Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT delivers a consistently playable experience in Lockdown Protocol, with the data showing that the strongest settings at each resolution depend heavily on where the bottleneck shifts between the CPU and GPU. At 1080p, the combo pushes well past 100 FPS on every preset, while 1440p remains smooth even at Ultra. The only real compromise appears at 4K, where the Ultra preset dips below the 60 FPS playable threshold, but High settings hold at 69.3 FPS. This is a balanced pairing where the GPU’s 16 GB of memory and the CPU’s four performance cores work together to keep frame rates high, though the scaling between resolutions reveals that the graphics card becomes the limiting factor as pixel count rises.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the benchmark database, the Intel Core i3-12100F sits at the 68th percentile among all tested CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13,494. Its nearest rivals in the database are remarkably close in aggregate performance. The Intel Core 3 N355 scores 13,492, a delta of 0%, meaning the two chips are effectively identical in overall compute power. The Intel Core i5-9500 comes in at 13,452, which is just 0.3% slower, while the Intel Core 5 120UL scores 13,594, putting it 0.7% ahead. The Intel Core i7-1250U trails at 13,351, a 1.1% deficit. For Lockdown Protocol specifically, any of these CPUs would behave nearly identically to the i3-12100F in terms of frame pacing and average FPS, assuming the same GPU and settings.

On the graphics side, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT holds the 51st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 11,627. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660, which scores 11,680 — that is 0.5% higher, making the GTX 1660 a marginally faster card in synthetic tests. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500M scores 11,528, which is 0.9% behind the RX 7800 XT, while the NVIDIA Tesla K20c scores 11,479, a 1.3% gap. The AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT scores 11,842, putting it 1.8% ahead of the RX 7800 XT in the database’s aggregate metric. In practice, this means that swapping the RX 7800 XT for any of these rivals would produce very similar frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, with differences well under 2% in raw compute. However, the RX 7800 XT’s 16 GB of VRAM and 624.1 GB/s memory bandwidth give it a distinct advantage at higher resolutions and texture-heavy settings, something the aggregate scores do not fully capture.

CPU and GPU Roles

The measured FPS data reveals a clear division of labor between the Core i3-12100F and the RX 7800 XT across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the CPU plays a more prominent role because the GPU has headroom to render frames quickly. The jump from Low to Medium settings at 1080p is steep — from 236.1 FPS down to 166.6 FPS — which indicates that the GPU is still the primary driver of performance even at lower resolutions, but the CPU’s four cores (8 threads) are sufficient to feed the GPU without becoming a hard limit. The i3-12100F’s single-thread score of 893 in 3DMark and 1,674 in Cinebench R23 shows it has strong per-core performance, which matters for a fast-paced FPS like Lockdown Protocol.

Moving to 2560x1440, the scaling pattern shifts. Low settings produce 168.9 FPS, Medium drops to 121 FPS, and High yields 107.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is about 47.9 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is only 13.4 FPS. This suggests that as resolution increases, the GPU begins to dominate the workload, and the CPU’s influence on frame rate diminishes. At 3840x2160, the trend is even more pronounced: Low settings average 112.2 FPS, Medium 78.5 FPS, and High 69.3 FPS. The CPU is no longer the limiting factor at 4K — the RX 7800 XT’s 37.32 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 233.3 GPixel/s pixel rate are what determine the ceiling. The data indicates that at 1080p, the i3-12100F is adequate to keep the GPU busy, but at 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, as evidenced by the fact that even Low settings at 4K (112.2 FPS) are lower than Low settings at 1440p (168.9 FPS) — a 56.7 FPS drop that cannot be attributed to the CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. With Low settings, the average FPS is 236.1, which is more than triple the 60 FPS playable threshold. Medium settings average 166.6 FPS, High settings average 147 FPS, and Ultra settings average 111.4 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 69.5 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs 19.6 FPS, and the step from High to Ultra costs 35.6 FPS. This shows that the biggest performance hit comes from moving off Low, but even Ultra remains well above the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong across the board. Low settings average 168.9 FPS, Medium averages 121 FPS, High averages 107.6 FPS, and Ultra averages 79.9 FPS. The delta between Low and Medium is 47.9 FPS, between Medium and High is 13.4 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 27.7 FPS. Every preset at 1440p stays above 60 FPS, with Ultra still holding a comfortable 19.9 FPS margin over the threshold.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops become more significant. Low settings average 112.2 FPS, Medium averages 78.5 FPS, High averages 69.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 50 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The scaling from Low to Medium is a 33.7 FPS loss, from Medium to High is a 9.2 FPS loss, and from High to Ultra is a 19.3 FPS loss. The data shows that Ultra at 4K is the only configuration in the entire dataset that fails to maintain playable frame rates.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Lockdown Protocol at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, but not on the Ultra preset. The measured FPS at 3840x2160 shows High settings average 69.3 FPS, Medium averages 78.5 FPS, and Low averages 112.2 FPS. Ultra drops to 50 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the best settings preset at 1440p?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 averages 79.9 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. This is the highest quality setting that remains playable at this resolution, and it still leaves a 19.9 FPS margin.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 1440p on High settings?

