Lockdown Protocol

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti delivers a playable but constrained experience in Lockdown Protocol, with performance heavily dependent on resolution and settings. The data shows a 1080p setup that can push past 120 FPS on Low settings, yet falls to just 27 FPS at 4K Ultra, indicating a clear GPU bottleneck despite the CPU’s strong synthetic scores.

FAQ

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

A: 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the average FPS exceeds 60 on all tested settings. At 2560x1440, only the Low preset achieves an average above 60 FPS, while 3840x2160 never reaches that threshold on any preset.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 Ti perform against its nearest rivals?

A: The GTX 1660 Ti’s average benchmark score is 7723, placing it 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon 540 (7673) and 1.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 (7580). It sits in the 41st percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700X a bottleneck in this game?

A: The data suggests no. The CPU scores in the 86th percentile of all CPUs, with a Passmark multithread score of 37161. In-game, frame rates drop by roughly half from 1080p to 4K at the same settings, which is a classic sign of a graphics-bound workload.

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

A: The average FPS drops from 122 on Low to 57 on Ultra, a reduction of 65 FPS. This represents a 53% performance loss when moving to the highest preset at 1920x1080.

Q: Does the 6 GB VRAM limit performance at higher resolutions?

A: The GTX 1660 Ti has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 192-bit bus. At 3840x2160, the average FPS falls from 58 on Low to 27 on Ultra, which aligns with the GPU’s compute limits rather than a specific memory constraint identified in the data.

Q: What is the combo’s overall ranking in this game?

A: This combination ranks 3199 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the lower portion of the database. The ranking reflects the GPU’s modest position relative to other tested configurations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is the primary performance limiter in this pairing. Its Turing architecture, built on a 12 nm process, runs at a base clock of 1500 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz. The GPU has 1536 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster operation units, which translate to a pixel rate of 84.96 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 169.9 GTexel/s.

Memory bandwidth is a key factor for Lockdown Protocol’s demands. The card uses 6 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 192-bit bus, delivering 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 1500 MHz, with an effective data rate of 12 Gbps. This configuration provides enough throughput for 1080p gaming but struggles to maintain playable frame rates as resolution increases.

The GPU’s synthetic benchmarks reflect its mid-range standing. It scores 12871 in Passmark G3D and 1061 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, with a Geekbench OpenCL score of 51029. These results place it in the 41st percentile of all GPUs, meaning it outperforms roughly 41% of the database. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon 540, scores 7673 on average, a mere 0.7% behind.

In-game, the GPU’s limitations become apparent at 4K. At 3840x2160, the average FPS across all settings ranges from 27 on Ultra to 58 on Low. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 31 FPS, which is a 115% performance swing. This behavior indicates that the GPU is working near its capacity, with settings adjustments providing diminishing returns as the pixel count climbs.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a consistent pattern of performance degradation from 1080p to 4K, confirming that the GTX 1660 Ti is the limiting component. At 1920x1080, the average FPS across all settings is 85.5. Moving to 2560x1440, that average drops to 63. At 3840x2160, the average falls to 40.5. This represents a 53% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K.

The scaling is consistent across individual settings. On High, the average FPS goes from 76 at 1080p to 56 at 1440p, then to 36 at 4K. That is a 53% drop from 1080p to 4K. On Low, the numbers are 122, 90, and 58, respectively, a 52% reduction. The Medium preset shows 87, 64, and 41, a 53% decline. Ultra follows the same trend: 57, 42, and 27, a 53% decrease.

This uniform scaling strongly suggests a GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions, or the drop would be less severe. Instead, the data shows that each doubling of pixel count (from 1080p to 4K is roughly four times the pixels) results in a proportional decrease in frame rate. The Ryzen 7 9700X, with its high single-thread score of 2211 in Cinebench R23, is capable of feeding frames faster than the GPU can render them at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the GTX 1660 Ti provides a range of experiences depending on the preset. Low settings yield an average of 122 FPS, which is the highest recorded in the dataset. Medium settings drop to 87 FPS, with a minimum of 74 and a maximum of 100. High settings average 76 FPS, while Ultra falls to 57 FPS. The 1080p resolution is the only one where every preset averages above 60 FPS, making it the sweet spot for this combo.

