Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol is a fast-paced FPS that demands both high frame rates and responsive frame pacing, and the combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile delivers a top-tier experience. The measured results place this specific hardware pairing at rank 806 out of 3714 tested combinations, placing it in the top quarter of all systems tested. This data-driven analysis breaks down the CPU and GPU roles, measured performance across settings and resolutions, and provides clear guidance on how to optimize the game for the best experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the comboRankInGame for this CPU and GPU pairing?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile ranks 806th out of 3714 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol. This places the system in the top 21.7% of all tested hardware pairings, indicating strong performance for this specific game.

Q: At which resolution and settings does the system achieve the highest average FPS?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 262 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This indicates the system has substantial headroom at lower resolutions and settings, making it ideal for competitive play where maximum frame rates are prioritized.

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

A: At 2560x1440 resolution, the High preset delivers an average of 119 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 89 FPS. This represents a 25% performance reduction when moving from High to Ultra, suggesting that the Ultra preset’s additional graphical effects come at a significant cost to frame rate.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have, and what is its memory bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile is equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 576.0 GB/s. This substantial memory capacity and bandwidth ensure the GPU can handle high-resolution textures and complex scenes without bottlenecking.

Q: What are the CPU's core and thread counts, and what is its boost clock?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX features 16 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. This high-thread-count processor provides ample computational power for both gaming and background tasks.

Q: Does the data show any frame time variance at 4K Medium settings?

A: Yes, at 3840x2160 resolution with Medium settings, the system averages 88 FPS with a recorded minimum of 75 FPS and a maximum of 101 FPS. This 26 FPS spread indicates some frame pacing variance at this demanding resolution, though the average remains playable.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile is the primary driver of frame rate in Lockdown Protocol, especially at higher resolutions. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 576.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and high-resolution assets do not become a bottleneck. The GPU's 9728 shading units and 112 ROPs provide the raw compute and pixel throughput necessary for the game's fast-paced rendering. The boost clock of 1695 MHz, while modest compared to desktop variants, is tuned for the mobile power envelope but still delivers exceptional results.

The data shows a clear scaling pattern that attributes performance primarily to the GPU. At 1080p Low settings, the system hits 262 FPS, a figure that requires immense shader and rasterization throughput. The performance difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 140 FPS (262 vs. 122), indicating that the GPU is heavily utilized when graphical effects are enabled. At 4K, the GPU's limitations become more apparent, with the Ultra preset dropping to 58 FPS. This suggests that while the RTX 4090 Mobile is exceptionally powerful, it is still a mobile part that has finite resources at extreme resolutions.

The GPU's benchmark scores corroborate its gaming performance. Its Passmark G3D score of 27212 places it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 43667. The nearest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro M6000, scores 43301, a 0.8% difference, while the RTX A6000 scores 44075, a -0.9% delta. This indicates the RTX 4090 Mobile is competitively positioned within the high-end mobile GPU market.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame of 806 out of 3714 combinations places this system in the top quartile of all tested hardware pairings for Lockdown Protocol. This ranking is a holistic measure of how well the CPU and GPU work together in this specific game engine. The data suggests this is a high-performing combination, but it is not at the absolute top, indicating there are more powerful pairings available.

This rank is particularly telling given the individual component benchmarks. The CPU, with an average benchmark score of 76212, is in the 95th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX, scores 76155, a 0.1% delta, making them virtually identical in synthetic tests. The GPU, with a Passmark G3D score of 27212, is in the 84th percentile of all GPUs. The combination of a top-5% CPU and a top-16% GPU yields a top-22% gaming result, which highlights that Lockdown Protocol may be more sensitive to GPU performance than CPU performance.

The rank also suggests that the system is well-balanced, with no single component bottlenecking the other. For instance, the CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads ensure that the game's logic and physics threads are never starved, while the GPU's 16 GB VRAM and high shader count ensure that frame rendering is not delayed. The 806th rank out of 3714 is a strong result, indicating that users can expect a smooth experience at high settings, even though a few other combinations may offer slightly higher frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the user's target resolution and refresh rate. For 1920x1080, the High preset provides an excellent balance, delivering 162 FPS. This is more than sufficient for any high-refresh-rate monitor and retains most visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 122 FPS, which is still playable but sacrifices 40 FPS for marginal visual gains. The Low preset at 1080p hits 262 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play where frame rate is king.

