Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 delivers playable performance in Lockdown Protocol only at 1080p with Low settings, where it averages 74.4 FPS. At every other tested resolution and preset combination, the system falls short of the 60 FPS playability threshold. The recorded data shows a clear pattern: this combination is a 1080p-focused setup that requires reduced graphical settings to maintain smooth gameplay, and it cannot handle 1440p or 4K at any preset level.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark results for Lockdown Protocol were recorded across three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four quality presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). Average frame rates vary dramatically depending on both resolution and settings, with the gap between Low and Ultra widening as resolution increases.

At 1920x1080, the system achieves its best performance with Low settings, producing an average of 74.4 FPS. This is the only configuration that clears the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings drop the average to 55.9 FPS, which is below playable but still relatively close. High settings yield 49.1 FPS, and Ultra settings fall further to 34.0 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a drop of 40.4 FPS, or roughly 54% of the Low-setting performance. This indicates that graphical quality has a substantial impact on frame rate at 1080p, but the game remains somewhat playable at Medium for users who accept frame rates in the mid-50s.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance degrades considerably across all presets. Low settings produce 58.2 FPS, which is just 1.8 FPS below the 60 FPS target. This is the closest the system comes to playable at 1440p, but it still falls short. Medium settings average 38.2 FPS, High settings drop to 37.2 FPS, and Ultra settings bottom out at 26.6 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 31.6 FPS. Notably, the gap between Medium and High is minimal at only 1.0 FPS, suggesting that the game's Medium preset offers nearly identical performance to High at this resolution, likely due to GPU memory or bandwidth constraints rather than compute limitations.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates under any condition. Low settings produce the best result at 37.5 FPS, which is less than two-thirds of the 60 FPS target. Medium settings average 24.6 FPS, High settings drop to 22.4 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 16.0 FPS. The resolution scaling penalty is severe: comparing Low settings across all three resolutions, 1440p delivers 58.2 FPS versus 37.5 FPS at 4K, a drop of 20.7 FPS or 36%. The 1080p Low result of 74.4 FPS is nearly double the 4K Low figure.

The data shows no min or max frame rate values were recorded for any configuration, so the analysis relies solely on average FPS. The absence of minimum frame rate data means stutter and frame pacing cannot be assessed directly, but the average values alone indicate that only the 1080p Low preset provides a comfortable margin above the playability threshold.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Lockdown Protocol at 60 FPS on a 1920x1080 monitor?

A: Yes, but only with Low settings. The measured average FPS at 1080p Low is 74.4, which clears the 60 FPS threshold by 14.4 FPS. Medium settings fall to 55.9 FPS, High to 49.1 FPS, and Ultra to 34.0 FPS, so any preset above Low will not maintain a consistent 60 FPS experience.

Q: Is 2560x1440 playable with this CPU and GPU combination?

A: No. The best result at 1440p is 58.2 FPS with Low settings, which is 1.8 FPS below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium, High, and Ultra presets produce 38.2, 37.2, and 26.6 FPS respectively, all significantly below playable levels.

Q: What is the highest resolution this combination can handle?

A: According to the recorded data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where any preset achieves an average FPS above 60. At 2560x1440 and 3840x2160, no settings combination reaches the playable threshold.

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

A: The average FPS drops from 74.4 at 1080p Low to 58.2 at 1440p Low, a reduction of 16.2 FPS or approximately 22%. This indicates that resolution scaling has a notable impact on the GPU's workload.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide any benefit at lower resolutions?

A: No. At 1080p Ultra, the system averages 34.0 FPS, which is below the playable threshold and also lower than the 1080p Medium result of 55.9 FPS. The visual quality increase from Ultra does not come with acceptable performance at any resolution.

Q: How does this combination rank among all tested systems for Lockdown Protocol?

A: This specific CPU and GPU pairing ranks 3535 out of 3714 tested combinations. This places it in the lower percentile of tested hardware, indicating that most other configurations deliver better performance in this game.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals how the CPU and GPU divide responsibilities in Lockdown Protocol. The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. It scores 4,051 in the 3DMark 16-thread test and 893 in the single-thread test, with a PassMark multithread score of 14,015. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 has 896 shading units, 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, and a memory bandwidth of 128.1 GB/s. Its PassMark G3D score is 7,880.

The resolution scaling pattern indicates that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the system delivers 74.4 FPS, but at 1440p Low it drops to 58.2 FPS, a 22% reduction. At 4K Low, the frame rate falls to 37.5 FPS, another 36% drop from 1440p. These reductions are consistent with GPU-bound workloads, where higher resolutions increase the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth demands. The GTX 1650's 4 GB memory capacity and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth are likely limiting factors at higher resolutions, particularly when textures and effects demand more video memory.

The settings scaling provides additional evidence. At 1080p, going from Low to Medium reduces performance by 18.5 FPS, while going from Medium to High reduces it by only 6.8 FPS. This non-linear scaling suggests that the GPU has enough headroom at Low settings, but certain graphical features in Medium and High presets disproportionately tax the hardware. At 1440p, the gap between Medium and High is just 1.0 FPS, indicating that the GPU is already saturated and additional settings changes have minimal impact. At 4K, all presets are within a range of 21.5 FPS (from 16.0 to 37.5), showing that resolution is the dominant factor.

