Lockdown Protocol

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and Intel Arc B390 combination delivers a highly constrained gaming experience in Lockdown Protocol, with the data showing a system where the graphics processor is the definitive performance bottleneck across all tested resolutions and settings. The measured frame rates place this combo at rank 2512 out of 2828 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 11% of all systems, a position that is consistent with the GPU's low standing among its peers.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K in Lockdown Protocol is severe, revealing a graphics card that is completely overwhelmed by higher pixel counts. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 88 FPS at 1920x1080 to 65 FPS at 2560x1440, representing a 26% reduction, and then further plummets to 42 FPS at 3840x2160, a 52% drop from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario, where the render workload increases exponentially with resolution and the Arc B390 simply cannot keep pace.

The Medium settings preset shows a similar trajectory, starting at 63 FPS at 1080p, declining to 46 FPS at 1440p, and reaching 30 FPS at 4K. The High settings preset follows the same pattern with 55 FPS, 40 FPS, and 26 FPS across the three resolutions. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with 41 FPS at 1080p, 30 FPS at 1440p, and just 19 FPS at 4K.

The data indicates that the limiting component is unambiguously the Intel Arc B390. The CPU, an AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D with 8 cores and 16 threads, possesses ample processing headroom, as evidenced by its strong synthetic benchmarks. The fact that frame rates scale so dramatically with resolution confirms that the GPU's rendering throughput, rated at 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 and a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s, is the ceiling for performance. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, which places the GPU in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, further corroborates this finding.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average frame rate this combo can achieve in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 88 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: Is this system capable of 4K gaming in Lockdown Protocol?

A: At 3840x2160, the average frame rates range from 19 FPS on Ultra to 42 FPS on Low, indicating that 4K gameplay is only marginally playable at the lowest settings and not recommended for a smooth experience.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460), and 2.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446).

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers an average of 65 FPS, while the Ultra preset delivers 30 FPS, a difference of 35 FPS or roughly 117% higher performance on Low.

Q: Does the CPU show any signs of bottlenecking in this game?

A: No, the data suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D's performance, with a PassMark single-thread score of 4704 and a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22807, is far superior to what is needed to drive the frame rates seen here.

Q: What is the frame time variance like for this combo?

A: For the Medium preset, the data includes minimum and maximum FPS. At 1080p, the range is 53 to 72 FPS (average 63), at 1440p it is 39 to 53 FPS (average 46), and at 4K it is 25 to 34 FPS (average 30), showing a consistent frame delivery pattern relative to the average.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the dominant factor in this system's Lockdown Protocol performance, and its specifications explain why. The GPU operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, but its memory configuration is the most telling detail: it uses "System Shared" memory, meaning it has no dedicated VRAM of its own. The memory type, bus width, and bandwidth are all listed as "System Shared" or "System Dependent," indicating that the graphics processor relies on the system's main DDR5 memory for all frame buffer operations.

This architecture has a profound impact on gaming performance. The lack of dedicated video memory, combined with a memory bandwidth that is "System Dependent," creates a significant bottleneck in a game like Lockdown Protocol, which is an FPS title that requires rapid texture streaming and high memory throughput. The GPU's compute capabilities, while modest, are not the only constraint; the shared memory interface likely throttles performance further, particularly at higher resolutions where the frame buffer demand increases.

The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals in that benchmark are all NVIDIA GT-series parts from a much older generation. The delta percentages against these rivals are narrow, with a maximum of 2.7% over the GT 625 OEM, indicating that the Arc B390 is fundamentally at the entry-level tier of graphics performance. The pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s are hard limits that the game's renderer hits quickly, as shown by the resolution scaling data.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo's capabilities across all settings and resolutions. Starting at 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 88 FPS, which is the only configuration that approaches high-refresh-rate territory. The Medium preset averages 63 FPS, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS, offering a playable experience with better visual quality. The High preset averages 55 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 41 FPS, showing that even at 1080p, the Ultra settings push the GPU to its limits.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance degrades noticeably. The Low preset averages 65 FPS, which is still playable but represents a significant drop from the 1080p result. The Medium preset averages 46 FPS (min 39, max 53), which is borderline for a smooth experience. The High preset averages 40 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 30 FPS, making the higher settings at this resolution difficult to recommend for consistent gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles across the board. The Low preset averages 42 FPS, which is the only 4K setting that approaches playability. The Medium preset averages 30 FPS (min 25, max 34), the High preset averages 26 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 19 FPS. These numbers indicate that 4K gaming with this combo is only feasible at the lowest settings, and even then, the frame rate is not ideal for an FPS title where quick reactions are essential.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2512 out of 2828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the bottom 11% of all systems tested. This ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's limitations, as the CPU's performance metrics are far above the level required for this kind of result. The CPU's PassMark multithread score of 41318 and its average benchmark score of 58386 place it in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals in that metric are the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (0.1% difference), Intel Xeon w5-2545 (-0.2%), Intel Core i9-14900 (0.5%), and AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 (-0.7%).

The stark contrast between the CPU's high standing and the GPU's low standing (9th percentile) explains the combo's poor rank. In a game like Lockdown Protocol, the GPU is the component that determines frame rates, and the Arc B390's performance is simply not competitive with even mid-range graphics solutions. The combo's rank of 2512 suggests that users with this pairing are experiencing frame rates that are significantly lower than what the majority of tested systems achieve, and the bottleneck is entirely on the graphics side.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D plays a supporting role in this system's Lockdown Protocol performance, providing a robust foundation that the GPU cannot fully utilize. The CPU features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. It is built on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) using a 4 nm process at TSMC, and it includes a substantial L3 cache of 96 MB shared across all cores.

Synthetic benchmarks confirm the CPU's strength. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22807 and single-core score of 2228 indicate strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance. The PassMark single-thread score of 4704 is particularly relevant for gaming, as FPS titles often rely on one or two primary threads. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 interface provides ample data throughput for the system, although this is shared with the GPU, which may introduce some contention.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU is not the limiting factor. The frame rates are consistently low across all settings and resolutions, and the scaling pattern with resolution points directly to the GPU. The CPU's high performance metrics, including a PassMark physics score of 4171 and a data compression score of 474501, suggest that it can handle the game's simulation and logic without issue. The bottleneck is purely the graphics rendering, meaning that upgrading the GPU would yield substantial performance gains while keeping the CPU unchanged.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the best experience with an average of 88 FPS, which is the only configuration that provides a consistently smooth frame rate for fast-paced FPS gameplay. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 63 FPS and offers a balanced trade-off between visual quality and performance, with the minimum FPS of 53 remaining above playability thresholds.

For users at 2560x1440, the Low preset is the recommended choice, averaging 65 FPS. This is the only 1440p setting that maintains an average above 60 FPS, which is generally considered the baseline for a playable experience. The Medium preset at 1440p averages 46 FPS, which may be acceptable for less demanding players, but the minimum of 39 FPS could lead to noticeable stutters in intense action sequences.

At 3840x2160, the data suggests that 4K gaming is not a viable option for this combo. The Low preset averages 42 FPS, which is below the playability threshold for most FPS players. The Medium, High, and Ultra presets at 4K average 30, 26, and 19 FPS respectively, all of which are too low for a competitive or enjoyable experience.

The Ultra preset should be avoided at all resolutions. Even at 1080p, it only averages 41 FPS, and at higher resolutions it falls to 30 FPS or below. The High preset offers marginal improvements over Medium in visual quality but at a significant cost to frame rate, making it an inefficient choice. For the best experience, users should prioritize the Low preset at 1080p or 1440p, as the data shows that this configuration provides the highest frame rates and the most consistent gameplay in Lockdown Protocol.