Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol presents an interesting case study for the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT. The benchmark data shows a configuration that is heavily influenced by the graphics card at higher resolutions, but one that still delivers exceptionally high frame rates, particularly at 1080p. The measured results indicate a strong pairing for high-refresh-rate FPS gaming, with the CPU's robust multi-threading and single-core performance providing a solid foundation for the GPU to operate at its limits.

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

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge. It features a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. This high boost clock is a significant factor in gaming performance, as it directly impacts the speed at which the CPU can process game logic and feed the GPU. The processor's large 64 MB of shared L3 cache is also crucial for holding game assets, reducing the need to fetch data from slower system memory.

In the context of Lockdown Protocol, an FPS title, the CPU's role is to handle the game's engine, physics, and AI calculations. The benchmark results suggest that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at most settings. For instance, at 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 242.1 FPS. This high frame rate is a clear indicator that the CPU is capable of processing frames far faster than the GPU can render them at lower resolutions. The data shows a clear trend where the average FPS scales almost linearly with resolution and settings, which is typical of a GPU-bound scenario.

However, the CPU's strength is most evident when considering the frame rate headroom. The Ryzen 9 9900X sits in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 54450 places it just 0.4% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and 0.7% ahead of the Intel Core i7-14700F. While these are synthetic benchmarks, they indicate that the CPU has the processing power to keep up with demanding titles. In this specific game, the 12 cores and 24 threads are likely more than sufficient to handle the game's workload, allowing the GPU to be the determining factor for performance.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 152.8 FPS, which is a very playable and smooth frame rate for a competitive FPS.

Q: How much of a performance drop occurs when moving from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 114.2 FPS at 1920x1080 to 55 FPS at 3840x2160 at Ultra settings. This is a significant 59.2 FPS reduction, illustrating the heavy load placed on the GPU at 4K resolution.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU become the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the primary limiting factor at 4K. The average FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings is 83.9 FPS, which is lower than the 176.1 FPS achieved at 2560x1440 with Low settings. This suggests that as the resolution increases, the rendering workload on the GPU grows, and the CPU is not the bottleneck since it can still push high frame rates at lower resolutions.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 9900X compare to the Ryzen 9 9900X3D in average benchmark scores?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X has an average benchmark score of 54450, which is 0.4% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D's average score of 54681. This shows a nearly identical level of performance in general benchmarks.

Q: What is the launch MSRP for the Ryzen 9 9900X?

A: The launch MSRP for the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is $499.

Q: What is the best performance setting for a high-refresh-rate 1440p monitor based on the data?

A: For a high-refresh-rate 1440p monitor, the High setting appears optimal, providing an average FPS of 112.1. This is well above the 85.2 FPS seen at Ultra and still provides a significant visual upgrade over the 176.1 FPS seen at Low, which might be too low quality for some users.

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

The data shows a clear and expected scaling pattern for the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and Radeon RX 6800 XT combination. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves a massive 242.1 FPS. This high frame rate suggests the CPU is capable of feeding frames to the GPU at a very fast rate, but the GPU is likely the limiting factor even here, as the frame rate is not unbounded. Moving to 1440p at the same Low settings, the average FPS drops to 176.1 FPS, a 27% reduction. This is a substantial drop, indicating that the GPU is now working harder to render more pixels.

The trend continues when moving to 4K. At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the average FPS is 113.9 FPS. This is a 53% drop from the 1440p figure. This dramatic scaling with resolution is a classic sign of a GPU-bound workload. The GPU is responsible for rendering the pixels, and as the pixel count increases, the rendering time increases proportionally, leading to lower frame rates. This is further supported by the Ultra settings data, where the frame rate at 4K (55 FPS) is exactly half of the frame rate at 1080p (114.2 FPS), which is a perfect 2x scaling factor for resolution. This indicates that the CPU is not a limiting factor at any resolution, and the performance is almost entirely dictated by the RX 6800 XT's rendering capabilities.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT combination is ranked 542nd out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the top third of all configurations tested for this game. This rank is a strong indicator of the combo's overall capability, given the vast number of possible CPU and GPU pairings.

This ranking is particularly impressive when considering the GPU's age, as the Radeon RX 6800 XT is now an end-of-life product. The data shows that this pairing is capable of outperforming many newer configurations. The high rank is likely a result of the strong CPU, which is in the 94th percentile, combined with a GPU that still holds an 87th percentile ranking. This synergy ensures that the system is well-balanced for high-end gaming, with the CPU providing enough headroom to avoid creating a bottleneck. The rank suggests that for a user with this hardware, Lockdown Protocol will run smoothly at high settings, especially at 1080p and 1440p, where the combo's performance is exceptional.

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

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is a high-end graphics card based on the RDNA 2.0 architecture, featuring the Navi 21 chip. It comes with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a substantial 512.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. This is a significant asset for gaming, as it allows the GPU to quickly access textures and other graphical data, especially at high resolutions and detail settings. The card has a base clock of 1825 MHz and a boost clock of 2250 MHz, which are the speeds at which it operates under load.

The GPU's performance is evident in the benchmark results. It is clearly the dominant component in this pairing for determining frame rates, especially at higher resolutions. The difference between the Low and Ultra settings at each resolution highlights the GPU's workload. For example, at 1440p, the average FPS drops from 176.1 at Low to 85.2 at Ultra, a 91 FPS difference. This shows how much more processing power is required for advanced graphical effects. The RX 6800 XT's 4608 shading units and 72 ray accelerators (RT cores) are responsible for these computations. The GPU's high average benchmark score of 49982 places it just 0.5% ahead of the Intel Arc A550M and 2.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, confirming its strong standing among its peers.

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

Here is a detailed breakdown of the measured average FPS for the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT in Lockdown Protocol.

1920x1080:

• Low: 242.1 FPS
• Medium: 172.6 FPS
• High: 152.8 FPS
• Ultra: 114.2 FPS

At 1080p, the CPU has ample headroom. The jump from Low to Medium is a 69.5 FPS drop, and the incremental drops from Medium to High and High to Ultra are 19.8 FPS and 38.6 FPS respectively. This demonstrates how the GPU struggles more with the higher visual fidelity settings.

2560x1440:

• Low: 176.1 FPS
• Medium: 128.4 FPS
• High: 112.1 FPS
• Ultra: 85.2 FPS

At 1440p, the overall frame rates are lower, but still very high. The gap between Low and Ultra is 90.9 FPS. The scaling from High to Ultra is a 26.9 FPS drop, which is a significant 24% reduction in performance, suggesting that the Ultra preset is particularly demanding on the GPU.

3840x2160:

• Low: 113.9 FPS
• Medium: 83.9 FPS
• High: 68.8 FPS
• Ultra: 55 FPS

At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck. The frame rate drops to a minimum of 55 FPS at Ultra settings, which is just below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. The drop from Low to Ultra is 58.9 FPS, a 52% reduction. This data conclusively shows that for 4K gaming, the RX 6800 XT is pushed to its limits, and the CPU is not the restricting factor. The most demanding settings at 4K will require turning down some options to achieve a higher and more consistent frame rate.