Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol — Intel Core i7-13700K + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT delivers a robust Lockdown Protocol experience across all tested resolutions, though the scaling pattern reveals a system that shifts from CPU-bound at 1080p to GPU-bound at 4K. With measured average frame rates ranging from 62 FPS at 4K Ultra to 280 FPS at 1080p Low, this combination sits comfortably in the upper tier of tested configurations, ranking 685th out of 3,714 combos in this game. The data indicates that players can expect smooth gameplay at most settings, with the primary trade-off occurring between visual fidelity and raw frame rate at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K shows a consistent, though not perfectly linear, decline across all settings presets. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 174 at 1920x1080 to 127 at 2560x1440, then further to 82 at 3840x2160 — a reduction of 47 FPS from 1080p to 1440p and another 45 FPS from 1440p to 4K. This pattern suggests that the GPU becomes increasingly the limiting factor as pixel count rises, with the 4K High result representing a 53% decrease from the 1080p figure.

Low settings exhibit the steepest absolute scaling curve: 280 FPS at 1080p, 206 FPS at 1440p, and 133 FPS at 4K. The 74 FPS drop between 1080p and 1440p, followed by a 73 FPS drop between 1440p and 4K, indicates that even at minimal graphical load, the rendering pipeline is heavily influenced by resolution. Interestingly, the 4K Low result (133 FPS) still exceeds the 1080p Ultra result (130 FPS), demonstrating that this hardware has substantial headroom even at the highest pixel counts when settings are reduced.

Medium settings show a similar trajectory: 199 FPS at 1080p, 146 FPS at 1440p, and 94 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p reduction of 53 FPS mirrors the High preset's absolute drop, while the 1440p to 4K reduction of 52 FPS is slightly larger. Ultra settings produce the lowest frame rates across the board: 130 FPS at 1080p, 96 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K. The 34 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p and another 34 FPS to 4K suggests that Ultra settings impose a more uniform per-resolution cost, likely due to the increased shading and texture workloads.

The scaling behavior indicates that at 1080p, the CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads are likely keeping pace with the GPU's output, as evidenced by the 280 FPS Low result — a figure that approaches the practical limits of many display refresh rates. At 4K, however, the GPU's rendering capabilities become the bottleneck, with even Low settings producing only 133 FPS. The data suggests that players targeting 4K should expect the GPU to dominate performance, while 1080p play leans more on the CPU's ability to feed frames.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 31 chip, provides the graphical horsepower for this combination. Its 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus delivers 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which supports the high-resolution textures and geometric complexity present in Lockdown Protocol's environments. The GPU's boost clock of 2394 MHz and game clock of 2025 MHz, alongside a base clock of 1387 MHz, indicate a wide dynamic range that allows the card to scale its frequency based on workload demands.

The GPU's raw compute capabilities — 51.48 TFLOPS FP32, 5376 shading units, and 192 ROPs — translate directly to the frame rates observed in the measured data. At 4K Ultra, the 62 FPS average suggests that the card is working near its limits, while the 4K Medium result of 94 FPS shows that reducing settings by one tier yields a 52% improvement. The 4K Low figure of 133 FPS demonstrates that the GPU can handle even the most demanding resolution when visual effects are minimized.

Comparing the RX 7900 XT's benchmark profile: its PassMark G3D score of 29,009 places it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13,745. The nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon 660M (score 13,812, delta -0.5%), NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile (score 13,821, delta -0.5%), and AMD Radeon RX 570X (score 13,871, delta -0.9%), indicating that the 7900 XT sits in a closely contested performance band according to aggregate benchmarks. However, the measured Lockdown Protocol results show this GPU delivering strong real-world performance that aligns with its high-end positioning.

The GPU's memory configuration is particularly relevant for Lockdown Protocol, as the 20 GB VRAM capacity ensures that texture streaming and asset loading at 4K Ultra do not encounter capacity limitations. The 800.0 GB/s bandwidth provides sufficient throughput for the high-resolution framebuffer, and the measured FPS at 4K Medium (94 FPS) with a minimum of 80 FPS suggests consistent memory performance without stutter-inducing bottlenecks.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K brings substantial processing power to this combination, featuring 16 cores and 24 threads with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz and base clock of 3.40 GHz. The CPU's architecture, Raptor Lake on Intel's 10 nm process, includes a 30 MB shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 per core, which supports the game's simulation and physics workloads. Its benchmark results — Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 30,745 and single-core score of 2,116 — indicate strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance.

In the context of Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role becomes apparent when examining the 1080p results. At 1080p Low, the 280 FPS average suggests that the CPU can feed the GPU at frame rates well above typical display refresh rates. The 1080p Ultra result of 130 FPS, while lower, still demonstrates that the CPU maintains adequate throughput even when the GPU is tasked with heavier rendering loads. The fact that 1080p Low (280 FPS) is more than double 4K Ultra (62 FPS) indicates that resolution scaling, not CPU capability, is the primary constraint at lower resolutions.

The CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads provide ample parallelism for the game's AI, physics, and network code, particularly in multiplayer scenarios. Its PassMark multithread score of 45,887 and 3DMark max threads score of 12,412 reflect strong multi-core performance, which is beneficial for maintaining consistent frame pacing in busy game scenes. The single-thread performance, evidenced by the 3DMark single-thread score of 1,136 and Geekbench single-core score of 2,529, ensures that the game's main thread can keep up with the GPU at high frame rates.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 89th among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 46,881, places it in the upper echelon. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (score 46,971, delta -0.2%), AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (score 47,022, delta -0.3%), AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (score 46,654, delta 0.5%), and Intel Xeon w3-2535 (score 46,653, delta 0.5%). This tight clustering indicates that the 13700K is competitively positioned, and in Lockdown Protocol, its performance characteristics complement the GPU well.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on optimal settings for different priorities. For players seeking the highest frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 280 FPS, which is more than sufficient for even the fastest competitive play. At 1440p, Low settings produce 206 FPS, while at 4K, Low yields 133 FPS — all three results exceed 120 FPS, making Low a viable option for high-refresh-rate monitors at any resolution.

For a balanced experience, Medium settings offer a meaningful visual upgrade with still-strong performance: 199 FPS at 1080p, 146 FPS at 1440p, and 94 FPS at 4K. The minimum FPS values at Medium — 169 at 1080p, 124 at 1440p, and 80 at 4K — suggest that frame pacing remains consistent, with no severe drops that would cause noticeable stutter. This preset appears to be the sweet spot for players who want both quality and smoothness.

High settings provide a further visual enhancement while maintaining playable frame rates: 174 FPS at 1080p, 127 FPS at 1440p, and 82 FPS at 4K. The 4K High result of 82 FPS is borderline for 60 Hz displays but falls short of 120 FPS targets, making it more suitable for 60 Hz monitors or players who prioritize image quality over extreme refresh rates. Ultra settings, however, push the system to its limits: 130 FPS at 1080p, 96 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is playable on 60 Hz displays but offers little headroom for demanding scenes.

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset at 1440p (146 FPS average, 124 FPS minimum) provides the best overall experience for most players, combining solid visual quality with frame rates that support high-refresh-rate displays. For 4K users, Medium (94 FPS) is the recommended balance, while 1080p users can comfortably run High (174 FPS) or even Ultra (130 FPS) without sacrificing smoothness.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 685th out of 3,714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 18.5% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the system's ability to deliver high frame rates across all settings and resolutions, though it is not among the absolute top-tier combos that would achieve higher scores on ultra-high-refresh-rate displays.

The ranking indicates that while this hardware is powerful, there are 684 other combinations that perform better in this game, likely featuring more recent or higher-end GPUs and CPUs. However, the 82nd percentile placement demonstrates that this combo outperforms the vast majority of tested systems, making it a strong choice for Lockdown Protocol players. The combination's balanced performance — with no significant weak point in either CPU or GPU — contributes to its solid showing, as both components are well-matched for the game's rendering and simulation demands.

In the context of the GPU's 55th percentile ranking among all GPUs and the CPU's 89th percentile ranking, the combo's 82nd percentile game-specific ranking suggests that Lockdown Protocol favors the CPU's strengths more than the aggregate benchmarks might indicate. This is consistent with the observed scaling behavior, where the CPU's capability at lower resolutions allows the system to achieve very high frame rates, while the GPU's limitations at 4K Ultra temper the overall score.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1440p provides the best balance. At Medium settings, it delivers 146 FPS average with a 124 FPS minimum, which is smooth on high-refresh-rate displays. 1080p offers higher frame rates (up to 280 FPS at Low), while 4K drops to 62-133 FPS depending on settings.

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

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 94 with a minimum of 80, which is playable. At 4K High, it drops to 82 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 62 FPS. Players targeting 4K should use Medium or Low settings for smoother performance.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance at different resolutions?

A: The Intel Core i7-13700K's 16 cores and 24 threads appear sufficient at all resolutions. The 1080p Low result of 280 FPS suggests the CPU can feed frames well beyond typical display capabilities. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the frame rate drops across settings.

Q: Is the 20 GB VRAM sufficient for Lockdown Protocol?

A: The measured results show no indication of VRAM-related issues. The 20 GB GDDR6 memory with 800.0 GB/s bandwidth supports all tested settings up to 4K Ultra, and the consistent minimum FPS values at Medium settings suggest stable memory performance.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the measured average FPS is 130. This is lower than High (174 FPS) and Medium (199 FPS), but still smooth on 60 Hz and 120 Hz displays, providing headroom for demanding scenes.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 685th out of 3,714 tested combos, placing it in the 82nd percentile. It outperforms the large majority of configurations, though there are 684 combos with higher performance in Lockdown Protocol.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 280 FPS average
• Medium: 199 FPS average, 169 FPS minimum, 229 FPS maximum
• High: 174 FPS average
• Ultra: 130 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 206 FPS average
• Medium: 146 FPS average, 124 FPS minimum, 168 FPS maximum
• High: 127 FPS average
• Ultra: 96 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 133 FPS average
• Medium: 94 FPS average, 80 FPS minimum, 108 FPS maximum
• High: 82 FPS average
• Ultra: 62 FPS average

The data shows a clear trend: at every resolution, Low settings provide the highest frame rates, followed by Medium, High, and Ultra in descending order. The Medium preset consistently offers the only measured minimum and maximum values, indicating that this setting was tested with the most comprehensive frame time data. The gap between Low and Medium at each resolution is substantial — 81 FPS at 1080p, 60 FPS at 1440p, and 39 FPS at 4K — suggesting that the Medium preset introduces significant graphical effects that impact performance. The gap between High and Ultra is smaller in absolute terms (44 FPS at 1080p, 31 FPS at 1440p, 20 FPS at 4K), implying that Ultra settings add relatively less visual benefit per frame rate cost.