Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol, a 2024 FPS title, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with both resolution and graphical preset. The measured data for the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 reveals a configuration that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions but capable of exceptional frame rates at 1080p. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across all settings and resolutions, examining the roles of the CPU and GPU, and providing clear guidance on how to optimize the experience.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a pronounced and predictable drop in frame rate as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, which is the primary indicator that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the limiting component in this configuration for Lockdown Protocol. At the "High" preset, the average frame rate falls from 159 FPS at 1080p to 116 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 43 FPS. Moving from 1440p to 4K (3840x2160) sees another 41 FPS drop, landing at 75 FPS. This linear degradation pattern is classic GPU-bound behavior; the CPU is feeding frames faster than the GPU can render them at higher pixel counts.

The scaling is even more dramatic at the "Low" preset, where the frame rates are at their highest. At 1080p Low, the system produces 256 FPS. At 1440p Low, this drops by 68 FPS to 188 FPS. At 4K Low, the frame rate plummets to 121 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is over 50%, confirming that the GPU's rendering throughput is the bottleneck. The CPU, with its 16 cores and 32 threads, is clearly not the constraint, as it can maintain these very high frame rates at lower resolutions where the GPU has less work to do.

At the "Ultra" preset, the scaling shows that 4K is a significant challenge for this combo. The average frame rate at 4K Ultra is 56 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target often considered the baseline for smooth play. The drop from 1440p Ultra (87 FPS) to 4K Ultra (56 FPS) is a 31 FPS decrease, a 35% reduction in performance. This indicates that the RTX 5080's 16 GB of VRAM and its compute capabilities are being fully saturated by the 4K Ultra settings, pushing the system to its limits. The game becomes far less fluid at this extreme setting, highlighting that the GPU, while powerful, is not sufficient to brute-force 4K Ultra in this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, is the dominant force in this system's performance in Lockdown Protocol. Its role is clear from the resolution scaling data: it is the primary determinant of frame rate. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This substantial memory bandwidth is likely a key factor in maintaining playable frame rates at 4K, where texture data and frame buffers are large. The data shows a 30 FPS difference between the Low and High presets at 4K (121 FPS vs. 75 FPS), which suggests that the increased memory pressure and shader complexity at High settings take a measurable toll on performance.

The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 2295 MHz and a boost of 2617 MHz, are high, contributing to its raw compute power of 56.28 TFLOPS for FP32 operations. This raw throughput is what allows the card to achieve over 250 FPS at 1080p Low, a scenario that is almost entirely GPU-bound. However, the benchmark results indicate that even this level of performance has limits. The average 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score for the RTX 5080 is 8637, and its Passmark G3D score is 36565, placing it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs. These figures, while high, are not top-of-the-line, which is consistent with the observed frame rates in this game.

When compared to its nearest rivals in the database, the RTX 5080's performance is closely matched. It is only 0.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon 8060S and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB in average benchmark score. It is 2.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X but trails the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE by 2.2%. This indicates that while the RTX 5080 is a very capable card, its performance in this specific game is within a tight margin of these competitors. The practical effect is that the RTX 5080 is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming and can handle 4K at medium-to-high settings, but it will struggle to maintain high frame rates at 4K Ultra.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate this combo achieves in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 256 FPS, which is achieved at 1920x1080 with the "Low" settings preset.

Q: Is the system capable of running the game at 4K with a 60+ FPS average?

A: Yes, but not at the highest settings. The data shows an average of 75 FPS at 4K High, 86 FPS at 4K Medium, and 121 FPS at 4K Low. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 56 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there from 1440p to 4K at the Medium preset?

A: At 2560x1440 Medium, the average frame rate is 133 FPS, and the minimum recorded is 113 FPS. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average is 86 FPS, with a minimum of 73 FPS. This represents a 47 FPS decrease in average frame rate when moving to 4K.

Q: What is the difference in average frame rate between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields an average of 256 FPS, while the Ultra preset yields 119 FPS. The difference is a 137 FPS drop, indicating a substantial performance cost for the highest visual quality settings.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 has an average benchmark score of 77740, which is 1.6% higher than the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX and the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P. It is 2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX, but it is 1.7% lower than the Intel Core i9-14900K.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming with this hardware?

