Lockdown Protocol

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Lockdown Protocol with the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER reveals a consistent and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p with High settings, the combo delivers 106.4 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops that to 81.7 FPS, a reduction of roughly 23%. At 4K, the same High preset yields 54.2 FPS, which is about 34% below the 1440p result and 49% below the 1080p figure. This steep decline indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting component at higher resolutions, as the frame rate penalty scales almost directly with pixel count.

The pattern holds across other settings presets. At Low settings, the combo achieves 179.2 FPS at 1080p, 130 FPS at 1440p, and 82.3 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Low is 96.9 FPS, a 54% reduction. At Ultra settings, the numbers are 80.8 FPS, 57.5 FPS, and 41.7 FPS respectively, with a 48% reduction from 1080p to 4K. These consistent percentage drops across all presets reinforce that the rendering load scales predictably with resolution, and the RTX 2070 SUPER's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 256-bit bus are being pushed harder as pixel count rises.

The data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra widens at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the spread is 98.4 FPS (179.2 vs 80.8). At 1440p, the spread narrows to 72.5 FPS (130 vs 57.5). At 4K, it tightens further to 40.6 FPS (82.3 vs 41.7). This compression at higher resolutions is a classic sign of GPU-bound behavior — when the pixel fill rate becomes the bottleneck, settings-based differences in shading complexity matter less relative to the raw rasterization load. Conversely, the wider spread at 1080p suggests that the CPU, with its 16 cores and 32 threads, has ample headroom to feed the GPU even at Ultra settings, where more draw calls and physics calculations come into play.

Interestingly, the 4K Ultra result of 41.7 FPS is the only measured point that falls below 50 FPS, which is often considered a playability threshold for fast-paced shooters. The 4K High result of 54.2 FPS is marginally above that line, while 4K Medium sits at 59.5 FPS. This suggests that for 4K gaming, users must carefully balance visual fidelity against frame rate, as the GPU's 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 64 ROPs are simply not sufficient to maintain high frame rates with maximum settings at that resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain high frame rates?

A: At 1080p, the combo delivers 106.4 FPS on High settings and 179.2 FPS on Low. Even at Ultra, it maintains 80.8 FPS, making 1080p the only resolution where all presets exceed 60 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 57.5 FPS, which is below that threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 22206, which places it 0.5% below the NVIDIA RTX A400 (22307) and 2.5% above the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (21670). It sits 0.9% above the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (22006) and 2.3% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile (22729).

Q: Does the Ryzen 9 5950X bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. The 5950X's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 38607 and single-core score of 5450 are strong, and the FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K follows a GPU-bound pattern. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 179.2 FPS, suggesting the CPU can drive high frame rates without holding back the GPU.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, Low settings yield 130 FPS while Ultra yields 57.5 FPS, a difference of 72.5 FPS. This indicates that Ultra settings nearly halve the frame rate compared to Low, making the preset choice critical for competitive play.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 1015 out of 1637 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the database, which is consistent with the RTX 2070 SUPER's 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

Q: Is the 4K Ultra preset playable with this hardware?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 41.7, which is below the 60 FPS target most players prefer. However, 4K Medium achieves 59.5 FPS and 4K High achieves 54.2 FPS, so users can approach playable frame rates at 4K by reducing settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy for settings selection depending on the target display resolution. At 1080p, all presets deliver playable frame rates, with High at 106.4 FPS and Medium at 127.9 FPS. Ultra at 80.8 FPS is still well above 60 FPS, making it a viable choice for players who prioritize visual quality on 1080p panels. For competitive play, Low at 179.2 FPS offers the maximum refresh rate headroom, which can be beneficial on high-refresh monitors.

At 1440p, the decision becomes more nuanced. High settings at 81.7 FPS and Medium at 93.7 FPS both exceed 60 FPS, while Ultra at 57.5 FPS falls just below. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for 1440p, as it provides a 36.2 FPS advantage over Ultra while maintaining smoother motion. Low at 130 FPS remains an option for players who prioritize frame rate above all else, but the visual compromise may not be worth the extra 36.3 FPS over Medium.

At 4K, the choices are constrained. Ultra at 41.7 FPS is likely too sluggish for a fast-paced FPS. High at 54.2 FPS and Medium at 59.5 FPS are closer to playable, but both remain below the 60 FPS mark. Low at 82.3 FPS is the only preset that provides comfortable headroom at 4K, making it the recommended choice for 4K users who cannot tolerate sub-60 FPS performance. The data indicates that the RTX 2070 SUPER is best paired with 1080p or 1440p displays, with 4K reserved for lower settings.

The overall recommendation across all resolutions is to start with High settings, as it provides a balanced blend of visual fidelity and performance. From there, users can adjust based on their specific frame rate targets. For 1080p, High offers 106.4 FPS, which is 25.6 FPS above the 80.8 FPS of Ultra. For 1440p, High's 81.7 FPS is a solid baseline, with Medium offering a 12 FPS improvement. For 4K, High's 54.2 FPS is the best balance of quality and speed, though users seeking smoother motion should step down to Medium or Low.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER achieves a rank of 1015 out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places the configuration in the 62nd percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 38% of tested combos perform worse. The ranking reflects the GPU's position in the broader market — the RTX 2070 SUPER sits at the 65th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU ranks at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs. The discrepancy between these two percentiles suggests that the GPU is the constraining factor in this pairing.

