Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol, a 2024 FPS release, presents an interesting stress test for the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER pairing. The measured data reveals a system where the GPU is the clear bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU's substantial headroom becomes apparent only when graphical settings are lowered. This analysis examines the measured FPS across resolutions and settings to understand the balance of this combination.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 provides a clear picture of where the performance ceiling lies. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 97.7 at 1080p to 72.7 at 1440p, a significant 25.6% decline, and then falls further to 46 at 4K. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario; the RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated by the increasing pixel count.

The Low settings results are more revealing. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 161.3 FPS, which drops to 116.8 at 1440p and 76.6 at 4K. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a 34.4% reduction, which is less severe than the High preset's 36.7% drop over the same range. This suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU is still the primary limiter, but the CPU's 12 cores and 24 threads are providing enough throughput to keep the frame delivery stable.

The most interesting data point is the gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution. At 1080p, the spread is from 161.3 FPS (Low) to 73.6 FPS (Ultra), a 54.4% performance difference. At 4K, this spread narrows to 76.6 FPS (Low) versus 37.3 FPS (Ultra), a 51.3% difference. The consistency of this gap across resolutions indicates that the game's Ultra preset imposes a fixed cost that scales linearly with resolution, further confirming the GPU as the constraining component. The Ryzen 9 7900X, with its boost clock of 5.60 GHz, is never the limiting factor in these tests.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate monitors?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 161.3 FPS, which is suitable for high refresh rate displays. However, even at High settings, the 1080p result of 97.7 FPS remains playable.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER perform against its direct rival?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 19774, which puts it 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (avg score 19680). This indicates near-identical performance in synthetic tests.

Q: Is 8 GB of VRAM sufficient for 4K gaming in this title?

A: The 4K Ultra result of 37.3 FPS and 4K High result of 46 FPS suggest the 8 GB frame buffer is workable but not ideal. The GPU's 256-bit bus width and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed heavily at this resolution.

Q: What is the CPU's synthetic performance percentile?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X ranks in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 50556. This places it just 0.1% behind the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 (avg score 50598).

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any settings?

A: The data shows no CPU bottleneck. Even at 1080p Low with 161.3 FPS, the frame rate is still dictated by the GPU's capabilities, as evidenced by the consistent scaling across resolutions.

Q: What is the performance difference between Medium and High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium yields 83.6 FPS while High yields 72.7 FPS. This represents a 13.0% advantage for Medium, a smaller gap than the 17.3% difference seen at 1080p.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with 2176 shading units and 64 ROPs. Its boost clock of 1650 MHz and base clock of 1470 MHz are modest by today's standards, but the pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s provide adequate throughput for a 2024 FPS title. The GPU's 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is the key metric for raw shader work, and the 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores offer some headroom for future titles.

The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) delivers 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, as evidenced by the measured results, but the 4K Ultra setting (37.3 FPS) shows the memory subsystem struggling. The GPU's 63rd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19774, places it in the mid-range tier. Its nearest rival, the RTX 2070, scores 0.5% lower, indicating that the SUPER variant offers near-identical performance to its higher-tier sibling.

The 12 nm process node and 10,800 million transistors mean the GPU runs at a 175 W TDP. This power envelope is modest, and the dual-slot cooler with a single 8-pin connector should handle thermals adequately. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) ensures compatibility with modern rendering features, though the data does not indicate whether Lockdown Protocol leverages these APIs heavily.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2060 SUPER delivers playable frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce 161.3 FPS, Medium drops to 113.6 FPS, High averages 97.7 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 73.6 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra is 87.7 FPS, demonstrating a wide range of performance headroom.

Moving to 2560x1440, the scaling is predictable. Low settings yield 116.8 FPS, Medium produces 83.6 FPS, High averages 72.7 FPS, and Ultra falls to 55.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 61.5 FPS, reflecting the increased pixel load.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly overburdened. Low settings achieve 76.6 FPS, Medium drops to 53.5 FPS, High averages 46 FPS, and Ultra limps to 37.3 FPS. The result at 4K Ultra is below the 40 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for a playable experience.

The most notable observation is the consistency of the scaling factor. From 1080p to 1440p, the FPS drops by an average of 28.4% across all settings. From 1440p to 4K, the average drop is 39.5%. This non-linear scaling is expected due to the quadratic increase in pixel count, and it reinforces the GPU-bound nature of this configuration.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080, the High preset at 97.7 FPS offers the best balance between visual fidelity and performance. The jump to Ultra costs 24.1 FPS (a 24.7% reduction) for what is likely a marginal visual improvement. Players with 144 Hz monitors can consider Low settings at 161.3 FPS for competitive play.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset at 83.6 FPS is the recommended starting point. High at 72.7 FPS is playable, but the drop to 55.3 FPS at Ultra makes that preset less desirable. The data shows that Medium at 1440p provides a smoother experience than Ultra at 1080p (83.6 vs 73.6 FPS), suggesting the resolution upgrade is worth the graphical compromise.

For 3840x2160, the Low preset at 76.6 FPS is the only truly comfortable option. Medium at 53.5 FPS is borderline, and High at 46 FPS and Ultra at 37.3 FPS are below the threshold for competitive play. The 4K resolution is not the sweet spot for this GPU, and users should prioritize frame rate over resolution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture (Raphael). Its base clock of 4.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz are exceptional, and the 64 MB of shared L3 cache provides ample data for game logic. The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking, with an average benchmark score of 50556, places it in the top tier of processors.

Synthetic benchmarks highlight the CPU's strength: Cinebench R23 multicore score of 43695 and single-core score of 6168 demonstrate outstanding multi-threaded and single-threaded performance. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 10972 and max-thread score of 12536 indicate that the CPU can handle heavy workloads without breaking a sweat. In the context of Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's capabilities far exceed the demands of the game's engine.

The nearest rivals provide context for the CPU's positioning. The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 scores 0.1% lower, the AMD Ryzen 9 5900XT is 0.4% behind, the Intel Core i7-13850HX trails by 0.5%, and the Intel Core i9-13980HX is 0.8% lower. These marginal differences in synthetic tests translate to imperceptible differences in gaming performance, confirming that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combination.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 1173 out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the 28th percentile of all tested configurations, indicating that the GPU is holding back the overall performance potential. The CPU alone ranks in the 93rd percentile, while the GPU ranks in the 63rd percentile, creating a significant imbalance.

This ranking suggests that the system is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where the GPU can keep up with the CPU's capabilities. The 4K results, where the GPU is clearly overwhelmed, drag the combo's ranking down. The data implies that upgrading the GPU would yield substantial performance gains without requiring a CPU change, as the Ryzen 9 7900X has significant headroom to support a more powerful graphics card.

The measured FPS data supports this analysis: at 1080p High, the combo achieves 97.7 FPS, which is respectable, but the CPU could likely push a higher-tier GPU to much higher frame rates. The combination's rank of 1173 out of 1637 indicates that while it is not a top-tier setup, it remains a competent performer for the resolutions it handles well.