Lockdown Protocol

AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a balanced but CPU-leaning experience in Lockdown Protocol, with measured frame rates that scale predictably across resolutions and presets. This mobile combo sits in the 54th percentile of all tested configurations in this game, indicating a solid mid-pack performer that favors high-refresh 1080p and 1440p play over 4K stability.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a 16-core, 32-thread mobile processor built on the Zen 4 architecture with a Dragon Range codename. It runs on the AMD Socket FL1 platform and is fabricated on TSMC's 5 nm process, containing 13,140 million transistors across a dual-die design of 2x 71 mm². The base clock sits at 2.50 GHz with a boost clock reaching 5.40 GHz, and the chip carries a 55 W TDP. Cache configuration includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 64 MB of L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5 over a dual-channel bus with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth, and PCIe Gen 5 with 28 CPU lanes is available. The integrated Radeon 610M graphics provide a fallback, but in this test scenario the discrete RTX 4070 handles rendering.

The CPU's benchmark profile reveals its character. In Cinebench R23, it scores 42,713 multi-core and 6,030 single-core. Cinebench R20 shows 17,939 multi-core and 2,532 single-core, while R15 yields 4,305 multi-core and 607 single-core. PassMark results include a multithread score of 51,405, a single-thread score of 3,907, integer math at 195,180, floating-point math at 117,453, and data compression at 677,755. The processor's percentile rank versus all CPUs is 95, placing it near the top of the overall CPU hierarchy. Its average benchmark score of 76,212 sits within 0.1% of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX, 0.4% above the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P and AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX, and 0.6% below the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads provide ample headroom for game logic and enemy AI, but the measured FPS deltas across settings suggest the processor is not the primary constraint at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 189 FPS, which is well beyond the typical 144 Hz display ceiling, indicating the CPU can feed frames quickly when the GPU is not heavily loaded. The single-core performance of 6,030 in Cinebench R23 is strong enough to avoid bottlenecks in this FPS title, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p. However, the gap between Low and Ultra settings at the same resolution shows where GPU load begins to cap performance.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured data covers four presets — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — across three resolutions. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 189 FPS, Medium drops to 134 FPS, High sits at 117 FPS, and Ultra falls to 88 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 55 FPS loss, while Medium to High costs 17 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 29 FPS. For competitive play, Low at 1080p offers the highest margin above refresh rates, but the Medium preset at 134 FPS still provides a comfortable cushion while likely improving visual fidelity. The Medium preset also includes the only min/max data in the 1080p set, with a minimum of 114 FPS and maximum of 154 FPS, showing frame pacing consistency.

At 1440p, the pattern shifts. Low yields 138 FPS, Medium 98 FPS, High 86 FPS, and Ultra 64 FPS. The Medium preset here shows a min of 83 FPS and max of 113 FPS, indicating that 1% lows remain above 60 FPS for smoother gameplay. High at 86 FPS is playable but leaves less headroom for drops. Ultra at 64 FPS sits right at the edge of acceptable for a fast-paced FPS, and the lack of min/max data for that preset makes it a riskier choice. The Medium preset at 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance headroom, with the measured min of 83 FPS ensuring that most scenes stay well above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 4K, the options narrow. Medium at 63 FPS with a min of 54 FPS and max of 73 FPS is the only preset with frame time data, and while the average is acceptable, the 54 FPS minimum could cause noticeable stutter in intense firefights. Low at 89 FPS is the safest bet for 4K, providing a solid frame rate that avoids the sub-60 dips seen in Medium. High at 55 FPS and Ultra at 41 FPS are both below the ideal threshold for an FPS, with Ultra being borderline unplayable. For this combo, the data supports Medium at 1080p and 1440p, and Low at 4K as the most practical choices.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS progression across resolutions reveals where the GPU becomes the bottleneck. At Low settings, 1080p delivers 189 FPS, 1440p delivers 138 FPS, and 4K delivers 89 FPS. This represents a 27% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 36% drop from 1440p to 4K, totaling a 53% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is consistent with a GPU that has enough compute headroom at lower pixel counts but gets progressively more strained as resolution increases.

At Medium settings, the pattern holds: 134 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p, and 63 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 27%, similar to Low, but the 1440p to 4K drop is 36%, slightly steeper. At High settings, 1080p produces 117 FPS, 1440p produces 86 FPS, and 4K produces 55 FPS — a 26% drop then a 36% drop. At Ultra, 1080p yields 88 FPS, 1440p yields 64 FPS, and 4K yields 41 FPS, with drops of 27% and 36% respectively.

