Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination delivers exceptional performance in Lockdown Protocol, ranking 63rd out of 2,828 tested combos. This places the pairing in the top 2.2% of all systems tested, which is consistent with the hardware's individual standing: the CPU sits in the 91st percentile among all processors, and the GPU ranks in the 88th percentile among all graphics cards. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings confirm that this is a high-end configuration capable of maintaining competitive FPS even at maximum graphical loads.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a 120 W TDP. The CPU features a substantial 128 MB of L3 cache, which is particularly relevant for gaming workloads that benefit from large on-die data storage. Its memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5 provides ample data throughput for modern game engines.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's contribution is most visible when frame rates are extremely high. At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 365 FPS average, which is a demanding scenario for the processor because the GPU has relatively little work to do. At such high frame rates, the CPU's per-thread performance becomes critical. The 9900X3D scores 6,739 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 1,269 in 3DMark single-thread, indicating strong single-threaded capabilities that help maintain high minimum frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios.

The multi-threaded performance is equally robust. The CPU scores 47,737 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 13,795 in 3DMark max-threads, reflecting its ability to handle background tasks and game engine threads simultaneously. In comparison to its nearest rivals, the 9900X3D has an average benchmark score of 54,762, which is 0.6% behind the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (55,093) and 1.3% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54,053). It also leads the Intel Xeon 6505P by 2.0% and the Intel Core i7-14700F by 2.1%. These deltas are small, suggesting that while the 9900X3D is not the absolute fastest CPU in its class, it is within a narrow performance band of its closest competitors.

The relationship between CPU performance and Lockdown Protocol's frame rates is most evident at 1080p Low, where the average FPS of 365 is likely CPU-bound. The high boost clock of 5.50 GHz and the large L3 cache help the processor maintain consistent frame pacing. At higher resolutions, the CPU's role diminishes relative to the GPU, but the 12-core configuration ensures that no CPU thread becomes a bottleneck in the game's multi-threaded rendering pipeline.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD102 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 render output units, along with 128 ray tracing cores and 512 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, with a memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). It is equipped with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 1.01 TB/s of memory bandwidth.

The RTX 4090's massive memory capacity and bandwidth are crucial for Lockdown Protocol at high resolutions and settings. At 4K Ultra, the system averages 81 FPS, which requires the GPU to process a large number of pixels while managing high-resolution textures and effects. The 24 GB VRAM ensures that even the most demanding texture packs and shadow maps fit entirely within dedicated graphics memory, avoiding the performance penalties associated with memory spilling to system RAM.

The GPU's compute capabilities are substantial, with an FP32 throughput of 82.58 TFLOPS and a texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s. These figures translate to direct performance benefits in Lockdown Protocol's rendering pipeline, particularly for particle effects, post-processing, and lighting calculations. The pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s indicates how quickly the GPU can fill the framebuffer, which is a key factor at 4K resolution where the total pixel count exceeds 8.3 million per frame.

In comparison to its nearest rivals in the benchmark database, the RTX 4090 has an average benchmark score of 60,347. This is essentially tied with the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, 0% delta) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140, 0.3% delta). The RTX 4090 trails the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M by 2.5% (61,896) but leads the AMD Radeon PRO V710 by 2.9% (58,657). These comparisons are based on aggregate synthetic benchmarks, however, and Lockdown Protocol's measured results show the 4090 performing strongly in real-world gaming conditions.

At 1080p High, the system reaches 228 FPS average, and at 1440p High it maintains 167 FPS. These numbers demonstrate that the GPU has ample headroom for competitive play at standard resolutions. The GPU's role becomes dominant at 4K, where the frame rates drop significantly compared to lower resolutions, indicating that the rendering load scales aggressively with pixel count.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of resolution scaling that highlights the GPU-bound nature of Lockdown Protocol at higher pixel counts. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 365 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low reduces this to 270 FPS, a drop of 95 FPS (26.0%). At 4K Low, the average falls to 174 FPS, which is 52.4% lower than the 1080p Low figure. This progression shows that even at the lowest settings, resolution scaling has a substantial impact on performance.

At Medium settings, the scaling follows a similar trajectory. The 1080p Medium average of 261 FPS drops to 192 FPS at 1440p (a 26.4% reduction) and then to 124 FPS at 4K (a 52.5% reduction from 1080p). The High preset shows 228 FPS at 1080p, 167 FPS at 1440p (26.8% lower), and 108 FPS at 4K (52.6% lower). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings—roughly 26% from 1080p to 1440p and an additional 26-27% from 1440p to 4K—indicates that the performance scaling is primarily driven by pixel count rather than settings complexity.

The Ultra preset displays the largest absolute differences. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 171 FPS, which drops to 125 FPS at 1440p (a 26.9% reduction) and then to 81 FPS at 4K (a 52.6% reduction from 1080p). This pattern suggests that the GPU is the limiting component at all resolutions, as the frame rate scaling closely mirrors the pixel count scaling: 1440p has 1.78 times the pixels of 1080p, and 4K has 4 times the pixels of 1080p. The observed FPS ratios are consistent with a system that is primarily GPU-bound across the entire resolution range.

