Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with AMD Ryzen 9 9900X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

The measured frame rate data for Lockdown Protocol with the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 covers four quality presets across three resolutions, with average FPS values ranging from 44.4 at 4K Ultra to 186.4 at 1080p Low. The combination ranks 940th out of 1,637 tested CPU-GPU pairs for this game, placing it in the upper-middle portion of the field. The data shows a clear pattern: the RTX 4060, which sits at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the Ryzen 9 9900X, at the 94th CPU percentile, provides ample headroom for lower-resolution workloads.

Settings Recommendations

The measured results indicate that the Ultra preset delivers playable but not ideal performance, with average FPS of 90.3 at 1080p, 66.4 at 1440p, and 44.4 at 4K. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate dips below the 60 FPS threshold that most FPS players consider acceptable, making this preset unsuitable for that resolution. However, at 1080p and 1440p, Ultra remains viable for those who prioritize visual fidelity over refresh rate.

The High preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance across all three resolutions. At 1080p, it achieves 115.2 FPS, which is 24.9 FPS higher than Ultra. At 1440p, High produces 87.3 FPS, comfortably above 60 FPS. Even at 4K, High maintains 58.2 FPS, just below the 60 FPS mark but still smooth enough for many players. The step from High to Medium yields diminishing returns: at 1080p, Medium provides 135 FPS versus High's 115.2 FPS, a 19.8 FPS gain, but at 4K the gain is only 7 FPS (65.2 vs 58.2).

For competitive play at high refresh rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 186.4 FPS, which is more than double the Ultra preset's 90.3 FPS at the same resolution. Even at 1440p, Low reaches 139.1 FPS, making it the only preset besides Medium at 1080p that exceeds the 135 FPS mark. The data suggests that players with 144Hz or 165Hz monitors should consider Low or Medium presets at 1080p, while those with 60Hz displays can comfortably use High at 1440p or even 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz, with 3,072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. The memory clock runs at 2125 MHz, with 17 Gbps effective speed.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 186.4 FPS, indicating that the RTX 4060 is not the bottleneck at this setting. However, the performance drop from 1080p Low to 4K Low is substantial: 86.6 FPS at 4K represents a 53.5% reduction, which points to the GPU's memory bandwidth and 8 GB capacity being stressed at higher resolutions. The GPU's benchmark scores support this interpretation: its PassMark G3D score of 19,545 places it at the 66th percentile, with nearest rivals including the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23,321, 0.6% higher) and Intel Arc B580 (23,021, 0.7% lower).

The RTX 4060's 128-bit memory bus is a limiting factor for 4K performance. At 4K Ultra, the GPU delivers only 44.4 FPS, while at 1080p Ultra it reaches 90.3 FPS. This 45.9 FPS difference highlights how the GPU's fillrate and bandwidth constraints scale with pixel count. The FP32 compute of 15.11 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s are adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but struggle to maintain high frame rates at 4K with demanding settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The data shows 1440p High as the sweet spot, delivering 87.3 FPS. This provides a 60+ FPS experience with good visual quality, while 1080p High offers 115.2 FPS for higher refresh rates, and 4K High barely reaches 58.2 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from Low to Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, the drop is 96.1 FPS (from 186.4 to 90.3). At 1440p, the drop is 72.7 FPS (139.1 to 66.4). At 4K, the drop is 42.2 FPS (86.6 to 44.4). The absolute loss shrinks at higher resolutions, but the percentage loss grows.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Lockdown Protocol?

A: Yes, but only at Low and Medium presets. 4K Low averages 86.6 FPS, and 4K Medium averages 65.2 FPS. The High preset at 58.2 FPS is borderline, while Ultra at 44.4 FPS is below the 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X has an average benchmark score of 54,450, which is 0.4% lower than the Ryzen 9 9900X3D (54,681), 0.7% higher than the Intel Core i7-14700F (54,097), and 1.5% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (55,304).

Q: What is the impact of the GPU's 8 GB VRAM on this game?

A: At 4K Ultra, the 8 GB capacity appears insufficient, as the average FPS drops to 44.4. The 272.0 GB/s bandwidth on a 128-bit bus also limits performance at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the 53.5% FPS drop from 1080p Low to 4K Low.