A: The data suggests the "High" preset is a strong choice. It delivers an average of 116 FPS with no reported minimum, which is a smooth experience. The "Medium" preset also performs well with an average of 133 FPS and a minimum of 113 FPS, offering a higher frame rate buffer.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a clear matrix of performance across all tested settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system is exceptionally fast. The "Low" preset achieves an average of 256 FPS, ensuring maximum responsiveness for competitive play. The "Medium" preset averages 182 FPS, with a minimum of 155 FPS and a maximum of 209 FPS, showing excellent consistency. The "High" preset still delivers an outstanding average of 159 FPS. Even the demanding "Ultra" preset manages to average 119 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most standard monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains very high but shows the expected decrease. The "Low" preset averages 188 FPS, which is still incredibly fluid. The "Medium" preset delivers an average of 133 FPS, with a minimum of 113 FPS and a maximum of 153 FPS, indicating a stable and playable experience. The "High" preset averages 116 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors. The "Ultra" preset is still playable, with an average of 87 FPS, though it lacks the headroom of the lower presets.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's workload becomes much more intense. The "Low" preset, with an average of 121 FPS, is the only setting that provides a comfortably high frame rate for fast-paced action. The "Medium" preset averages 86 FPS, with a minimum of 73 FPS and a maximum of 99 FPS, which is a solid 4K experience. The "High" preset averages 75 FPS, which is playable but with less margin for error. The "Ultra" preset averages 56 FPS, which is the only setting in the entire matrix that falls below the 60 FPS target, indicating that this setting is too demanding for this hardware at 4K.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 plays a supporting role in this configuration, providing ample processing power to ensure the GPU is not starved of data. With 16 cores and 32 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, this mobile processor has a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. Its benchmark scores are formidable; it achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35314 and a single-core score of 2044, placing it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs. This compute capability is more than sufficient for Lockdown Protocol, which is not known for being heavily CPU-dependent.

The data supports this conclusion. The fact that frame rates scale so dramatically with resolution and settings indicates that the CPU is not the bottleneck. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see a plateau in frame rates at lower resolutions. Instead, the system achieves 256 FPS at 1080p Low, which is a very high number and suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at that rate. The CPU's 64 MB of shared L3 cache and high boost clock help ensure consistent frame pacing, even in the heat of combat.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is a top-tier performer. Its average benchmark score of 77740 is 1.6% higher than the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX and 2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX, both of which are powerful processors in their own right. It is narrowly edged out by the Intel Core i9-14900K, which has an average score that is 1.7% higher. In the context of Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's performance is a non-issue; its role is to maintain high minimum frame rates and avoid stuttering, and the data, such as the 73 FPS minimum at 4K Medium, suggests it does this effectively.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the user's resolution and refresh rate priorities. For 1920x1080, the "High" preset is highly recommended. It provides an average of 159 FPS, which is an excellent balance of visual fidelity and performance. The "Ultra" preset, while averaging 119 FPS, offers marginal visual gains for a significant 40 FPS drop, making it less efficient. For competitive play, the "Low" preset at 256 FPS is the best choice, but for most players, "High" is the sweet spot.

For 2560x1440, the "Medium" and "High" presets are both excellent choices. The "Medium" preset provides an average of 133 FPS with a minimum of 113 FPS, ensuring a very smooth experience with a good buffer for demanding scenes. The "High" preset delivers an average of 116 FPS, which is still ideal for 1440p high-refresh-rate monitors. The "Ultra" preset at 87 FPS is acceptable, but the drop in frame rate from "High" is substantial. The recommendation is to use "High" for the best visual quality, or "Medium" if you prefer to maximize frame rate headroom.

For 3840x2160, the choices are more constrained. The "Medium" preset is the recommended choice for the best experience. It delivers an average of 86 FPS with a minimum of 73 FPS, which provides a solid and stable 4K gaming experience without significant compromise. The "High" preset, at 75 FPS, is playable but leaves less headroom for intense action sequences. The "Ultra" preset, with an average of 56 FPS, should be avoided as it falls below the 60 FPS threshold and will result in a less fluid experience. The "Low" preset at 121 FPS is an option for those who prefer maximum performance over visual fidelity, but "Medium" offers the best balance.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of the benchmark database, this combination of components ranks highly for Lockdown Protocol. The combo rank is 978 out of 3714 tested combinations, placing it in the top 26% of all systems. This is a strong showing, indicating that the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 together form a very capable platform for this game.

The ranking reflects the strengths of both components. The CPU's high multi-threaded performance ensures the system is responsive and can handle background tasks. The GPU's significant memory bandwidth and compute power provide the raw frame rates needed for a smooth experience across most of the tested settings. The data shows that this combo excels at 1080p and 1440p, achieving frame rates that are well beyond what is needed for high-refresh-rate displays.

While the RTX 5080 is a high-end GPU, its performance is closely matched by several rivals, which explains why the combo does not rank even higher. The 2.2% difference in GPU benchmark score compared to the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE, for instance, is a small margin that can translate to only a few frames per second in real-world gaming. However, the overall ranking of 978 out of 3714 is a clear indicator that this system is well above average and is more than capable of delivering an excellent Lockdown Protocol experience, particularly at 1440p where it hits the performance sweet spot.