Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with AMD Ryzen 9 5900X + AMD Radeon RX 7700

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 delivers a solid, if not spectacular, Lockdown Protocol experience. This combo ranks 1275th out of 2828 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database. The pairing of a 12-core Zen 3 processor with a 16 GB RDNA 3.0 graphics card produces playable frame rates across most settings, though the data reveals some interesting bottlenecks and trade-offs. The 5900X sits in the 87th percentile among all CPUs, while the RX 7700 lands in the 58th percentile among all GPUs — a combination that skews CPU-heavy in this particular title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s overall rank of 1275 out of 2828 tested combinations places it just shy of the top half of all pairings tested for Lockdown Protocol. This is a mid-pack result, and the numbers behind it tell a story of a system that can handle the game comfortably at most settings but struggles to maintain elite-level performance at the highest presets. The CPU component of this pairing is clearly the stronger half: the Ryzen 9 5900X’s average benchmark score of 41376 puts it in the 87th percentile of all CPUs, while the RX 7700’s average benchmark score of 15852 lands in only the 58th percentile of all GPUs. That gap suggests the processor is doing more heavy lifting than the graphics card in this configuration.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each component helps contextualize the performance. The 5900X’s average benchmark score of 41376 is nearly identical to the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H’s 41263 (a 0.3% delta), the Intel Core Ultra 7 356H’s 41215 (0.4% delta), and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 440’s 41208 (0.4% delta). It edges out the Intel Core i7-14650HX’s 41576 by 0.5% in the other direction. In other words, the 5900X is performing right at the level of modern mid-range mobile and desktop chips — nothing exceptional, but nothing to complain about either. The RX 7700, meanwhile, sits in a tighter cluster: its 15852 average score is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon R9 370X’s 15862 (a -0.1% delta), slightly behind the AMD Radeon RX 9060’s 16014 (-1% delta), ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500’s 15679 (1.1% delta), and behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti’s 16129 (-1.7% delta). This positions the GPU as a mid-tier performer — capable, but not a class leader.

In Lockdown Protocol specifically, the combo’s rank relative to other tested combos suggests that this pairing is well-balanced for the game’s demands, with the CPU’s strength compensating for the GPU’s mid-pack standing. The measured FPS data confirms this: the system delivers smooth frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, with 4K performance being the only real question mark.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 brings 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, with memory bandwidth rated at 624.1 GB/s. The GPU’s base clock runs at 1900 MHz, with a game clock of 2041 MHz and a boost clock of 2459 MHz. Memory clocks sit at 2438 MHz, effective 19.5 Gbps. These clock speeds are moderate for the RX 7000 series, and the 16 GB frame buffer is generous for a card in this performance tier — plenty of headroom for Lockdown Protocol’s textures and effects at high resolutions.

The GPU’s raw compute numbers are respectable: 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation units, along with 40 ray tracing cores. The card delivers 25.18 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 393.4 GTexel/s of texture fill rate, with a pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s. These figures place the RX 7700 in a position where it can handle modern FPS titles at 1080p and 1440p with ease, but 4K Ultra settings will push it to its limits — a pattern that shows up clearly in the measured FPS data.

The GPU’s benchmark results support this interpretation. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 2865, which is a modest result for a card with this memory configuration. Geekbench OpenCL shows 106028, and Passmark’s G3D test gives it 20974. The Passmark DirectX 11 score of 186 and DirectX 12 score of 96 are relatively low, suggesting that the card’s driver optimization for certain API paths may not be fully realized. The GPU’s compute score of 10963 in Passmark indicates solid general-purpose performance, but not exceptional. The 58th percentile ranking among all GPUs tells the real story: this is a mid-range card that will deliver playable but not outstanding frame rates in demanding titles like Lockdown Protocol.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU’s 16 GB VRAM is almost certainly not a limiting factor — the game’s requirements are unlikely to exceed even 8 GB at 1080p, and the 256-bit bus provides ample bandwidth for texture streaming. The card’s clock speeds are the more relevant factor: at 4K, the GPU’s compute throughput becomes the bottleneck, as evidenced by the substantial FPS drops at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience for this combo in Lockdown Protocol depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers a measured average of 200 FPS, which is far beyond what any display can show meaningfully. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 142 FPS average, with a minimum of 121 and maximum of 163 — still extremely smooth and well-suited for high-refresh-rate monitors. High at 1080p drops to 124 FPS average, while Ultra falls to 93 FPS. For 1080p, Medium is the sweet spot: it provides a 142 FPS average with tight frame pacing (the 121 FPS minimum is only 21 frames below the average), and the visual upgrade over Low is significant. High is also viable if you prefer image quality, since 124 FPS is still fluid, but the margin over Medium is smaller than the visual difference might justify.

At 1440p, the picture shifts. Low delivers 147 FPS average, which is excellent, but Medium drops to 104 FPS with a minimum of 88 and maximum of 120. High comes in at 91 FPS, and Ultra falls to 68 FPS. For 1440p, Medium is the recommended preset: the 104 FPS average is smooth, the 88 FPS minimum is acceptable, and the visual quality is noticeably better than Low. High at 91 FPS is also playable, but the gap between Medium and High (13 FPS) is larger than the gap between High and Ultra (23 FPS), suggesting diminishing returns. Ultra at 68 FPS is borderline — playable but not ideal for fast-paced FPS action.

