Lockdown Protocol

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Lockdown Protocol with the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti reveal a clear progression as resolution climbs from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At 1080p with Low settings, the combination produces 196 FPS average, while the same settings at 1440p drop to 144 FPS, and at 4K the average falls to 93 FPS. This represents a 52.7% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 35.4% reduction from 1440p to 4K, indicating that the GPU becomes progressively more dominant as the pixel count increases.

The pattern across High settings shows a similar downward slope: 121 FPS at 1080p, 89 FPS at 1440p, and 57 FPS at 4K. The delta between 1080p and 1440p High is 32 FPS, while the delta between 1440p and 4K High is also 32 FPS. This linear scaling suggests the rendering pipeline is responding predictably to the increased pixel workload, with no sudden bottlenecks emerging at any specific resolution.

Medium settings provide the only rows with min and max frame data recorded. At 1080p Medium, the average is 139 FPS with a minimum of 118 FPS and maximum of 160 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 102 FPS with min 87 FPS and max 117 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 66 FPS with min 56 FPS and max 76 FPS. The spread between min and max remains consistent at roughly 20 to 30 FPS across these resolutions, indicating stable frame pacing without severe outlier spikes.

Ultra settings at 4K produce 43 FPS average, which is the lowest recorded result for this combination. The progression from 1080p Ultra at 91 FPS, to 1440p Ultra at 67 FPS, to 4K Ultra at 43 FPS shows a 24 FPS drop between each step. The 4K Ultra result sits below the 60 FPS threshold commonly associated with smooth gameplay, while 1440p Ultra remains playable and 1080p Ultra delivers comfortable headroom.

The scaling behavior indicates that at 1080p, the Ryzen 9 9900X with its 12 cores and 24 threads is capable of feeding the RTX 3060 Ti sufficiently, as evidenced by the 196 FPS Low result. However, the diminishing returns at higher resolutions point to the RTX 3060 Ti, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, as the primary limiting component. The 4K Low result of 93 FPS versus the 1080p Low result of 196 FPS demonstrates that even at minimal graphical load, the GPU cannot maintain the same throughput when pixel count quadruples.

The data suggests that the system transitions from a balanced configuration at 1080p to a GPU-bound configuration at 1440p and 4K. The CPU's strong single-thread performance, as shown by the 3DMark single-thread score of 1286 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2253, is not the constraining factor in this title. Instead, the rendering load at higher resolutions exposes the GPU's limitations, particularly in the 4K Ultra preset where the 43 FPS average reflects the hardware ceiling for this combination.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide clear guidance on which preset offers the best experience for this hardware pairing. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 91 FPS average, which provides smooth gameplay while maximizing visual quality. The High preset at 121 FPS offers a 33% performance increase over Ultra, but the visual difference between High and Ultra in a competitive FPS title is typically less impactful than the frame rate gain. However, the Medium preset at 139 FPS with a minimum of 118 FPS ensures that frame dips stay well above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the safest choice for maintaining consistent performance during intense combat sequences.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 89 FPS is the recommended setting for players who prioritize visual fidelity alongside playable frame rates. The Ultra preset at 67 FPS remains above 60 FPS but leaves little margin for demanding scenes, while the Medium preset at 102 FPS with min 87 FPS provides excellent stability. The measured data indicates that Medium at 1440p offers the best balance between image quality and performance, as the 102 FPS average with a 87 FPS minimum ensures the frame rate never drops into uncomfortable territory.

For 3840x2160, the situation becomes more constrained. The High preset at 57 FPS sits just below the 60 FPS target, while the Medium preset at 66 FPS with min 56 FPS and max 76 FPS demonstrates that even the middle setting produces occasional dips below 60 FPS. The Low preset at 93 FPS is the only 4K option that provides substantial headroom above 60 FPS, but it sacrifices significant visual quality. The Ultra preset at 43 FPS is not recommended for 4K play, as the frame rate falls below what most players would consider acceptable for a fast-paced FPS.

The data suggests that 1080p Medium or High offers the best overall experience for this combination, with 1440p Medium as a viable alternative for users with higher-resolution displays. The 139 FPS average at 1080p Medium, combined with a minimum of 118 FPS, provides both high frame rates and stability, making it the optimal choice for competitive play. The 121 FPS at 1080p High offers a modest visual upgrade with still-strong performance, but the reduced headroom from the 139 FPS Medium result makes the latter more robust for maintaining target frame rates.

At 1440p, the Medium preset's 102 FPS average and 87 FPS minimum offer a compelling combination for players who want higher resolution without sacrificing smoothness. The jump from Medium to High at 1440p costs 13 FPS, which is noticeable but not prohibitive. For 4K users, the Low preset at 93 FPS is the only setting that consistently exceeds 60 FPS, though players with adaptive sync displays may find the Medium preset's 66 FPS average acceptable despite the 56 FPS minimum.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this CPU and GPU combination in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The highest recorded average is 196 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Does the RTX 3060 Ti with 8 GB VRAM experience limitations at 4K in this game?

A: Yes, the 4K Ultra preset produces only 43 FPS average, and even 4K Medium dips to 56 FPS minimum, indicating that the GPU's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for high-settings 4K play.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 9900X's multi-threaded performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X scores 32,172 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, placing it 1.1% behind the Intel Core i9-14900 and 0.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 9015 based on average benchmark scores.

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

A: At 2560x1440, High produces 89 FPS average while Ultra produces 67 FPS average, a difference of 22 FPS in favor of High settings.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9900X a bottleneck at 1080p in this game?

A: No, the 196 FPS Low result at 1080p indicates the CPU is feeding the GPU adequately, and the Ryzen 9 9900X's 3DMark single-thread score of 1286 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2253 show strong per-core performance.

