Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the Intel Arc B390 presents a highly constrained experience in Lockdown Protocol. The benchmark data reveals that this combination is only capable of delivering a consistent 60 frames per second at 1080p with medium settings, and at 1440p only with low settings. At 4K, no preset achieves playable performance. This combo ranks near the bottom of the database, indicating that while the CPU is a strong performer, the integrated-class GPU is the decisive limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded measurements for this combination show a clear and steep performance curve that scales directly with resolution and graphical preset. At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly below the playable threshold. Running the game at High settings produces an average of 26 FPS. Dropping to Medium improves the average to 30 FPS, with a recorded minimum of 25 FPS and a maximum of 34 FPS. Low settings at 4K yield a more substantial improvement, reaching an average of 42 FPS, which remains far from the 60 FPS target. Ultra settings at this resolution are the worst performing configuration, with an average of just 19 FPS. No preset at 3840x2160 comes close to the playable threshold, and even the best case, Low at 42 FPS, leaves significant headroom to reach smooth gameplay.

Moving to 2560x1440, the situation improves but remains limited. High settings deliver an average of 40 FPS. Medium settings raise the average to 46 FPS, with a minimum of 39 FPS and a maximum of 53 FPS. Ultra settings at this resolution average 30 FPS, which is identical to the Medium result at 4K, highlighting the heavy cost of the Ultra preset. The standout result at 1440p is Low settings, which achieves an average of 65 FPS. This is the only configuration at this resolution that clears the 60 FPS threshold, and it does so with a modest margin. The jump from Medium to Low represents a gain of 19 FPS, from 46 to 65, which is a significant improvement for players willing to sacrifice visual quality.

At 1920x1080, the combination finally shows a reasonable range of playable options. High settings average 55 FPS, which is just short of the 60 FPS target. Medium settings average 63 FPS, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS, making it the most demanding preset that stays at or above the playable threshold. Low settings deliver the highest average at this resolution, 88 FPS, which provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS and suggests a smooth experience in most scenes. Ultra settings at 1080p average 41 FPS, which is surprisingly low given the resolution, and confirms that the Ultra preset is not viable on this hardware at any setting.

The data shows a consistent pattern: lowering the preset has a larger impact on performance than lowering the resolution in most cases. For example, at 1080p, moving from Medium to Low gains 25 FPS, from 63 to 88. At 1440p, the same preset change gains 19 FPS, from 46 to 65. At 4K, the gain is 12 FPS, from 30 to 42. This indicates that the GPU is heavily stressed at higher presets, and the performance headroom is best accessed by reducing graphical fidelity rather than resolution.

CPU and GPU Roles

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz and a 20 MB shared L3 cache. Its benchmark scores are strong, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23391 and a single-core score of 3302. The CPU sits in the 79th percentile among all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 27799. Its nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Core i9-10900K, which scores 27872, a delta of -0.3, and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, which scores 27896, also a delta of -0.3. This places the i5-12600KF within a narrow band of high-end desktop processors, indicating that CPU performance is not the bottleneck in this system.

The Intel Arc B390, by contrast, is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units, with a boost clock of 2500 MHz. Its only recorded benchmark is a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, which places it in the 9th percentile among all tested GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all legacy discrete cards: the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463, a delta of 1.3, the NVIDIA GeForce 800M scores 1460, a delta of 1.5, and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446, a delta of 2.5. This puts the Arc B390 at a performance level comparable to very old, low-end mobile and OEM graphics solutions, which explains why it struggles to maintain high frame rates in a modern FPS title.

The scaling between resolutions makes the GPU bottleneck clear. At 1080p Low, the combination achieves 88 FPS, which is the highest recorded average. At 1440p Low, the average drops to 65 FPS, a reduction of 23 FPS. At 4K Low, the average falls to 42 FPS, another drop of 23 FPS. This linear degradation with resolution is typical of a system where the graphics processor is the limiting factor, as the CPU has ample headroom to feed frames at all tested resolutions. The CPU's high multi-threaded and single-threaded scores, combined with its position in the 79th percentile, suggest that it is not struggling to keep up with the game's logic or draw calls.

The presets further confirm this assessment. At a fixed resolution, the difference between Low and Ultra is substantial: at 1080p, the gap is 47 FPS, from 88 to 41. At 1440p, the gap is 35 FPS, from 65 to 30. At 4K, the gap is 23 FPS, from 42 to 19. These large swings in performance across presets are characteristic of a GPU that is running out of compute and memory bandwidth as the render load increases. The CPU's role is secondary; it provides a stable platform, but the Arc B390's 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and system-shared memory are simply insufficient for higher settings.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Lockdown Protocol, this pairing ranks 3302 out of 3714 total combos. This places it in the bottom 11 percent of all tested systems, a position that reflects the severe GPU limitation rather than any deficiency in the processor. The CPU's individual percentile of 79 among all processors shows that it is a well-above-average component, but the GPU's percentile of 9 drags the overall combination down significantly.