The combo's rank is consistent with the measured FPS data. At 1080p High, the system delivers 106.4 FPS, which is respectable but not exceptional for a system with a top-tier CPU. The RTX 2070 SUPER's average benchmark score of 22206 places it just 0.5% below the NVIDIA RTX A400, a professional-grade card, and 2.5% above the AMD Radeon RX 5700. These close margins indicate that the GPU is competitive within its class but does not offer the headroom of more modern cards.

The CPU's strong benchmark performance — including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 38607 and a Passmark multithread score of 45424 — does not translate into a higher combo ranking because the game's frame rates are primarily GPU-bound at the tested settings. The 5950X's 16 cores and 32 threads are more than sufficient for Lockdown Protocol's demands, but the RTX 2070 SUPER's 2560 shading units and 40 RT cores limit overall throughput. The rank of 1015 suggests that users seeking higher frame rates would benefit more from a GPU upgrade than a CPU upgrade, as the CPU is already near the top of its class.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, built on TSMC's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, with a 64 MB L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark results are impressive: it scores 38607 in Cinebench R23 multicore, 5450 in Cinebench R23 single-core, and 16214 in Cinebench R20 multicore. Its Passmark multithread score is 45424, and its Geekbench multicore score is 12084. The CPU holds the 93rd percentile ranking among all tested CPUs, placing it firmly in the high-end desktop segment.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role appears to be one of enabling rather than limiting. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K follows a pattern consistent with GPU-bound rendering, as discussed in the Resolution Scaling section. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 179.2 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate to suggest the CPU can feed the GPU without stalling. The 5950X's 3DMark scores also indicate strong multithreaded performance: 10810 in the 16-thread test and 11597 in the max-thread test. These scores suggest the CPU can handle the game's background tasks, physics, and AI computation without introducing bottlenecks.

The 5950X's single-thread performance is also relevant for FPS titles, as many game engines rely on a primary game thread. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5450 and Passmark single-thread score of 3470 indicate solid per-core performance, though not class-leading. The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-14600K, which scores 49166 on average (0.2% higher), and the Intel Core i5-14600KF at 49367 (0.6% higher). The 5950X's average benchmark score of 49062 is within 1.1% of the AMD EPYC 4345P, demonstrating that it remains competitive with newer designs despite being released earlier.

In practical terms, the 5950X provides the computational headroom needed to ensure that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the limiting factor in Lockdown Protocol. This is beneficial because it means the GPU is being fully utilized, and any frame rate improvements from CPU overclocking or upgrades would be minimal. The CPU's 105 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support are sufficient for this workload, and its PCIe Gen 4 support ensures it can communicate with the GPU without bandwidth constraints.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Lockdown Protocol covers three resolutions and four settings presets, yielding 12 distinct data points. At 1080p, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce 179.2 FPS, Medium produces 127.9 FPS, High produces 106.4 FPS, and Ultra produces 80.8 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline, with Ultra being 55% slower than Low. The 1080p results are all above 60 FPS, making this the only resolution where every preset is playable.

At 1440p, the frame rates drop noticeably but remain respectable. Low settings yield 130 FPS, Medium yields 93.7 FPS, High yields 81.7 FPS, and Ultra yields 57.5 FPS. The Ultra preset falls below the 60 FPS threshold, marking the first instance of sub-60 performance in the data. The relative ordering of presets remains consistent, with Low being 44% faster than Ultra. Compared to 1080p, the 1440p results represent a percentage reduction of 27.5% for Low, 26.7% for Medium, 23.2% for High, and 28.8% for Ultra.

At 4K, the frame rates drop further, and the playability becomes questionable. Low settings produce 82.3 FPS, which is the only 4K result above 60 FPS. Medium yields 59.5 FPS, High yields 54.2 FPS, and Ultra yields 41.7 FPS. The Ultra result is 49% slower than Low at the same resolution. Compared to 1440p, the 4K results represent a reduction of 36.7% for Low, 36.5% for Medium, 33.7% for High, and 27.5% for Ultra. The smaller percentage drop for Ultra suggests that the GPU is becoming more saturated at higher settings, where the additional shading work is less impactful relative to the pixel fill rate.

The data also allows for cross-resolution comparisons at fixed settings. For High settings, the frame rates are 106.4 FPS at 1080p, 81.7 FPS at 1440p, and 54.2 FPS at 4K. This represents a 49% reduction from 1080p to 4K. For Low settings, the frame rates are 179.2 FPS, 130 FPS, and 82.3 FPS, a 54% reduction. For Medium, the numbers are 127.9 FPS, 93.7 FPS, and 59.5 FPS, a 53.5% reduction. For Ultra, the numbers are 80.8 FPS, 57.5 FPS, and 41.7 FPS, a 48.4% reduction. These consistent reductions confirm that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the bottleneck across all settings, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom to avoid limiting performance.