Q: Which resolution and setting combination provides the most stable frame rate based on min FPS data?

A: The 1080p Medium setting provides the most stable experience with an average of 139 FPS, minimum of 118 FPS, and maximum of 160 FPS, maintaining a minimum well above the 60 FPS threshold.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti holds rank 1854 out of 3714 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the upper half of the database. This rank reflects the overall performance across all measured resolutions and settings, and it aligns with the component-level percentiles: the CPU sits at the 92nd percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU sits at the 59th percentile among all GPUs.

The CPU's high percentile ranking is supported by its strong benchmark results, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,172 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 22,174. The Ryzen 9 9900X outperforms its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7313, by 0.2% in average benchmark score, and trails the Intel Core i9-14900 by 1.1%. The GPU's 59th percentile reflects its mid-range status, with the RTX 3060 Ti averaging 16,129 in benchmark scores, placing it 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 9060 and 1.4% behind both the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT.

The rank of 1854 out of 3714 indicates that while this combination is not at the top tier of performance, it delivers respectable results in Lockdown Protocol. The data shows that the CPU is significantly stronger than the GPU in relative terms, as evidenced by the 33-point gap between their percentiles. This imbalance means that the RTX 3060 Ti is the limiting factor in most scenarios, particularly at higher resolutions where the GPU's 8 GB memory capacity and 256-bit bus width constrain performance.

The combination's rank should be interpreted in context: the 3714 tested combinations include a wide range of hardware pairings, from entry-level to enthusiast-grade. The 1854 position places this combo in the middle of the pack, which is consistent with the GPU's mid-range positioning. The CPU's high percentile does not translate into a proportionally high combo rank, because the game's performance is heavily influenced by the GPU at typical gaming resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti plays the decisive role in determining Lockdown Protocol's performance across the measured configurations. The GPU's Ampere architecture, built on Samsung's 8 nm process, includes 4,864 shading units, 152 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operations units. Its boost clock of 1665 MHz and base clock of 1410 MHz, combined with 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, define its raw compute capabilities.

The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which becomes a limiting factor at 4K resolution. The measured data shows that the 4K Ultra preset produces only 43 FPS average, and even the 4K Medium preset dips to 56 FPS minimum. This suggests that the memory subsystem, with its 14 Gbps effective speed, cannot sustain the data throughput required for high-detail rendering at 4K.

The GPU's 59th percentile ranking among all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 16,129 indicate it sits in the mid-range of the performance spectrum. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 9060 at 0.7% higher score, and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT at 1.4% higher score. The RTX 3060 Ti's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,626 and PassMark G3D score of 20,349 provide additional context for its gaming performance.

The RTX 3060 Ti's 38 ray tracing cores and 152 tensor cores support hardware-accelerated ray tracing and DLSS, though the measured FPS data does not include results for these features. The GPU's support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 ensures compatibility with modern game APIs, including those used by Lockdown Protocol.

At 1080p, the GPU's performance is strong enough to deliver 196 FPS on Low settings and 139 FPS on Medium, demonstrating that the 8 GB memory capacity is sufficient for lower resolutions. The transition to 1440p and 4K reveals the GPU's limitations, with 4K Ultra producing the lowest result at 43 FPS. The GPU's 200 W TDP and suggested 550 W power supply indicate its power requirements, though the measured data does not include power consumption figures.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates for Lockdown Protocol with the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a comprehensive view of performance.

At 3840x2160, the results are as follows: Low settings produce 93 FPS average, Medium produces 66 FPS average with a minimum of 56 FPS and maximum of 76 FPS, High produces 57 FPS average, and Ultra produces 43 FPS average. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 50 FPS range, with each step from Low to Medium costing 27 FPS, Medium to High costing 9 FPS, and High to Ultra costing 14 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low produces 144 FPS average, Medium produces 102 FPS average with a minimum of 87 FPS and maximum of 117 FPS, High produces 89 FPS average, and Ultra produces 67 FPS average. The range from Low to Ultra is 77 FPS, with steps of 42 FPS from Low to Medium, 13 FPS from Medium to High, and 22 FPS from High to Ultra.

At 1920x1080, the results are: Low produces 196 FPS average, Medium produces 139 FPS average with a minimum of 118 FPS and maximum of 160 FPS, High produces 121 FPS average, and Ultra produces 91 FPS average. The range from Low to Ultra is 105 FPS, with steps of 57 FPS from Low to Medium, 18 FPS from Medium to High, and 30 FPS from High to Ultra.

The highest recorded average is 196 FPS at 1080p Low, while the lowest is 43 FPS at 4K Ultra. The Medium settings provide the only min and max data, showing that the 1080p Medium configuration has the tightest absolute spread at 42 FPS (118 to 160), while the 4K Medium spread is 20 FPS (56 to 76) and the 1440p Medium spread is 30 FPS (87 to 117).

The data reveals that setting changes have varying impacts depending on resolution. At 1080p, the jump from Low to Medium costs 57 FPS, which is the largest single-setting penalty in the entire dataset. At 4K, the same transition costs only 27 FPS, indicating that at higher resolutions the GPU is already saturated and additional graphical features have less relative impact. The 1440p Low result of 144 FPS is notable for being 8 FPS higher than the 1080p High result of 121 FPS, demonstrating that resolution and settings interact in non-linear ways.

The 4K High result of 57 FPS and the 1440p Ultra result of 67 FPS show that these configurations sit just below and just above the 60 FPS threshold respectively. The 1080p Ultra result of 91 FPS provides comfortable headroom, while the 1440p High result of 89 FPS offers similar performance at a higher resolution. The overall dataset indicates that the RTX 3060 Ti's sweet spot is at 1080p for high settings and 1440p for medium settings, with 4K requiring Low settings to maintain playable frame rates.