At 2560x1440, the High preset is the recommended choice, delivering 119 FPS. This is a smooth experience for most gamers and provides a significant visual upgrade over 1080p. The Medium preset at 136 FPS is also viable for those who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, but High offers a better balance. The Ultra preset at 89 FPS is playable but may feel less responsive on high-refresh-rate displays, and the 25% drop from High is substantial.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the most balanced option, delivering 88 FPS with a minimum of 75 FPS. This is acceptable for 4K gaming, though not ideal for fast-paced FPS action. The High preset at 77 FPS is also viable, but the Low preset at 124 FPS is the only way to achieve a truly high frame rate at 4K. The Ultra preset at 58 FPS is not recommended for this game, as the low frame rate will hinder performance in fast-paced encounters.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a consistent performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 262 FPS at Low, 186 FPS at Medium (with a min of 158 and max of 214), 162 FPS at High, and 122 FPS at Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 53% reduction in frame rate, which is a typical cost for the game's highest visual settings.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are 192 FPS at Low, 136 FPS at Medium (min 116, max 157), 119 FPS at High, and 89 FPS at Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 54%, which is consistent with the 1080p scaling. This suggests that the game's settings have a consistent impact on performance regardless of resolution.

At 3840x2160, the system delivers 124 FPS at Low, 88 FPS at Medium (min 75, max 101), 77 FPS at High, and 58 FPS at Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 53%, again consistent. The data shows that the Medium preset at 4K provides a minimum FPS of 75, which is the lowest minimum recorded across all tested configurations, indicating that 4K gaming pushes the system to its limits.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX plays a critical role in ensuring the RTX 4090 Mobile can achieve its full potential in Lockdown Protocol. With 16 cores and 32 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture, this CPU provides massive parallel processing power. Its boost clock of 5.40 GHz ensures that single-threaded game logic runs at high speed, while the 64 MB of L3 cache reduces memory latency for frequently accessed data.

The CPU's benchmark results are exceptional. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 42713 and single-core score of 6030 demonstrate its capability to handle both heavily threaded workloads and latency-sensitive tasks. The Passmark multithread score of 51405 and single-thread score of 3907 further confirm its high performance. The CPU's 95th percentile ranking versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 76212, places it among the best processors available for mobile systems.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with data as quickly as possible. The 16 cores ensure that the game's AI, physics, and network code can run concurrently without creating a bottleneck. The data shows that even at 1080p Low settings, where the GPU is not heavily taxed, the system achieves 262 FPS, indicating the CPU can process game logic at a rate exceeding 260 frames per second. This balance is crucial for maintaining high frame rates in a fast-paced FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows how the system scales from 1080p to 4K, revealing the limiting component at each resolution. At Low settings, the system delivers 262 FPS at 1080p, 192 FPS at 1440p, and 124 FPS at 4K. This represents a 27% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 53% drop from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is nearly linear with pixel count, indicating the GPU is the primary limiter at Low settings.

At High settings, the system delivers 162 FPS at 1080p, 119 FPS at 1440p, and 77 FPS at 4K. This is a 27% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 52% drop from 1080p to 4K, showing similar scaling behavior. The fact that the percentage drops are consistent across settings suggests that the GPU is equally taxed at all quality levels, and the CPU is not becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions.

The data indicates that the RTX 4090 Mobile is the primary limiting component across all tested resolutions and settings. The CPU, with its high core count and clock speeds, is capable of feeding the GPU at rates exceeding 260 FPS. As resolution increases, the GPU's workload grows proportionally, and the frame rate drops accordingly. This is a healthy sign, as it means the system is well-balanced and the CPU is not holding back the GPU, even at 1080p where CPU overhead is typically more significant. Users can expect consistent performance scaling, with the GPU being the definitive bottleneck in this configuration.