Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 delivers a solid 1080p and 1440p gaming experience in Lockdown Protocol, but 4K demands significant settings compromises. Benchmark data shows the combo comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS threshold at lower resolutions, while 4K Ultra remains out of reach. Performance scaling across resolutions reveals a system where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher pixel counts.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that maintains at or above 60 FPS is Low, yielding an average of 83 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 59 FPS average, just below the playable threshold, with minimums of 50 FPS and maximums of 68 FPS. High settings at 4K produce 51 FPS average, while Ultra falls to 39 FPS — neither clears the 60 FPS bar.

For 2560x1440, the Ultra preset achieves exactly 60 FPS average, making it the highest-quality playable option. High settings deliver 80 FPS, Medium reaches 91 FPS with a 77-105 FPS range, and Low hits 128 FPS. Every preset at this resolution stays above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 1920x1080, Ultra settings run at 81 FPS average, providing the best visual fidelity while remaining well above playable. High settings reach 109 FPS, Medium hits 124 FPS with minimums of 106 FPS and maximums of 143 FPS, and Low achieves 175 FPS. The data indicates that 1080p Ultra is not just playable but leaves substantial headroom.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions reveals how component roles shift. Moving from 1080p to 1440p on Ultra settings drops performance from 81 FPS to 60 FPS — a 26% reduction. The further step to 4K Ultra cuts the average to 39 FPS, another 35% decline. This progressive degradation points to the GPU becoming the limiting factor as pixel count rises.

The CPU's role is more evident at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system produces 175 FPS, which is a 116% increase over 1080p Ultra. This substantial gap suggests that at lower graphical loads, the i5-13400F with its 10 cores and 16 threads can feed frames rapidly, but the RX 9060's rendering workload caps throughput at higher presets.

At 1440p, the spread between Low and Ultra narrows to 128 FPS versus 60 FPS, indicating the GPU is taking on more responsibility. By 4K, the difference between Low (83 FPS) and Ultra (39 FPS) is a 113% swing, firmly establishing the Radeon RX 9060 as the dominant performance variable at this resolution. The CPU's influence diminishes as resolution increases, with the GPU's shading units, texture units, and 8 GB of GDDR6 memory becoming the constraining resources.

Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160: Low settings produce an average of 83 FPS with no recorded minimum or maximum. Medium averages 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS and maximum of 68 FPS. High averages 51 FPS, and Ultra averages 39 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 8 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra costs another 12 FPS.

2560x1440: Low averages 128 FPS with no min/max data. Medium averages 91 FPS, ranging from 77 to 105 FPS. High averages 80 FPS, and Ultra averages exactly 60 FPS. The Medium preset shows the widest recorded variance at this resolution, with a 28 FPS spread between minimum and maximum.

1920x1080: Low averages 175 FPS with no min/max data. Medium averages 124 FPS with a 106-143 FPS range, showing a 37 FPS spread. High averages 109 FPS, and Ultra averages 81 FPS. The step from Medium to High costs 15 FPS, while High to Ultra costs another 28 FPS, making Ultra the most expensive preset transition at this resolution.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data, suggesting it exhibits the most variable frame pacing. The 4K Medium range of 50-68 FPS shows that even within a single session, performance can dip below the playable threshold despite a 59 FPS average.

The Verdict

This system can run Lockdown Protocol, but the playable envelope depends heavily on resolution. At 1920x1080, all four presets — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — clear the 60 FPS threshold, with Ultra delivering 81 FPS average. This makes 1080p the most forgiving environment for this hardware combination.

At 2560x1440, the verdict is equally positive. All presets remain playable, with Ultra achieving exactly 60 FPS average. The data shows this is the highest resolution where full visual quality is attainable without dropping below the playable threshold. For competitive play, Low at 128 FPS or Medium at 91 FPS offer smoother experiences with higher frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the system only manages playable performance on Low settings, averaging 83 FPS. Medium falls just short at 59 FPS, and both High (51 FPS) and Ultra (39 FPS) are below the 60 FPS line. The 4K verdict is conditional: playable only with significant graphical compromises.

The overall assessment is that this PC is a capable 1080p and 1440p machine for Lockdown Protocol, with 4K limited to Low settings. The 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus of the RX 9060 likely contribute to the sharp drop at 4K Ultra, where the 21.43 TFLOPS compute throughput cannot compensate for memory bandwidth constraints.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i5-13400F's nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS, which scores nearly identically with a 0% delta. The Intel Core 5 120 trails by 0.3%, and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D also sits 0.3% behind. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800H leads by 0.4%. These processors would likely produce similar frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, though core count differences could matter in CPU-bound scenarios at low settings.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti scores 0.7% higher on average, making it the closest equivalent. The AMD Radeon R9 370X and RX 7700 both sit 1% behind, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 trails by 2.1%. The RTX 3060 Ti's proximity suggests comparable 4K performance, potentially with different driver-level characteristics. The RX 7700's similar score indicates AMD's own lineup offers consistent performance tiers around this level.

Users considering alternatives should note that the i5-13400F's 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs is solid, while the RX 9060's 59th percentile GPU ranking is more modest. This asymmetry reinforces the GPU-centric bottleneck observed in the scaling data.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Lockdown Protocol at 4K with high settings?

A: No. At 3840x2160 with High settings, the average FPS is 51, which falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold. Only Low settings at 4K achieve playable performance with 83 FPS average.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming on this hardware?

A: Ultra settings at 2560x1440 produce exactly 60 FPS average, making it the highest-quality playable option. All presets at this resolution exceed the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How much faster is 1080p Low compared to 1080p Ultra?

A: Low settings at 1920x1080 deliver 175 FPS average, while Ultra settings produce 81 FPS. This represents a 94 FPS difference, or roughly 116% higher performance at Low settings.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance more at 4K?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck at 3840x2160. The RX 9060's performance drops from 83 FPS at Low to 39 FPS at Ultra, a 113% swing that indicates rendering workload dominates over CPU capability at this resolution.

Q: Is the Medium preset at 4K playable?

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 averages 59 FPS, just below the 60 FPS threshold. However, minimum FPS recorded is 50, meaning frame drops are common. It is not reliably playable.

Q: How does this combo compare to an RTX 3060 Ti system?

A: The RX 9060 scores 0.7% lower than the RTX 3060 Ti in average benchmarks. For Lockdown Protocol specifically, performance would likely be within a few FPS, though the RTX 3060 Ti's different architecture could yield varying results at specific presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-13400F and AMD Radeon RX 9060 combination ranks 2194 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the 59th percentile of all systems evaluated. This mid-pack positioning aligns with the GPU's 59th percentile ranking among all GPUs, while the CPU's stronger 77th percentile suggests the graphics card is the limiting factor in this pairing.

The rank indicates that while this system handles 1080p and 1440p admirably, there are numerous combinations that achieve higher frame rates, particularly at 4K. The 1520 systems ranked above this combo likely feature GPUs with more VRAM or wider memory buses, which would explain their superior 4K Ultra performance. For players targeting high-refresh 1080p or solid 1440p gaming, this ranking is respectable; for 4K enthusiasts, it signals the need for a more powerful GPU.