At 4K, the recommendations change dramatically. Low yields 95 FPS average, which is surprisingly good for a mid-range GPU at this resolution. Medium drops to 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 and maximum of 77 — the minimum is getting close to the edge of comfort for a competitive shooter. High falls to 59 FPS, and Ultra drops to 44 FPS. For 4K, Low is the only fully comfortable preset, delivering a 95 FPS average that stays well above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium is playable if you can tolerate occasional dips to 57 FPS, but the frame pacing (a 20 FPS spread between minimum and maximum) suggests some stutter risk. High and Ultra are not recommended for competitive play, as the 59 FPS and 44 FPS averages are too close to the visual smoothness floor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo reveals a consistent pattern across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system produces 200 FPS on Low, 142 FPS on Medium (minimum 121, maximum 163), 124 FPS on High, and 93 FPS on Ultra. The progression from Low to Medium is a 58 FPS drop, which is substantial but expected given the increased visual workload. The Medium to High drop is only 18 FPS, and High to Ultra drops another 31 FPS. This suggests that Ultra settings impose a heavy load that the RX 7700 can only partially handle at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the numbers scale down predictably. Low produces 147 FPS, Medium drops to 104 FPS (minimum 88, maximum 120), High comes in at 91 FPS, and Ultra falls to 68 FPS. The Low to Medium drop is 43 FPS, Medium to High is 13 FPS, and High to Ultra is 23 FPS. The Medium preset’s 88 FPS minimum is the only sub-90 number in the 1440p Medium data, and it’s still comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. The 1440p Ultra result of 68 FPS is playable but not ideal for competitive play.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s limitations become apparent. Low yields 95 FPS, Medium drops to 67 FPS (minimum 57, maximum 77), High falls to 59 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 44 FPS. The Low to Medium drop of 28 FPS is steep, and the Medium to High drop of 8 FPS is relatively small, suggesting that the GPU is becoming compute-bound rather than memory-bound. The High result of 59 FPS is just below the 60 FPS line, and Ultra at 44 FPS is not viable for smooth gameplay. The 4K Medium minimum of 57 FPS is concerning — it indicates that even the recommended preset can dip below 60 FPS in demanding scenes.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals where the bottleneck lies in this combo. At Low settings, the system delivers 200 FPS at 1080p, 147 FPS at 1440p, and 95 FPS at 4K. That’s a 26.5% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 35.4% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is relatively linear, which suggests the GPU is the primary limiting factor at Low settings — the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at all resolutions.

At Medium settings, the pattern changes. The system produces 142 FPS at 1080p, 104 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 26.8%, and the 1440p to 4K drop is 35.6%. This is nearly identical to the Low settings scaling, indicating that the GPU remains the bottleneck as settings increase. However, the 4K Medium result of 67 FPS is significantly lower than the 4K Low result of 95 FPS, showing that the GPU’s compute resources are being taxed more heavily by the Medium preset’s effects.

At High settings, the scaling becomes more pronounced. The system delivers 124 FPS at 1080p, 91 FPS at 1440p, and 59 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 26.6%, but the 1440p to 4K drop jumps to 35.2%. The 4K High result of 59 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that the GPU is running out of headroom. At Ultra settings, the scaling is similar: 93 FPS at 1080p, 68 FPS at 1440p, and 44 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 26.9%, and the 1440p to 4K drop is 35.3%.

The consistent percentage drops across all settings suggest that the RX 7700’s rasterization throughput is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The 16 GB VRAM and 624.1 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient even at 4K, but the GPU’s 25.18 TFLOPS of FP32 performance cannot keep up with the pixel workload at 3840x2160. The CPU, by contrast, has plenty of headroom — the 5900X’s 12 cores and 24 threads are more than enough for Lockdown Protocol’s workload, as evidenced by the fact that the FPS drops are proportional to resolution rather than CPU-bound.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It runs at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and boosts up to 4.80 GHz, with a 105 W TDP. The CPU has 64 MB of L3 cache, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 64 KB of L1 cache per core. This is a substantial amount of cache for a gaming workload, and it helps the processor maintain high frame rates even when the GPU is the bottleneck.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU’s role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The game is an FPS title, which typically relies more heavily on single-threaded performance than multi-threaded scaling. The 5900X’s single-threaded benchmark results are respectable: 941 in 3DMark single-thread, 250 in Cinebench R15 single-core, 1527 in Cinebench R23 single-core, 2083 in Geekbench single-core, and 3469 in Passmark single-thread. These scores are competitive with modern mid-range processors, though not top-tier.

The multi-threaded results are where the 5900X shines. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9075, max-thread score of 10075, Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16262, and Geekbench multi-core score of 14118 all point to a processor that can handle heavily threaded workloads with ease. Passmark’s multi-thread score of 39002 and floating-point math score of 77700 further confirm this. For Lockdown Protocol, this means the CPU is unlikely to be a limiting factor — even in scenes with many AI-controlled enemies or complex physics, the 12 cores provide ample processing power.

The 5900X’s memory support for DDR4 with dual-channel configuration and 51.2 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for gaming, though not as fast as newer DDR5 platforms. The PCIe Gen 4 interface provides sufficient bandwidth for the RX 7700’s PCIe 4.0 x16 connection. The processor’s 87th percentile ranking among all CPUs, combined with an average benchmark score of 41376, places it in the upper tier of processors — and the nearest rivals are all within 0.5% in either direction, confirming that the 5900X is performing at the expected level for its class.

In the context of Lockdown Protocol specifically, the CPU’s contribution is evident in the frame rate stability at 1080p and 1440p. The 1080p Medium result of 142 FPS with a 121 FPS minimum shows that the CPU can maintain consistent frame delivery, and the 1440p Medium minimum of 88 FPS is well above the 60 FPS floor. The fact that the FPS drops are proportional to resolution rather than settings suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor — if it were, we would see larger drops when increasing settings at a fixed resolution. The data points to the GPU being the bottleneck at 4K, while the CPU has sufficient headroom to handle any settings combination the game can throw at it.