Lockdown Protocol

FAQ

Q: What is the measured performance of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB combo in Lockdown Protocol?

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combo delivers an average of 100.3 FPS. At 2560x1440 Ultra, it averages 74.9 FPS, while at 3840x2160 Ultra, it drops to 46.1 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X has an average benchmark score of 54450, placing it 0.7% ahead of the Intel Core i7-14700F and 0.4% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D. It trails the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K by 1.5% and the 245KF by 1.8%.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB sits in the 17th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2913. Its closest rival, the RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB, scores 2907, a 0.2% difference.

Q: At which resolution does the combo achieve the highest frame rate?

A: The highest measured average is 221.7 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The same resolution with Medium settings yields 156.5 FPS, and High settings produce 134 FPS.

Q: How much performance difference exists between Low and Ultra settings at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings average 163.9 FPS, while Ultra settings average 74.9 FPS. That represents a drop of approximately 54% when moving to maximum quality.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank among all tested system combinations?

A: The combo ranks 695th out of 1637 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the upper-middle portion of the database.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X brings 12 cores and 24 threads to this pairing, built on the Zen 5 architecture with a 4.40 GHz base clock and 5.60 GHz boost clock. This is a Granite Ridge part on the AMD Socket AM5 platform, manufactured on TSMC's 4 nm process with 16,630 million transistors across a dual-die design. The L3 cache totals 64 MB shared, with 1 MB of L2 per core and 80 KB of L1 per core.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is significant at lower resolutions where the GPU is less likely to bottleneck. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 12552 and max-thread score of 13929 indicate strong multi-threaded capacity, which matters for a game that must manage player positions, hit detection, and environmental interactions. The single-thread score of 1286 in 3DMark, alongside a Cinebench R23 single-core result of 6555, shows the Zen 5 cores can handle per-thread workloads efficiently — critical for frame pacing in an FPS.

The CPU's 94th percentile ranking among all tested processors underscores its high-end positioning. Compared to the Ryzen 9 9900X3D, the non-3D variant trails by just 0.4% in average score, meaning the standard cache configuration loses little ground. Against the Intel Core i7-14700F, the 9900X leads by 0.7%, while the Core Ultra 5 245K and 245KF outpace it by 1.5% and 1.8%, respectively. These margins are narrow, suggesting that in CPU-bound scenarios, the 9900X will trade blows with its closest rivals rather than dominate.

The memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5 provides ample data throughput for the game's logic. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 24 CPU lanes ensures no bandwidth limitation when communicating with the GPU, even at higher frame rates where draw calls are frequent. The 120 W TDP reflects a power envelope that allows sustained boost clocks under load, though the benchmark data does not isolate thermal throttling effects.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB is an Ada Lovelace part built on TSMC's 5 nm process, with 22,900 million transistors on a 188 mm² die. It operates with a base clock of 2310 MHz and a boost clock of 2535 MHz, paired with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus. Memory bandwidth sits at 288.0 GB/s, with the memory clock running at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective).

The GPU's 17th percentile ranking among all tested cards is a crucial context point. This is not a high-end part; it sits near the bottom quartile of the database. Its benchmark score of 2913 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 ties exactly with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M, and it trails the GTX 860M by 1.5%. The RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB version scores 2907, a 0.2% deficit, indicating that the 8 GB memory buffer does not significantly alter raw compute performance in this test.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's 8 GB VRAM becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the combo averages 46.1 FPS — a playable but not smooth experience. The 4352 shading units and 136 tensor cores provide enough compute for the game's rendering, but the 128-bit memory bus constrains data transfer. The 48 ROPs and 136 TMUs handle rasterization and texturing, but the pixel rate of 121.7 GPixel/s and texture rate of 344.8 GTexel/s are modest by modern standards.

The GPU's boost clock of 2535 MHz helps mitigate some of the architectural limitations. At 1920x1080 Low settings, the combo reaches 221.7 FPS, showing that the GPU can push high frame rates when the workload is light. However, the gap between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p — from 221.7 to 100.3 FPS — reveals how quickly the GPU saturates as quality increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four quality presets, providing a clear picture of scaling behavior.

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings average 221.7 FPS, which is well above any competitive refresh rate. Medium settings drop to 156.5 FPS, still excellent for high-refresh monitors. High settings yield 134 FPS, maintaining fluid gameplay. Ultra settings produce 100.3 FPS, which remains smooth but shows a 55% reduction from Low.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance curve steepens. Low settings average 163.9 FPS, a 26% drop from 1080p Low. Medium settings hit 117.5 FPS, while High settings fall to 97.7 FPS. Ultra settings average 74.9 FPS, which is below the 144 Hz threshold but still playable for most users. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is approximately 54%, mirroring the 1080p pattern.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low settings average 104.7 FPS, which is surprisingly strong given the resolution. Medium settings drop to 75.6 FPS, and High settings fall to 63.9 FPS — borderline for smooth gameplay. Ultra settings average 46.1 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target and will feel stuttery in fast-paced FPS action.

The scaling between settings is consistent across resolutions. For example, moving from Medium to High at 1080p costs 22.5 FPS (from 156.5 to 134), while at 1440p it costs 19.8 FPS (from 117.5 to 97.7). The Ultra preset imposes the heaviest penalty at every resolution, likely due to increased shadow complexity, post-processing, and texture filtering demands that stress the 8 GB VRAM.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 695th out of 1637 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the 42nd percentile of all systems. This is a middle-of-the-pack result, reflecting a CPU that is far stronger than the GPU it is paired with.

The CPU's 94th percentile ranking contrasts sharply with the GPU's 17th percentile. This imbalance suggests that the Ryzen 9 9900X is capable of driving much more powerful graphics cards, and the RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB is the limiting factor in this pairing. In CPU-bound scenarios at 1080p Low, the system shows its potential, but at higher resolutions and settings, the GPU's modest compute and memory bandwidth hold the combo back.

The rank of 695 out of 1637 means the combo outperforms roughly 58% of tested systems but lags behind the top 42%. For a system with a $499 launch MSRP CPU and a $399 launch MSRP GPU, this positioning is consistent with the hardware's tier. The CPU's nearest rivals — the 9900X3D, i7-14700F, and Core Ultra 5 245K — all pair with different GPUs in other combinations, so direct comparison is limited to the CPU's synthetic scores.

The data indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where the GPU can maintain high frame rates. At 4K, the system struggles to hit 60 FPS even at Medium settings, and the Ultra preset at any resolution below 1440p is the practical ceiling for competitive play. The 695th rank reflects a system that delivers solid performance for its component class but does not push into the upper echelons of the database.