Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti delivers a clear, tiered performance profile in Lockdown Protocol, with the benchmark data showing a system that scales predictably across resolutions and presets. At 1920x1080, the combo is overwhelmingly capable, producing an average of 158.9 FPS on Low settings and still maintaining a robust 75 FPS at Ultra, the highest preset tested. Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain fluid, with High settings yielding 75.1 FPS, but the Ultra preset drops to 54.5 FPS, falling below the 60 FPS playability threshold. At 4K (3840x2160), the system struggles with demanding presets, as High settings average only 46.4 FPS and Ultra drops to 34.2 FPS, though Low settings still manage a playable 75.9 FPS. The data indicates a hardware combination whose performance ceiling is firmly at 1440p for high-fidelity play, while 4K requires significant graphical compromises.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive picture of how this CPU-GPU pairing handles Lockdown Protocol across three resolutions and four quality presets. The most striking result is at 1920x1080 with Low settings, where the average frame rate reaches 158.9 FPS, indicating that the system is heavily GPU-bound at lower resolutions and the i3-12100F’s four cores are not a limiting factor. Stepping up to Medium settings at 1080p yields 110.4 FPS, while High settings produce 96.9 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p still delivers a comfortable 75 FPS average, which is exactly at the playable threshold for many competitive FPS titles, though the margin is slimmer than at lower presets.

At 2560x1440, the performance curve becomes more pronounced. Low settings achieve 117.1 FPS, which is a substantial drop from the 1080p Low result but still far above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings at 1440p average 85.7 FPS, and High settings follow at 75.1 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution falls to 54.5 FPS, marking the first instance where the system cannot maintain 60 FPS at the highest quality level. This 1440p Ultra result represents a 27.4% performance decrease compared to the High preset, showing that the RTX 3060 Ti’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth begin to strain under the combined load of higher resolution and maximum effects.

The 4K results reveal the system’s limits most clearly. At 3840x2160, Low settings yield 75.9 FPS, which remains playable, but Medium settings drop to 53 FPS, and High settings fall further to 46.4 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K produces just 34.2 FPS, which is less than half the 1080p Ultra result. The scaling from 1440p High (75.1 FPS) to 4K High (46.4 FPS) represents a 38.2% reduction, consistent with the pixel count increase of approximately 2.25 times, though the frame rate drop is less severe, suggesting some CPU limitation at higher resolutions. The i3-12100F’s passmark multithread score of 14015 and 3dmark 8-thread score of 4026 indicate sufficient processing power for these settings, but the GPU’s 16.20 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 133.2 GPixel/s pixel rate are the limiting factors at 4K.

Best Settings per Resolution

Determining the optimal settings for each resolution requires identifying the most demanding preset that maintains an average FPS at or above the 60 FPS playability threshold. At 3840x2160, the data shows that only the Low preset clears this bar, with an average of 75.9 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K falls short at 53 FPS, so Low is the recommended setting for 4K play. This means sacrificing visual fidelity for frame rate, but 75.9 FPS at 4K is a respectable result for this hardware class, particularly given that the RTX 3060 Ti’s 8 GB VRAM is at the lower end for 4K gaming.

At 2560x1440, the situation improves considerably. The High preset achieves 75.1 FPS, making it the best playable option. While Low (117.1 FPS) and Medium (85.7 FPS) also exceed 60 FPS, High offers the best visual quality among playable presets. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 54.5 FPS, so it should be avoided if consistent 60 FPS is a priority. The 1440p High result of 75.1 FPS provides a comfortable margin above the threshold, suggesting that players could potentially enable some additional effects without dropping below 60 FPS, though the data does not support specific tweaks.

At 1920x1080, all four presets are playable, with Ultra delivering 75 FPS. This makes Ultra the best settings choice for 1080p, as it provides the highest visual quality while still maintaining a 25% buffer above the 60 FPS threshold. The 1080p Ultra result of 75 FPS is notably higher than the 1440p High result of 75.1 FPS, indicating that the system has headroom at 1080p to handle maximum settings without compromising frame rates. For players with 1080p monitors, enabling Ultra is the clear recommendation, as the performance cost is minimal compared to lower presets.

FAQ

Q: Can the Intel Core i3-12100F and RTX 3060 Ti run Lockdown Protocol at 1080p with maximum settings?

A: Yes. The benchmark data shows an average of 75 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, which exceeds the 60 FPS playability threshold. All four presets at 1080p—Low (158.9 FPS), Medium (110.4 FPS), High (96.9 FPS), and Ultra (75 FPS)—are playable.

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

A: High settings at 2560x1440 produce an average of 75.1 FPS, making it the most demanding preset that stays above 60 FPS. Ultra at 1440p drops to 54.5 FPS, which falls below the playable threshold.