A: At 1920x1080, High settings average 147 FPS. At 2560x1440, High settings average 107.6 FPS. This represents a 39.4 FPS reduction, or roughly a 26.8% drop in average frame rate.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the GPU is still the primary driver, but the CPU has enough headroom to keep up. The i3-12100F scores 893 in 3DMark single-thread and 4,051 in 3DMark 16-thread, which is sufficient for the 236.1 FPS seen on Low settings at 1080p. The CPU’s 68th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it is not a weak link.

Q: Does the RX 7800 XT have enough VRAM for this game at 4K?

A: The RX 7800 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 256-bit bus and 624.1 GB/s bandwidth. The measured FPS at 4K High (69.3 FPS) and Medium (78.5 FPS) indicates that memory capacity is not causing a performance collapse, as the frame rates remain stable above the threshold.

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

A: The combo ranks 1,259 out of 3,714 tested combinations, placing it in the top 33.9% of all configs in the database for Lockdown Protocol. This is a solid mid-to-upper tier ranking, consistent with the playable FPS across most resolution and settings combinations.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT combination holds the 1,259th position out of 3,714 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol. This places the pairing in the upper third of all configurations in the database, which is a strong result given the CPU’s modest 4-core/8-thread layout and the GPU’s 51st percentile standing among all GPUs. The ranking reflects the fact that the combo achieves playable frame rates at every resolution except 4K Ultra, and even at 4K, three out of four presets stay above 60 FPS. The data indicates that the ranking is driven more by the GPU than the CPU, since the RX 7800 XT’s 16 GB of VRAM and high memory bandwidth allow it to handle the higher-resolution workloads that would cripple weaker cards. The i3-12100F’s strong single-thread performance (893 in 3DMark single-thread) ensures that it does not drag the combo down in CPU-bound scenarios like 1080p Low, where the average FPS reaches 236.1. Overall, this rank of 1,259 out of 3,714 suggests that the combo is a viable choice for Lockdown Protocol, though not at the very top tier of performance.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is High, with an average FPS of 69.3. This leaves a 9.3 FPS margin over the playable threshold. Medium (78.5 FPS) and Low (112.2 FPS) are also playable, but High offers the best visual quality without sacrificing playability. Ultra at 50 FPS is not recommended.

At 2560x1440, the best settings preset is Ultra, which averages 79.9 FPS. This is the highest quality option available, and it remains 19.9 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold. All four presets — Low (168.9 FPS), Medium (121 FPS), High (107.6 FPS), and Ultra (79.9 FPS) — are playable, so users can prioritize visual fidelity without concern.

At 1920x1080, the best settings preset is Ultra, averaging 111.4 FPS. This provides a 51.4 FPS margin over the playable threshold, meaning there is ample headroom for demanding scenes. Low (236.1 FPS), Medium (166.6 FPS), and High (147 FPS) are all well above 60 FPS, but Ultra delivers the full visual experience while still maintaining a high frame rate. For players with high-refresh monitors, even the Ultra preset at 1080p will comfortably exceed 100 FPS.