Lockdown Protocol

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this CPU and GPU combination in Lockdown Protocol?

A: This combo ranks 2425 out of 2828 tested combinations in the game. That places it in the lower percentile of tested hardware, which is consistent with the GPU being a mid-range part from a previous generation paired with a high-end current-generation CPU.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its closest rivals in raw GPU benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER’s average benchmark score is 12986. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, scores 12940, which is 0.4% slower. The AMD Radeon RX 580 scores 12928 (0.4% slower), while the NVIDIA Tesla M2090 scores 13075 (0.7% faster). The AMD Radeon 740M scores 12870 (0.9% slower). The differences are all within one percent, meaning these parts are effectively interchangeable in raw compute.

Q: What is the CPU's position relative to other processors in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D has an average benchmark score of 58386 and sits in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs. It is 0.1% faster than the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (58323) and 0.5% faster than the Intel Core i9-14900 (58115). It is 0.2% slower than the Intel Xeon w5-2545 (58504) and 0.7% slower than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 (58826).

Q: Is the GTX 1660 SUPER a bottleneck for the Ryzen 7 9850X3D in this game?

A: The data strongly suggests yes. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 123 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it falls to 27 FPS. The CPU is one of the fastest available (92nd percentile), while the GPU sits at the 53rd percentile. The massive frame rate drop with resolution increases indicates the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What is the best preset to use at 1920x1080 for smooth gameplay?

A: At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 123 FPS average, which is the highest measured. Medium drops to 87 FPS, High to 76 FPS, and Ultra to 57 FPS. For a competitive FPS, Low at 1080p provides the best margin above typical 60 FPS targets.

Q: Which resolution and settings combo provides the best balance of visual quality and performance?

A: The 2560x1440 Medium preset delivers 64 FPS average with a minimum of 54 FPS and maximum of 73 FPS. This is the only measured 1440p setting that stays above 60 FPS on average while offering more visual detail than Low.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture using the TU116 chip, manufactured on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It has 1408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1530 MHz and a boost clock of 1785 MHz. Memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 192-bit bus, providing 6 GB of GDDR6 memory with 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

This GPU does not have dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores, so it relies purely on traditional rasterization. Its pixel rate is 85.68 GPixel/s and texture rate is 157.1 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 5.027 TFLOPS. The card has a TDP of 125 W, requires a single 8-pin power connector, and is a dual-slot design measuring 229 mm in length. It uses a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface and supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

The GTX 1660 SUPER's benchmark results show a Passmark G3D score of 12699 and a Passmark GPU compute score of 5076. In DirectX 11 tests, it scores 104, while DirectX 12 scores drop to 50 and DirectX 9 scores 189. Its Geekbench OpenCL score is 52490, and Vulkan score is 57102. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1278. With an average benchmark score of 12986, it sits at the 53rd percentile of all GPUs.

Looking at the measured game performance, the GPU's limitations become apparent at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces only 27 FPS average, which is unplayable. Even at 4K Low, the average is 58 FPS, just barely hitting playable territory. The 6 GB VRAM capacity is a concern at 4K, though the frame rate drops suggest raw compute limits are the primary constraint rather than memory capacity alone.

The GTX 1660 SUPER competes closely with the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (0.4% faster), RX 580 (0.4% faster), and Radeon 740M (0.9% faster). The Tesla M2090 is 0.7% slower. These rival comparisons show that the GPU is a mid-tier performer that cannot drive high refresh rates at demanding settings. The GPU's end-of-life production status and 2019 release date indicate it is a legacy part that struggles with modern titles at high resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is a desktop processor from the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename. It uses TSMC's 4 nm process node and contains 8,315 million transistors on a 70.6 mm² die. The CPU has 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. It features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 96 MB of shared L3 cache.