Q: Is 4K gaming possible with this hardware?

A: Yes, but only on Low settings. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 75.9 FPS, while Medium (53 FPS), High (46.4 FPS), and Ultra (34.2 FPS) all fail to reach 60 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems for Lockdown Protocol?

A: The combo ranks 2617 out of 3714 tested combinations, placing it in approximately the 30th percentile of systems. This indicates it is a mid-to-lower tier configuration for this specific game.

Q: What is the least demanding preset that still provides a playable experience at 4K?

A: The Low preset at 3840x2160 is the only playable option, averaging 75.9 FPS. All higher presets at 4K fall below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Is the i3-12100F a bottleneck for the RTX 3060 Ti in this game?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a primary bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system produces 158.9 FPS, and the i3-12100F’s 3dmark single-thread score of 893 and passmark single-thread score of 3444 indicate adequate per-core performance. However, at 4K, the frame rates drop significantly, indicating the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Based on the nearestRivals data for both the CPU and GPU, several alternative hardware combinations would produce similar performance in Lockdown Protocol. The Intel Core i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13494, which is virtually identical to the Intel Core 3 N355 at 13492 (0% delta) and the Intel Core i5-9500 at 13452 (0.3% delta). The Intel Core 5 120UL scores 13594, which is 0.7% higher, and the Intel Core i7-1250U scores 13351, which is 1.1% lower. These CPUs would deliver comparable frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios, though the i3-12100F’s 4 cores and 8 threads with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz provide a specific performance profile.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti has an average benchmark score of 16129. The nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 9060 at 16014, which is 0.7% slower, followed by the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M at 16351 (1.4% faster) and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT at 16361 (1.4% faster). The AMD Radeon R9 370X scores 15862, which is 1.7% slower. In practical terms, swapping the RTX 3060 Ti for an RX 5700 XT would yield nearly identical frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, while a move to the RX 9060 would result in a marginal performance decrease of less than 1%.

When considering alternative full-system builds, pairing the i3-12100F with an RX 5700 XT would produce results within 1.4% of the RTX 3060 Ti configuration, meaning the measured FPS numbers would be nearly indistinguishable. Similarly, using an i5-9500 with the RTX 3060 Ti would shift CPU performance by 0.3%, which is negligible for gaming. The percentileVsAllCpus of 68 for the i3-12100F and percentileVsAllGpus of 59 for the RTX 3060 Ti indicate that both components sit in the upper-midrange of their respective categories, and the rival hardware listed falls within a tight performance band.

The Verdict

The benchmark data provides a definitive answer on whether this PC can run Lockdown Protocol: yes, with specific caveats depending on resolution and settings. At 1920x1080, the system clears 60 FPS on every preset, including Ultra at 75 FPS, making it fully capable of high-refresh-rate play on older or less demanding monitors. At 2560x1440, the verdict is also positive, with High settings achieving 75.1 FPS, though Ultra at 54.5 FPS fails the threshold. For 4K, the system is only playable on Low settings at 75.9 FPS, while Medium (53 FPS), High (46.4 FPS), and Ultra (34.2 FPS) all fall short.

The verdictByResolution data confirms these findings: at 3840x2160, the playable settings list only includes Low; at 2560x1440, High, Low, and Medium are playable; and at 1920x1080, all four presets including Ultra are playable. The best settings per resolution are Low at 4K (75.9 FPS), High at 1440p (75.1 FPS), and Ultra at 1080p (75 FPS). This system is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it offers smooth performance with high visual quality. At 4K, users must accept significant graphical compromises to maintain playable frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of all tested configurations for Lockdown Protocol, the i3-12100F + RTX 3060 Ti combination ranks 2617 out of 3714 systems, placing it in the lower third of tested hardware. This ranking reflects the fact that the i3-12100F, despite its respectable 68th percentile ranking among all CPUs, is a budget-oriented quad-core processor, and the RTX 3060 Ti, while competent, sits at the 59th percentile among GPUs. The combo’s rank of 2617 suggests that roughly 70% of tested systems deliver better performance in this game, likely due to more powerful multi-core CPUs or higher-tier GPUs.

However, this rank should be interpreted with nuance. The measured FPS data shows that the system handles 1080p and 1440p gaming admirably, with frame rates well above 60 FPS in most presets. The low rank is more indicative of the system’s limitations at 4K and Ultra settings, where it falls behind more powerful configurations. For a player targeting 1080p or 1440p with High settings, this combo provides a satisfying experience that outperforms its overall rank might suggest. The data indicates that the system’s performance is sufficient for competitive FPS play at mainstream resolutions, even if it does not compete with high-end rigs at maximum fidelity.