The CPU's role is less pronounced at higher resolutions because the GPU cannot keep up with frame generation. The i3-12100F's single-thread score of 893 in 3DMark suggests adequate per-core performance for game logic and physics, but the overall system performance is constrained by the GPU. At 1080p Low, where the GPU has more headroom, the CPU must work harder to feed frames, and the 74.4 FPS result shows the processor can handle that workload. However, the 4-core design with 8 threads may limit performance in CPU-heavy scenarios, though the data does not isolate CPU-specific bottlenecks.

The verdict by resolution confirms the GPU-centric nature of the bottleneck. Since no settings at 1440p or 4K reach 60 FPS, the GPU is clearly the limiting component at those resolutions. At 1080p, the GPU can deliver playable frame rates only at Low settings, suggesting that the combination's overall performance is dictated by the GTX 1650 rather than the i3-12100F.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i3-12100F provide context for its performance in this system. The database lists four CPUs with average benchmark scores close to 13,494 for the i3-12100F. The Intel Core 3 N355 has an average score of 13,492, a delta of 0% from the i3-12100F. The Intel Core i5-9500 scores 13,452, which is 0.3% lower. The Intel Core 5 120UL scores 13,594, which is 0.7% higher. The Intel Core i7-1250U scores 13,351, which is 1.1% lower. These processors would likely produce very similar frame rates in Lockdown Protocol when paired with the same GTX 1650, as their CPU performance is statistically equivalent.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 has an average benchmark score of 7,472. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 8850M with an average score of 7,447, a delta of 0.3% lower. The Intel UHD Graphics 750 scores 7,441, which is 0.4% lower. The AMD Radeon R7 350 scores 7,425, which is 0.6% lower. The Intel Arc A310 scores 7,550, which is 1.0% higher. When paired with the same i3-12100F CPU, these GPUs would deliver nearly identical performance in Lockdown Protocol, meaning users with any of these alternatives would see the same playability limitations: 1080p Low only.

It is important to note that the Intel UHD Graphics 750 is an integrated solution, and its proximity to the GTX 1650 in benchmark scores suggests that discrete GPU performance is not vastly superior to some integrated options in this specific workload. However, the game's requirements at higher resolutions and presets would still exceed what any of these near-rival GPUs can provide.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Lockdown Protocol, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 ranks 3535 out of 3714 combinations. This places it in the bottom 5% of all tested systems, with only 179 combinations performing worse. The rank reflects the significant limitations of this hardware for the game, particularly at higher resolutions and settings.

The ranking is consistent with the measured FPS data. Only one configuration (1080p Low) achieves playable performance, and even that result is modest at 74.4 FPS. The vast majority of tested combinations likely include more powerful GPUs or CPUs that can handle 1440p or higher presets. The i3-12100F's percentile ranking of 68 among all CPUs indicates it is a mid-tier processor, but the GTX 1650's percentile ranking of 40 among all GPUs shows it is below average. The combination of a mid-tier CPU with a below-average GPU results in the low overall ranking for this game.

The gap between this combination and the top performers is substantial, but the data does not include specific rankings for other combinations. The rank of 3535 out of 3714 indicates that users should not expect high-end performance. For players who own this hardware, the practical takeaway is that Lockdown Protocol is playable only at 1080p with Low settings, and any other configuration will result in frame rates below 60 FPS.

The Verdict

The Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 can run Lockdown Protocol, but only under a narrow set of conditions. The verdict by resolution is clear: at 3840x2160, no settings produce playable performance, with the best result being 37.5 FPS at Low settings. At 2560x1440, the best result is 58.2 FPS at Low settings, which still falls below the 60 FPS threshold. At 1920x1080, Low settings deliver 74.4 FPS, which comfortably exceeds the playable threshold.

The system cannot achieve 60 FPS at 1080p Medium, High, or Ultra settings. Medium produces 55.9 FPS, which is close to playable but still below the threshold. High produces 49.1 FPS and Ultra produces 34.0 FPS, both clearly insufficient. At 1440p and 4K, no preset reaches 60 FPS, making those resolutions entirely unsuitable for this hardware.

The best settings for this combination are 1920x1080 with the Low preset, which yields an average of 74.4 FPS. This configuration provides a 14.4 FPS margin above the playable threshold, giving some headroom for demanding scenes. The recorded data does not include minimum frame rates, so the consistency of this performance cannot be fully assessed, but the average suggests acceptable gameplay.

For users who prioritize frame rate over visual quality, this system will deliver a playable experience at 1080p Low. Those who want higher settings or resolutions will need to upgrade the GPU, as the data shows the GTX 1650 is the primary limitation. The CPU's performance is adequate for the game at 1080p, but the overall combination is not well-suited for Lockdown Protocol beyond the most modest configuration. The ranking of 3535 out of 3714 confirms that this hardware is on the low end for this title, and users should temper expectations accordingly.