is evident at 4K. The card's base clock of 1481 MHz and boost clock of 1582 MHz, based on the Pascal architecture, deliver a raw FP32 performance of 11.34 TFLOPS. This compute power is what drives the frame rates, but it struggles to keep pace with the Ryzen 7 9700X's processing capabilities as resolution increases.

The GPU's benchmark profile places it at the 61st percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19402. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 with a deltaPct of 0, indicating a nearly identical average score, and the NVIDIA TITAN Xp, which is 1.1% faster. This data contextualizes the GTX 1080 Ti as a solid mid-range performer in the current landscape, but not a high-end contender. In Lockdown Protocol, this translates to a card that can handle the game's demands at lower settings but will consistently be the bottleneck when trying to push higher resolutions and detail levels.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern across resolutions, confirming the GPU-bound nature of this setup at higher settings. At the High preset, the transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 results in a 29.7 FPS drop (from 112 to 82.3 FPS). Moving from 1440p to 3840x2160 causes a further 31 FPS drop (from 82.3 to 51.3 FPS). This indicates a steep performance penalty for each step up in resolution, with the 4K High preset being nearly unplayable for a fast-paced FPS.

The scaling pattern is less severe at the Low preset. From 1080p to 1440p, the FPS drops by 51.5 (from 182 to 130.5), but the relative drop is smaller in percentage terms. Moving from 1440p Low to 4K Low results in a 47.3 FPS decrease (from 130.5 to 83.2). This suggests that at lower settings, the game is less demanding on the GPU, allowing the CPU to play a larger role in maintaining frame rates. The fact that 4K Low (83.2 FPS) is nearly as fast as 1440p High (82.3 FPS) highlights how much the graphics settings influence the GPU load. The CPU's headroom is evident, as even at 1080p Low, the frame rate of 182 FPS is likely approaching the engine's simulation limit rather than a strict hardware constraint.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti ranks 996 out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the lower-middle tier of all configurations tested, which is a logical result given the GPU's age. The ranking indicates that while this setup is fully capable of running the game, a significant majority of other hardware pairings deliver higher average FPS. This is primarily due to the GTX 1080 Ti's performance ceiling, which limits the overall potential of the powerful Ryzen 7 9700X CPU.

The combo's percentile position is a direct consequence of the GPU's benchmark standing. The GTX 1080 Ti's average benchmark score of 19402 places it in the 61st percentile, while the Ryzen 7 9700X's average score of 36029 places it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. This performance disparity between the two components means the CPU is often waiting on the GPU to deliver frames, a classic bottleneck scenario. The ranking of 996/1637 reflects that while the CPU has substantial headroom, the GPU holds the combo back from achieving higher performance tiers.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X provides a formidable processing foundation for this system. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, it features a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. This processing power is well-demonstrated in its benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 31588 and a single-core score of 4459. Its 32 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR5 memory ensure that the CPU is not a bottleneck in most scenarios.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is to maintain high frame rates, especially at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed. The data supports this, with the combo achieving 182 FPS at 1080p Low. The Ryzen 7 9700X's performance is comparable to its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-14500HX, which has a deltaPct of 0.2, and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, which is 0.6% faster. This indicates that the CPU is on par with other mid-to-high-end processors. However, as resolution increases, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the CPU's high performance ceiling is not fully utilized, as evidenced by the diminishing FPS returns at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset provides a detailed look at the performance across all settings. At 1920x1080, the measured averages are 182 FPS for Low, 129.8 FPS for Medium, 112 FPS for High, and 84 FPS for Ultra. This shows a consistent decline in performance as visual quality increases, with a total drop of 98 FPS from the lowest to the highest preset. The 1080p results are the only resolution where the High preset exceeds 100 FPS, making it the most versatile for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop significantly across all presets. The Low preset yields 130.5 FPS, Medium provides 92.7 FPS, High delivers 82.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 62.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 67.8 FPS, illustrating the increased GPU load at this resolution. At 3840x2160, the performance takes a further hit. The Low preset manages 83.2 FPS, Medium drops to 63.7 FPS, High is 51.3 FPS, and Ultra is the only preset to fall below 60 FPS, averaging 40.2 FPS. The 4K data clearly shows the GTX 1080 Ti's limitations, as even the Low preset cannot match the 1080p High preset's frame rate, solidifying the GPU as the primary constraint in this pairing.