Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 580 combination delivers a narrowly playable experience in Lockdown Protocol, but only when settings and resolution are carefully managed. The recorded data shows a system that can hit 60 FPS at 1080p and 1440p, yet it falls short of that threshold at 4K across all tested presets. The pairing is an older, end-of-life platform, and the benchmark results reflect its limits in this FPS title.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, no preset in the database achieves the 60 FPS playable threshold. The highest average frame rate recorded at this resolution is 40 FPS on Low settings, which still leaves a significant gap to the target. The most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS does not exist for 4K, so the recommendation is to avoid this resolution entirely for smooth gameplay.

At 2560x1440, the situation improves. The Low preset delivers an average of 62 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS bar. This is the only setting at 1440p that reaches playable status. Medium drops to 44 FPS average, High falls to 39 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 29 FPS. For 1440p gaming, Low is the sole viable option, and it does so with a slim margin of just 2 FPS above the threshold.

At 1920x1080, the system has more headroom. The Low preset produces an average of 85 FPS, while Medium achieves exactly 60 FPS. The most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Medium, with its recorded average of 60 FPS. High falls to 53 FPS, and Ultra drops to 40 FPS. For 1080p, Medium is the best balance of visual quality and performance, though it sits right on the edge of the playable line.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU and GPU in this combo each have close rivals in the database, based on average benchmark scores. For the Intel Core i5-9400, the nearest competitor is the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, which scores 2259 against the i5-9400's average of 2254, a difference of -0.2%. The Intel Core i3-10305 is nearly identical at 2264, also -0.4% from the i5. The Intel Core i7-10710U and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 sit just below, with scores of 2248 and 2246, representing +0.3% and +0.4% deltas respectively. In practice, swapping the i5-9400 for any of these processors would yield nearly indistinguishable frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, as the performance gap is under half a percent.

On the GPU side, the AMD Radeon RX 580 has an average benchmark score of 12928. Its closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile at 12940, a delta of -0.1%. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER scores 12986, which is -0.4% higher, while the AMD Radeon 740M and AMD FirePro W5100 trail slightly at 12870 and 12847, with deltas of +0.5% and +0.6%. For this game, a system built with the GTX 1660 SUPER or RTX 3050 Ti Mobile would behave almost identically to the RX 580, producing the same 60 FPS results at 1080p Medium and 62 FPS at 1440p Low. The Radeon 740M and FirePro W5100 would also land within the same performance envelope, though marginally behind.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the recorded data shows a steep decline across all settings. Ultra averages 19 FPS, High averages 25 FPS, and Medium averages 29 FPS with a minimum of 24 and a maximum of 33. Low is the only preset to break 30 FPS, averaging 40 FPS. None of these numbers approach the 60 FPS target, confirming that 4K is not a viable option for this hardware.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates scale more favorably. Low leads with an average of 62 FPS, which is the only playable result at this resolution. Medium averages 44 FPS with a range of 38 to 51, High averages 39 FPS, and Ultra drops to 29 FPS. The step from Low to Medium represents a 29% reduction in average frame rate, indicating a significant performance cost for the next preset tier.

At 1920x1080, the system shows its best performance. Low averages 85 FPS, which is the highest recorded figure across all resolutions and settings. Medium averages exactly 60 FPS, with a minimum of 51 and a maximum of 69, showing some variability but staying near the target. High averages 53 FPS, and Ultra averages 40 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 25 FPS, while the drop from Medium to High is 7 FPS, suggesting that the Medium preset is a sweet spot where the hardware still has some headroom.

The Verdict

The data indicates that this PC can run Lockdown Protocol, but the playable range is narrow. At 1920x1080, the system clears 60 FPS on both Low and Medium presets, with the best playable setting being Medium at exactly 60 FPS average. At 2560x1440, only the Low preset achieves playable performance, averaging 62 FPS. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS, with the best result being 40 FPS on Low.

The verdict by resolution is clear: 1080p is the primary target for this combo, offering two playable presets. 1440p is technically playable but only on the lowest settings, with a razor-thin margin. 4K is not playable under any configuration. For users with a 1080p monitor, the Medium preset provides a stable experience near the threshold. For 1440p displays, users must accept Low settings and a marginal frame rate. The system is not suited for high-refresh-rate monitors or high-fidelity visuals in this title.

CPU and GPU Roles

The recorded frame rates reveal how the workload shifts between the CPU and GPU across resolutions and presets. At 3840x2160, the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The RX 580's rendering load increases with pixel count, and the frame rates collapse from 40 FPS on Low to 19 FPS on Ultra. This steep scaling with graphics settings at 4K points to the GPU being the limiting factor, as the CPU has relatively less work per frame at higher resolutions.

At 2560x1440, the balance begins to shift. The difference between Low and Medium is 18 FPS, which is a larger relative drop than at 4K. This suggests that the CPU starts to exert more influence as the resolution decreases, since the GPU can render frames faster and the processor must keep up with game logic and draw calls. However, the i5-9400 still manages to feed the GPU adequately at Low, as evidenced by the 62 FPS result. The Ultra preset at 29 FPS indicates that the GPU remains a significant constraint even at 1440p.

At 1920x1080, the CPU and GPU roles are more balanced. The 85 FPS on Low shows that the i5-9400 can push the RX 580 to its limits at lower settings. The drop to 60 FPS on Medium and 53 FPS on High suggests that the GPU becomes the bottleneck as graphical load increases. The fact that Medium holds exactly at 60 FPS indicates that the GPU is operating near its peak capacity at this resolution, with the CPU still providing adequate support. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p is more gradual than at higher resolutions, which is typical when the GPU is nearing saturation.

Across all resolutions, the pattern is consistent: the GPU dominates the performance ceiling, especially at higher settings and resolutions. The CPU's role becomes more apparent at 1080p Low, where the frame rate reaches 85 FPS, but it is never the limiting factor in preventing 60 FPS at any playable setting. The i5-9400's six cores and six threads are sufficient for this title, while the RX 580's capabilities define the playable envelope.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Lockdown Protocol, this pairing ranks 3384 out of 3714 total combos. This places it in the lower percentile of systems, indicating that it is below average for this game. The rank reflects the age and performance tier of both components, which are end-of-life products. The i5-9400 sits at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, while the RX 580 ranks at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, yet their combined performance in this specific title is relatively weak.

The combo's position in the rankings suggests that a majority of tested systems achieve higher frame rates or support higher settings. The data shows that this pairing can only manage 60 FPS at 1080p Medium and 1440p Low, which is a modest result compared to what newer hardware would deliver. The rank of 3384 out of 3714 means that roughly 91% of tested combos outperform it, placing it firmly in the lower tier. For users with this hardware, the expectation should be conservative settings and lower resolutions, as the system is not competitive with most other configurations in the database.