The consistent pattern — roughly a quarter drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further third drop from 1440p to 4K — strongly indicates the RTX 4070 is the limiting component at higher resolutions. The CPU's performance headroom is most evident at 1080p Low, where 189 FPS shows it can drive high frame rates when the GPU is not saturated. As resolution climbs, the pixel throughput demands exceed the GPU's capabilities, and the frame rate falls accordingly. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is ample for this game at these settings, so the constraint is raw shading and rasterization throughput rather than memory capacity.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 1,530 out of 2,828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. That places it in the 54th percentile of all configurations, meaning slightly more than half of the tested systems perform better. The rank reflects a mid-tier standing that aligns with the hardware's expected positioning: a high-end mobile CPU paired with a mid-range desktop-class GPU.

The GPU's individual benchmark standing provides context. The RTX 4070 scores 26,927 in PassMark G3D and 14,720 in GPU compute, with a percentile rank of 81 among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 37,648 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (0.1% difference), slightly above the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (0.4%), and 1.3% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile. The CPU's 95th percentile ranking is far stronger than the GPU's 81st, which explains why the combo rank sits in the middle — the GPU drags the overall position down relative to the CPU's potential.

In practical terms, the 1,530 rank means that while this combo is not a top-tier performer in Lockdown Protocol, it is also far from the bottom. The 2,828 total combos represent a wide range of hardware, and sitting at the midpoint suggests this pairing delivers consistent, playable performance across most settings and resolutions, with the caveat that 4K Ultra is not viable. The gap between the CPU's high percentile and the GPU's lower percentile also suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield a larger performance gain in this game than upgrading the CPU.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip, fabricated on TSMC's 5 nm process with 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. It features 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, 64 raster output units, 46 ray tracing cores, and 184 tensor cores. The base clock is 1920 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and memory runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory sits on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The card's compute capabilities include 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 and FP16 performance, a pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s, and a texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s. It draws 200 W through a single 16-pin connector, with a suggested PSU of 550 W, and connects via PCIe 4.0 x16.

The GPU's role in Lockdown Protocol becomes clearer when examining the measured frame rates. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 189 FPS, which is a strong result that suggests the GPU is not fully utilized at this resolution and preset. As settings increase, the frame rate drops in a pattern that tracks GPU workload. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 41 FPS, showing the GPU is thoroughly saturated at that extreme. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this game — frame rates do not show signs of memory capacity limitations, and the 504.2 GB/s bandwidth provides enough throughput for the texture and geometry loads at 4K.

The RTX 4070's benchmark scores put it in perspective. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 it scores 3,854, and in Geekbench it scores 154,858 in OpenCL and 174,152 in Vulkan. PassMark results include 269 in DirectX 11, 103 in DirectX 12, and 320 in DirectX 9, plus a G2D score of 1,164. These numbers indicate a GPU that is solidly mid-range, with enough power for 1080p and 1440p gaming at high settings in most titles, but not enough for maxed-out 4K. The 81st percentile rank among all GPUs reinforces this positioning.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo's performance in Lockdown Protocol. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 189 FPS with no min/max data recorded. The Medium preset averages 134 FPS, with a minimum of 114 FPS and maximum of 154 FPS. High averages 117 FPS, and Ultra averages 88 FPS, both without min/max figures. The 1080p results show a clear hierarchy: Low is the fastest, followed by Medium, High, and Ultra in descending order, with each step costing a measurable amount of performance.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 138 FPS, Medium averages 98 FPS with a min of 83 FPS and max of 113 FPS, High averages 86 FPS, and Ultra averages 64 FPS. The 1440p Medium preset is the only one with frame time data, and the 83 FPS minimum suggests that even demanding scenes stay above the 60 FPS threshold. The 64 FPS average at Ultra is technically playable but leaves little margin for drops, making it a borderline choice for competitive play.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 89 FPS, Medium averages 63 FPS with a min of 54 FPS and max of 73 FPS, High averages 55 FPS, and Ultra averages 41 FPS. The 4K Medium preset's minimum of 54 FPS falls below the 60 FPS target, indicating that even the middle preset can experience stutter in heavy scenes. Low at 89 FPS is the only 4K preset that maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, while High and Ultra are both below the playability threshold for a fast-paced FPS.

Comparing across resolutions at the same setting, the scaling is consistent. Low goes from 189 FPS at 1080p to 138 FPS at 1440p to 89 FPS at 4K. Medium goes from 134 FPS to 98 FPS to 63 FPS. High goes from 117 FPS to 86 FPS to 55 FPS. Ultra goes from 88 FPS to 64 FPS to 41 FPS. The pattern shows a roughly 25-30% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 35-40% drop from 1440p to 4K across all settings, which points to the GPU as the scaling bottleneck. The CPU's contribution is most visible at 1080p Low, where the high frame rate demonstrates that the processor can keep up with the GPU's output, but as resolution increases, the GPU's limits become the dominant factor in determining final performance.