Q: Which preset provides the most consistent experience across all resolutions?

A: The Medium preset shows the least variation in relative performance: 135 FPS at 1080p, 101.1 FPS at 1440p, and 65.2 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is 51.7%, slightly better than High's 49.5% drop.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are 186.4 for Low, 135 for Medium, 115.2 for High, and 90.3 for Ultra. The gap between Low and Medium is 51.4 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 19.8 FPS, and the gap between High and Ultra is 24.9 FPS. This pattern suggests that the Low preset removes significant GPU workload, while the differences between Medium, High, and Ultra are more evenly distributed.

At 2560x1440, the results are 139.1 FPS for Low, 101.1 FPS for Medium, 87.3 FPS for High, and 66.4 FPS for Ultra. The relative spacing between presets narrows compared to 1080p: Low to Medium is a 38 FPS difference, Medium to High is 13.8 FPS, and High to Ultra is 20.9 FPS. The 1440p results show that the GPU becomes more of a limiting factor, as the absolute FPS values compress.

At 3840x2160, the measured values are 86.6 FPS for Low, 65.2 FPS for Medium, 58.2 FPS for High, and 44.4 FPS for Ultra. The spacing between presets tightens further: Low to Medium is 21.4 FPS, Medium to High is 7 FPS, and High to Ultra is 13.8 FPS. The 4K data reveals that the GPU's performance ceiling is approached even at Low settings, with the 86.6 FPS result being only 53.5% of the 1080p Low value.

Resolution Scaling

Scaling from 1080p to 1440p, the FPS drops by 47.3 FPS at Low (186.4 to 139.1), 33.9 FPS at Medium (135 to 101.1), 27.9 FPS at High (115.2 to 87.3), and 23.9 FPS at Ultra (90.3 to 66.4). The percentage reductions are 25.4%, 25.1%, 24.2%, and 26.5% respectively, which are close to the theoretical 56% pixel increase from 1080p to 1440p, indicating that the GPU is handling the resolution scaling relatively efficiently.

Moving from 1440p to 4K, the FPS drops by 52.5 FPS at Low (139.1 to 86.6), 35.9 FPS at Medium (101.1 to 65.2), 29.1 FPS at High (87.3 to 58.2), and 22 FPS at Ultra (66.4 to 44.4). The percentage reductions are 37.7%, 35.5%, 33.3%, and 33.1%. These smaller percentage drops compared to the 1080p-to-1440p transition suggest that the CPU begins to play a larger role at lower settings, while the GPU remains the primary constraint at higher settings.

The overall scaling from 1080p Low to 4K Low shows a 53.5% FPS reduction, while from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra the reduction is 50.8%. This counterintuitive result indicates that at Low settings, the CPU-GPU balance shifts, with the Ryzen 9 9900X's 12 cores and 24 threads providing sufficient headroom for the GPU to be fully utilized. The 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth of the CPU and the 272.0 GB/s of the GPU create a system where resolution scaling is primarily GPU-bound.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. It features 64 MB of shared L3 cache, 1 MB L2 per core, and 80 KB L1 per core. The CPU's benchmark scores are strong: Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 46,438, single-core reaches 6,555, and Geekbench multicore hits 19,827.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is most apparent at 1080p Low, where the system achieves 186.4 FPS. This high frame rate indicates that the Ryzen 9 9900X can feed the RTX 4060 with enough data to avoid a CPU bottleneck. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 1,286 and 2-thread score of 2,519 suggest that the game benefits from the high boost clock of 5.60 GHz, which is critical for FPS titles that rely on single-thread performance.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities, shown by its 3DMark max-threads score of 13,929 and PassMark multithread score of 54,643, provide headroom for background tasks and game engine threads. The 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54,450, places it slightly below the Ryzen 9 9900X3D (54,681, 0.4% higher) but above the Intel Core i7-14700F (54,097, 0.7% lower). At 4K Ultra, the CPU is clearly not the limiting factor, as the 44.4 FPS result is far below what the Ryzen 9 9900X could theoretically support. The data suggests that for this game, the RTX 4060 is the bottleneck at all resolutions above 1080p Low, and the CPU's primary contribution is maintaining consistent frame delivery at lower resolutions and settings.