The fact that the FPS drops are proportionally similar across all settings indicates that the CPU is not introducing a bottleneck even at 1080p Low, where the 365 FPS average is achieved. If the CPU were limiting performance, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p would show a much smaller FPS drop, because the GPU would still have headroom. Instead, the consistent ~26% reduction between adjacent resolutions suggests that the RTX 4090's rendering throughput is the determining factor.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combination achieves in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 365, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does this system perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 81, with no minimum or maximum frame rate data provided in the measurements.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 270 FPS while the Ultra preset averages 125 FPS, a difference of 145 FPS.

Q: Does the system provide consistent frame times at Medium settings?

A: The Medium preset data includes minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the range is 222 to 301 FPS (average 261). At 1440p Medium, the range is 163 to 220 FPS (average 192). At 4K Medium, the range is 105 to 142 FPS (average 124).

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested combinations?

A: This CPU-GPU pairing ranks 63rd out of 2,828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 2.2% of all systems.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking among all processors?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is in the 91st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54,762.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and the desired balance between visual quality and performance. At 1080p, all presets deliver playable frame rates, but the High preset at 228 FPS average offers the best combination of visual fidelity and performance headroom. The Ultra preset at 171 FPS is still well above the threshold for smooth gameplay, but the 57 FPS difference between High and Ultra may not justify the additional graphical load for competitive players who prioritize frame rate.

At 1440p, the High preset at 167 FPS is the recommended choice for most users. It provides a significant visual upgrade over Low (270 FPS) and Medium (192 FPS) while maintaining frame rates that are more than sufficient for fast-paced FPS gameplay. The Ultra preset at 125 FPS is also viable, but the 42 FPS drop from High may be noticeable in scenes with heavy particle effects or complex geometry.

At 4K, the High preset at 108 FPS is the best balance between image quality and performance. The Medium preset at 124 FPS offers a small performance advantage, but the visual reduction may be noticeable on high-resolution displays. The Ultra preset at 81 FPS is the most demanding option and should only be used if the user prioritizes maximum graphical fidelity over frame rate. The Low preset at 174 FPS is available for users who prioritize competitive performance, but the visual downgrade is substantial.

The data indicates that the High preset provides the most consistent experience across all three resolutions, with frame rates of 228 FPS at 1080p, 167 FPS at 1440p, and 108 FPS at 4K. This setting delivers smooth gameplay with high visual quality, making it the recommended default for this hardware combination.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Lockdown Protocol with this CPU-GPU combination covers three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 365 FPS, Medium averages 261 FPS with a range of 222 to 301 FPS, High averages 228 FPS, and Ultra averages 171 FPS. The 1080p results show a clear progression of decreasing performance as settings increase, with the difference between Low and Ultra being 194 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 270 FPS, Medium averages 192 FPS with a range of 163 to 220 FPS, High averages 167 FPS, and Ultra averages 125 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at each settings level shows a reduction of approximately 26% across all presets. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 145 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 174 FPS, Medium averages 124 FPS with a range of 105 to 142 FPS, High averages 108 FPS, and Ultra averages 81 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K is also approximately 26% for each settings level, confirming the consistent resolution scaling behavior. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 93 FPS.

The minimum and maximum FPS data is only available for the Medium preset at each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the minimum of 222 FPS and maximum of 301 FPS represent a frame time variance that is typical for a mid-range settings configuration. At 1440p Medium, the range of 163 to 220 FPS shows a similar relative spread. At 4K Medium, the range of 105 to 142 FPS demonstrates that even at high resolution, the system maintains relatively stable frame pacing with no extreme drops.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination ranks 63rd out of 2,828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places the system in the top 2.2% of all configurations tested, which is a strong result for a gaming-focused setup. The rank reflects the combined capabilities of both components, and the measured FPS data supports this high placement.

The CPU's individual performance contributes to this ranking through its strong multi-threaded and single-threaded scores. With an average benchmark score of 54,762, the 9900X3D is competitive with the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (55,093, -0.6% delta), Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54,053, +1.3% delta), Intel Xeon 6505P (53,701, +2.0% delta), and Intel Core i7-14700F (53,620, +2.1% delta). These narrow deltas indicate that the CPU is not the primary differentiator in the ranking.

The GPU's performance is similarly competitive within its own benchmark context. The RTX 4090's average benchmark score of 60,347 is nearly identical to the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, 0.0% delta) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140, +0.3% delta). The GPU trails the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (61,896, -2.5% delta) and leads the AMD Radeon PRO V710 (58,657, +2.9% delta).

The combination's 63rd place ranking out of 2,828 combos suggests that while both components are individually strong, there are 62 other configurations that achieve higher performance in Lockdown Protocol. These may include combinations with more recently released hardware or configurations that are better optimized for this specific game's engine. However, the measured frame rates show that this system delivers excellent real-world performance, with the ability to maintain high FPS even at 4K resolution with demanding settings. The ranking is a composite measure that considers both synthetic benchmarks and gaming performance, and this combo's position reflects its balanced capabilities across multiple workloads.