Lockdown Protocol

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti produces a wide spread of results in Lockdown Protocol, ranging from a highly playable 181.5 FPS at 1920x1080 on Low settings to a demanding 39.3 FPS at 3840x2160 on Ultra. The combination ranks 980th out of 1637 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database for this title, though the data indicates that performance is heavily dependent on the graphics settings and resolution selected.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 2560x1440 with High settings?

A: The measured average frame rate is 81.3 FPS. This represents a solid experience for a 1440p monitor, though it is significantly lower than the 134.8 FPS achieved at the same resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D has an average benchmark score of 71660, which is 1.8% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X's score of 70420. This indicates a modest performance advantage for the X3D variant.

Q: Is the GPU's performance closer to the NVIDIA TITAN Xp or the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti's average benchmark score is 19402. This places it 1.1% ahead of the NVIDIA TITAN Xp (score 19184) and 0% different from the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 (score 19405), making its performance virtually identical to the GTX 780 in aggregate benchmarks.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average frame rate is 82.6 FPS. This is more than double the 39.3 FPS seen at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, showing a strong scaling with resolution.

Q: Does the CPU's multi-threaded performance stand out relative to its single-threaded performance?

A: Yes, the data shows a significant difference. The Cinebench R23 multicore score is 59712, while the single-core score is 8430. This highlights a massive multi-threading advantage, which is typical for a 16-core, 32-thread processor.

Q: How does the combo rank within the entire database for Lockdown Protocol?

A: The combination is ranked 980th out of 1637 tested combos. This places it in the lower half of all configurations tested, suggesting that while it can run the game, other pairings offer higher performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge. It operates with a base clock of 4.30 GHz and a boost clock of 5.70 GHz, which contributes to its strong benchmark results. In synthetic tests, the CPU achieves a 3DMark max-threads score of 17184 and a single-thread score of 1292, indicating a balanced capability for both heavily threaded and lightly threaded workloads.

The processor's cache hierarchy includes an 80 KB L1 cache per core, a 1 MB L2 cache per core, and a substantial 128 MB of shared L3 cache. This large L3 cache is a defining feature of the X3D series and is likely beneficial in gaming scenarios where data reuse is common. The CPU's memory bandwidth is rated at 89.6 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 interface, and it supports PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes for the CPU.

In the context of Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage game logic. The benchmark results show a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 59712 and a Passmark multithread score of 70255, demonstrating exceptional parallel processing power. However, the game's performance at higher resolutions and settings appears to be constrained by the GPU, as the frame rates drop significantly when moving from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, regardless of the CPU's capabilities. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests it is not the bottleneck in this pairing for most scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested configurations for Lockdown Protocol, this specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti holds a rank of 980 out of 1637 combos. This places it in the 60th percentile of tested systems, meaning that roughly 60% of other combinations deliver higher average frame rates in this game. The rank indicates that while the CPU is a top-tier part, the GPU's age and performance class limit the overall potential of the system.

The CPU itself ranks in the 96th percentile against all other CPUs, showing it is one of the most powerful processors tested. However, the GPU ranks in the 61st percentile against all other GPUs, which is a much lower standing. The discrepancy between the CPU's high percentile and the GPU's lower percentile explains why the combo's overall rank is not higher. The data suggests that the GTX 1080 Ti is the limiting factor for achieving higher frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, as the CPU has ample headroom to support a more powerful graphics card. The gap between the two components is significant, leading to a situation where the CPU's potential is not fully utilized in this specific configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are as follows: 181.5 FPS on Low, 125.7 FPS on Medium, 112.2 FPS on High, and 82.6 FPS on Ultra. The jump from Low to Medium is a 55.8 FPS drop, while the transition from High to Ultra is a 29.6 FPS drop, indicating that the Ultra preset is particularly demanding.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease substantially. The averages are 134.8 FPS on Low, 97.2 FPS on Medium, 81.3 FPS on High, and 61.0 FPS on Ultra. The performance hit from 1080p to 1440p is notable, with the Low setting losing 46.7 FPS and the Ultra setting losing 21.6 FPS. This shows that the GTX 1080 Ti is under significant load at this resolution, especially with higher quality settings.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is pushed to its limits. The average frame rates are 87.4 FPS on Low, 63.7 FPS on Medium, 54.1 FPS on High, and 39.3 FPS on Ultra. The drop from 1440p to 4K is severe, with the Low setting losing 47.4 FPS and the High setting losing 27.2 FPS. The 39.3 FPS result at 4K Ultra is below the threshold for smooth gameplay, while the 54.1 FPS at 4K High is borderline. The data indicates that the GTX 1080 Ti can handle 1080p and 1440p gaming well, but it struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K with higher settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is built on the Pascal architecture and features the GP102 chip. It has 3584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 88 raster operation pipelines. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1481 MHz and a boost clock of 1582 MHz, with memory running at 1376 MHz (11 Gbps effective). The 11 GB of GDDR5X memory is accessed via a 352-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 484.4 GB/s.

This GPU's role in Lockdown Protocol is to render the game's graphics, and the benchmark results show its strengths and limitations. The GPU achieves a Passmark G3D score of 18600 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2231. In terms of raw compute, it delivers 11.34 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. Its pixel rate is 139.2 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 354.4 GTexel/s, which are the primary factors determining fill-rate performance.

The data shows that the GPU is the primary bottleneck in this combo. At 1920x1080 Low, the system achieves 181.5 FPS, but this drops to 82.6 FPS at Ultra, a 54.5% reduction. At 3840x2160, the frame rate plummets to 39.3 FPS at Ultra, indicating that the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute capabilities are insufficient for 4K high-fidelity rendering. The GPU's 61st percentile ranking and its nearest rival being the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 (with a 0% deltaPct) highlight its age and performance tier. The GTX 1080 Ti lacks modern features like dedicated ray tracing cores, and its DirectX 12 Passmark score of 66 is particularly low, which may impact performance in titles that heavily utilize DX12 features. The benchmark results consistently show that the GTX 1080 Ti is a capable 1080p and 1440p card, but it is not suited for 4K gaming at high settings.