The rank of 3302 out of 3714 means that there are 412 tested combinations that perform worse than this system, but there are 3301 combinations that perform better. This is a poor result for a system intended for gaming, and the data suggests that the Arc B390 is the primary reason. The nearest GPU rivals in the database, such as the GT 520MX and the GT 710, are all ancient, low-power parts, and the Arc B390 performs within a few percentage points of them. This context is important: the combo ranks where it does because the GPU is fundamentally a low-end integrated solution, not because the CPU is weak.

The delta percentages against the CPU's nearest rivals are all within a fraction of a percent: -0.3 against the i9-10900K, 0.3 against the Ryzen 5 8500GE, and -0.3 against both the Ryzen 7 6800U and the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. This shows that the i5-12600KF is competitive with those parts, but the overall game performance is not, because the game's frame rate is dictated by the GPU. In practical terms, a user could swap the CPU for any of those rivals and see little change in Lockdown Protocol, while swapping the GPU for a more capable part would yield a much larger improvement.

The Verdict

Can this PC run Lockdown Protocol? The answer depends entirely on the resolution and preset. At 3840x2160, the verdict is clear: no configuration is playable. The best result at 4K is Low settings with an average of 42 FPS, which falls well short of the 60 FPS threshold. Medium and High produce 30 and 26 FPS respectively, and Ultra produces 19 FPS. None of these are acceptable for a smooth experience.

At 2560x1440, the system is playable only on Low settings, which achieves an average of 65 FPS. This clears the 60 FPS threshold with a small margin of 5 FPS, but it is the only option. Medium settings average 46 FPS, High averages 40 FPS, and Ultra averages 30 FPS, all of which are below the playable mark. Players at 1440p must accept Low settings and even then should expect occasional dips near the minimum frame rate, as the recorded minimum for Medium is 39 FPS and Low does not have a recorded minimum, but the average suggests it stays above the threshold.

At 1920x1080, the system is playable on both Low and Medium settings. Medium settings average 63 FPS, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold on average. Low settings average 88 FPS, providing a much larger safety margin. High settings average 55 FPS, which is below the threshold, and Ultra averages 41 FPS, which is not viable. The best playable experience at 1080p is Medium, as it is the most demanding preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS.

Overall, this PC can run Lockdown Protocol, but only under specific conditions. For a stable 60 FPS experience, the user should play at 1080p with Medium settings, or at 1440p with Low settings. 4K is not an option for this combination. The data shows a system that is held back by its graphics solution, and the CPU's strong benchmark scores do not translate into playable frame rates at higher resolutions or presets.

FAQ

Q: Can this combination run Lockdown Protocol at 4K?

A: No. The best 4K result is Low settings at 42 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. Medium averages 30 FPS, High averages 26 FPS, and Ultra averages 19 FPS.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p?

A: Medium settings at 1920x1080 is the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS, with an average of 63 FPS, a minimum of 53 FPS, and a maximum of 72 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-12600KF compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-12600KF has an average benchmark score of 27799, which is 0.3 percent below the Intel Core i9-10900K and 0.3 percent above the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE. It is also 0.3 percent below both the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this system?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The Intel Arc B390 ranks in the 9th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU ranks in the 79th percentile. The large frame rate drops when increasing resolution or preset indicate a GPU bottleneck.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with Low settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Low settings, the average frame rate is 65 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold. This is the only playable preset at this resolution.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. It is 1.3 percent faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, 1.5 percent faster than the NVIDIA GeForce 800M, and 2.5 percent faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, there is no playable preset. The best average frame rate is achieved on Low settings at 42 FPS, but this is below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings produce 30 FPS, High produces 26 FPS, and Ultra produces 19 FPS. Since none of these reach 60 FPS, the database records no recommended settings for 4K.

At 2560x1440, the only playable preset is Low, which achieves an average of 65 FPS. This is the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS at this resolution. Medium settings average 46 FPS, High averages 40 FPS, and Ultra averages 30 FPS, all of which are below the playable mark. The recommendation for 1440p is Low settings, with an average of 65 FPS.

At 1920x1080, the recommended preset is Medium, which achieves an average of 63 FPS, a minimum of 53 FPS, and a maximum of 72 FPS. This is the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS. Low settings average 88 FPS and are also playable, but Medium is the highest quality option that meets the threshold. High settings average 55 FPS, which is below 60, and Ultra averages 41 FPS, which is not recommended. For the best balance of quality and performance at 1080p, Medium settings are the clear choice.