The processor supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration with 89.6 GB/s of memory bandwidth, and it supports ECC memory. It has 24 PCIe Gen 5 lanes from the CPU, includes integrated Radeon Graphics, and uses the AMD Socket AM5. The TDP is 120 W, and the CPU is unlocked for overclocking. It was released on 2026-01-28 with a launch MSRP of $499.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22807 and single-core score of 2228. Cinebench R15 results are 3551 multicore and 343 single-core. Passmark scores include 41318 for multithread, 4704 for single thread, 123140 for integer math, 81998 for floating point math, 4171 for physics, 49764 for random string sorting, 474501 for data compression, 22856 for data encryption, and 39272 for extended instructions. The average benchmark score is 58386, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU's nearest rivals show it trading blows with workstation and high-end desktop chips. It is 0.1% faster than the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M, 0.5% faster than the Intel Core i9-14900, 0.2% slower than the Intel Xeon w5-2545, and 0.7% slower than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470. These small percentage differences indicate the 9850X3D is firmly in the top tier of processor performance.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's power is evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 123 FPS, which is more than double the 4K Ultra result of 27 FPS. The CPU's strong single-thread performance (2228 in Cinebench R23 single-core) and high boost clock of 5.60 GHz help maintain high frame rates when the GPU can keep up. The 96 MB L3 cache likely helps with game data access patterns common in FPS titles.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimal settings at each resolution. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 123 FPS average, which is the highest of any measured configuration. Medium drops to 87 FPS, High to 76 FPS, and Ultra to 57 FPS. For competitive play where frame rate matters most, Low at 1080p is the clear choice, providing over double the frame rate of Ultra while maintaining a 123 FPS average.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the sweet spot with 64 FPS average, 54 FPS minimum, and 73 FPS maximum. Low delivers 90 FPS, which is also viable, but Medium offers better visual quality while staying above 60 FPS on average. High drops to 56 FPS, and Ultra falls to 42 FPS, neither of which maintains a consistent 60 FPS experience.

At 3840x2160, no setting provides a fully smooth experience. Low achieves 58 FPS average, which is borderline playable. Medium drops to 41 FPS with a 35 FPS minimum, High to 36 FPS, and Ultra to 27 FPS. For 4K, Low is the only viable option, and even then, the user should expect frame rate dips below 60 FPS.

The best overall experience per the measured rows is 1920x1080 with the Low preset, delivering 123 FPS. This provides the largest performance margin and is recommended for players who prioritize smoothness. For those who want more visual detail, 1440p Medium at 64 FPS is the best compromise between quality and playability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 123 FPS average
• Medium: 87 FPS average, 74 FPS minimum, 100 FPS maximum
• High: 76 FPS average
• Ultra: 57 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 90 FPS average
• Medium: 64 FPS average, 54 FPS minimum, 73 FPS maximum
• High: 56 FPS average
• Ultra: 42 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 58 FPS average
• Medium: 41 FPS average, 35 FPS minimum, 47 FPS maximum
• High: 36 FPS average
• Ultra: 27 FPS average

The data shows a consistent pattern of frame rate degradation as settings increase. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra is 66 FPS (123 to 57), representing a 46% reduction. At 1440p, the gap is 48 FPS (90 to 42), a 53% reduction. At 4K, the gap is 31 FPS (58 to 27), a 53% reduction. The percentage drop from Low to Ultra is similar across resolutions, indicating the GPU is consistently the limiting factor.

The Medium settings at each resolution include minimum and maximum FPS values, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the range is 74 to 100 FPS, a spread of 26 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 54 to 73 FPS, a spread of 19 FPS. At 4K Medium, the range is 35 to 47 FPS, a spread of 12 FPS. The tighter range at higher resolutions suggests the GPU is more consistently saturated, while at lower resolutions, CPU and GPU interaction creates more variance.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and reveals the system's bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 123 at 1080p to 90 at 1440p (a 27% drop) and then to 58 at 4K (a 53% drop from 1080p). At Medium settings, the progression is 87 to 64 to 41, representing drops of 26% and 53% respectively. At High settings, it goes from 76 to 56 to 36, drops of 26% and 53%. At Ultra settings, it goes from 57 to 42 to 27, drops of 26% and 53%.

The consistent percentage drops across all settings indicate a scaling pattern tied to pixel count rather than settings complexity. Moving from 1080p to 1440p increases pixel count by 78%, yet FPS drops by only 26-27%. Moving from 1440p to 4K increases pixel count by 125%, yet FPS drops by about 36-37% of the 1440p value. This sub-linear scaling suggests the GPU is not purely pixel-bound at lower resolutions, where the CPU can help maintain higher frame rates.

The limiting component analysis is clear: the GTX 1660 SUPER is the bottleneck. The CPU sits at the 92nd percentile of all processors, while the GPU is at the 53rd percentile. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 123 FPS, which is respectable but not exceptional for a top-tier CPU. If the CPU were the limiting factor, frame rates would remain similar across resolutions. Instead, the large FPS drops with increasing resolution point squarely at the GPU.

The 4K results are particularly telling. Even at Low settings, the system only manages 58 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 27 FPS. The GPU's 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for 4K gaming, and the compute throughput of 5.027 TFLOPS cannot handle the pixel workload. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1278 confirms this is a low-tier performer in modern workloads.

For users of this combination, the practical advice is to stay at 1080p or 1440p. At 1080p, the system can drive high refresh rates with Low settings, making it suitable for competitive play. At 1440p, Medium settings provide a playable experience with better visuals. 4K should be avoided unless the user accepts Low settings and frame rates in the 50s. The CPU has substantial headroom, meaning a future GPU upgrade would unlock significantly higher frame rates without changing the processor.