At 2560x1440, performance becomes more selective. Low settings still deliver a solid 90 FPS average. Medium averages 64 FPS, with a range of 54 to 73. High settings drop to 56 FPS, and Ultra falls to 42 FPS. Only the Low preset maintains an average above 60 FPS at this resolution, suggesting that players seeking 1440p should stick to lower graphical presets.

At 3840x2160, the GPU struggles to keep up. Low settings produce 58 FPS, which is marginal. Medium averages 41 FPS, with a minimum of 35 and a maximum of 47. High settings average 36 FPS, and Ultra falls to 27 FPS. None of these averages meet the 60 FPS threshold, making 4K gaming impractical for competitive play with this hardware.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 74 to 100 FPS; at 1440p, it is 54 to 73; and at 4K, it is 35 to 47. This data shows that frame pacing remains stable within each resolution, with no severe stuttering indicated by the min values.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti combination ranks 3199 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the bottom 14% of configurations in the database. The ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU, which sits in the 41st percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU ranks in the 86th percentile of all CPUs.

The disparity between CPU and GPU performance is stark. The Ryzen 7 9700X has an average benchmark score of 37943, placing it just 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i9-14901E (37911) and 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core 5 211E (37829). This is a top-tier processor by synthetic measures. The GTX 1660 Ti, by contrast, scores 7723 on average, which is only 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon 540 (7673).

The combo’s low ranking suggests that other configurations with similar CPUs but more powerful GPUs achieve significantly better frame rates. The data indicates that the CPU is capable of supporting much higher performance, as evidenced by its 3DMark max threads score of 9771 and Passmark multithread score of 37161. The bottleneck is entirely on the graphics side.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is a high-end processor that is underutilized in this pairing. It features 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge. The base clock is 3.80 GHz, with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. This is a 65 W TDP part built on a 4 nm process at TSMC, with 8,315 million transistors on a 70.6 mm² die.

Its cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5 with a dual-channel bus, providing 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The CPU connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes. This configuration yields strong synthetic results, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 20485 and a single-core score of 2211.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9824 and the 8-thread score of 8184 indicate that the CPU can handle multithreaded workloads efficiently. The Passmark physics score of 2241 further supports this, as physics calculations are often CPU-bound.

However, the measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the GPU produces 122 FPS, which is near the practical limit for this card. If the CPU were a bottleneck, the FPS would cap at a lower value regardless of resolution. Instead, the FPS scales with resolution, which is a GPU-side phenomenon. The CPU’s percentile rank of 86 versus the GPU’s 41 makes it clear that the processor has significant headroom for a more powerful graphics card.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting 60 FPS, the data supports specific choices at each resolution. At 1920x1080, any preset achieves at least 57 FPS, but only Low (122 FPS), Medium (87 FPS), and High (76 FPS) exceed the 60 FPS threshold. For a competitive edge, Low settings provide the highest frame rate with a 122 FPS average. For better visual fidelity while maintaining comfort, Medium offers 87 FPS with a minimum of 74, which is still well above 60.

At 2560x1440, the options are more limited. Low is the only preset that averages above 60 FPS, delivering 90 FPS. Medium falls short at 64 FPS, and while that is above 60, the minimum of 54 FPS means there will be dips below the threshold. High (56 FPS) and Ultra (42 FPS) are not recommended for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS. Low averages 58 FPS, which is close but not sufficient. Medium averages 41 FPS, High averages 36 FPS, and Ultra averages 27 FPS. Players using this resolution should accept a lower frame rate or reduce the resolution to maintain performance.

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset at 1080p is the optimal balance. It provides an 87 FPS average with a minimum of 74 FPS, ensuring consistent performance. The visual upgrade from Low to Medium is significant, and the frame rate remains high enough for responsive gameplay in an FPS title. For players prioritizing maximum frame rate, Low at 1080p is the clear choice.