Lockdown Protocol

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, this combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers its most demanding results. On High settings, the average frame rate sits at 51 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS playability threshold. Dropping to Medium settings raises the average to 59 FPS, with recorded minimums of 50 FPS and maximums of 68 FPS, indicating that even Medium cannot reliably sustain a smooth experience at 4K. Low settings produce an average of 83 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above the playable threshold. Ultra settings, however, push the system to an average of only 39 FPS, making that preset unsuitable for smooth gameplay at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the picture improves substantially. High settings achieve an average of 80 FPS, while Low settings reach 129 FPS. Medium settings average 91 FPS with a minimum of 78 FPS and a maximum of 105 FPS, showing consistent performance above the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra settings at this resolution average exactly 60 FPS, which meets the playability criterion but leaves no headroom for demanding scenes. The jump from 4K High (51 FPS) to 1440p High (80 FPS) represents a 57% improvement in average frame rate, demonstrating how strongly resolution scaling affects this hardware pairing.

At 1920x1080, the system shows its strongest performance. High settings average 109 FPS, Low settings reach 163 FPS, and Medium settings hit 125 FPS with a minimum of 106 FPS and a maximum of 143 FPS. Ultra settings at 1080p average 82 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold by a healthy margin. The difference between 1080p Ultra (82 FPS) and 1440p Ultra (60 FPS) is a 27% drop, while the gap between 1080p High (109 FPS) and 1440p High (80 FPS) is 27% as well, indicating consistent scaling behavior across these two presets.

The recorded data shows that the RTX 2070 SUPER, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, handles 1080p and 1440p comfortably, while 4K requires significant settings reductions. The i5-9400's six cores and six threads, running at base 2.90 GHz and boost 4.10 GHz, appear sufficient to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the high average frame rates at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

The database places this CPU and GPU combination at rank 2270 out of 3714 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol. This position places it in the lower half of all tested configurations, which may seem surprising given the strong 1080p results, but the ranking accounts for performance across all resolutions and settings. The combo sits at approximately the 61st percentile of tested combinations, meaning about 39% of tested combos perform worse, while the majority perform better.

This ranking reflects that while the RTX 2070 SUPER is a capable GPU (65th percentile among all GPUs in the database), the i5-9400 is only at the 47th percentile among all CPUs. The pairing produces solid results at mainstream resolutions but struggles at 4K Ultra, which drags down its overall standing. The rank also considers that many other combos in the database feature newer CPUs with higher thread counts or GPUs with more modern architectures, which can deliver higher minimum frame rates even when average scores are similar.

For a game like Lockdown Protocol, an FPS title released in 2024, the rank of 2270 out of 3714 suggests that this hardware is adequate for competitive play at 1080p and 1440p, but users seeking maximum visual fidelity at 4K will find better-performing combinations higher in the rankings.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Lockdown Protocol at 60 FPS on Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 on Ultra settings is 82 FPS, which exceeds the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: What is the best preset for 4K gaming with this hardware?

A: Low settings at 3840x2160 produce an average of 83 FPS, making it the only preset at 4K that clears the 60 FPS threshold. Medium averages 59 FPS, High averages 51 FPS, and Ultra averages 39 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 20282. The NVIDIA Quadro M4000M scores 20480 (1% higher), the GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534 (1.2% higher), the Intel Arc B570 scores 20556 (1.3% higher), and the Intel Arc A750 scores 20582 (1.5% higher). All four rivals are within 1.5% of the RTX 2070 SUPER.

Q: Is the i5-9400's performance close to any other CPUs in the database?

A: The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 at 2259 (0.2% lower), the Intel Core i7-10710U at 2248 (0.3% higher), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 at 2246 (0.4% higher), and the Intel Core i3-10305 at 2264 (0.4% lower). All four sit within 0.4% of the i5-9400.

Q: Which resolution offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate?

A: At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 60 FPS, meeting the playability threshold while providing the highest visual quality available. This gives users the maximum settings experience at a playable frame rate.

Q: Does the system maintain consistent frame times at Medium settings?

A: The data shows minimum and maximum values only for Medium presets. At 1920x1080 Medium, the range is 106 to 143 FPS. At 2560x1440 Medium, the range is 78 to 105 FPS. At 3840x2160 Medium, the range is 50 to 68 FPS. The spread widens as resolution increases, indicating less consistent performance at higher pixel counts.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU side, the database lists four processors within 0.4% of the i5-9400's average benchmark score of 2254. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259, the Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248, the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, and the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264. Users with any of these CPUs would experience nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Lockdown Protocol, assuming the GPU remains the same.

On the GPU side, the RTX 2070 SUPER's average score of 20282 is closely matched by four alternatives. The NVIDIA Quadro M4000M scores 20480, the GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534, the Intel Arc B570 scores 20556, and the Intel Arc A750 scores 20582. Each of these GPUs would deliver frame rates within 1.5% of the RTX 2070 SUPER in this game, making them viable substitutes if the RTX 2070 SUPER were unavailable. The mobile nature of the RTX 3070 Mobile and Quadro M4000M should be noted, as their performance in a laptop chassis may differ from desktop implementations due to thermal and power constraints.

Combining any of the four rival CPUs with any of the four rival GPUs would produce a system with nearly identical gaming performance to the i5-9400 plus RTX 2070 SUPER configuration. The differences in benchmark scores are small enough that in-game frame rate differences would be within measurement noise.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals how workload shifts between the CPU and GPU as resolution changes. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 163 FPS on Low settings, which suggests the GPU is not fully saturated at low graphical loads, allowing the CPU to drive high frame rates. The i5-9400's six cores and six threads, with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, appear sufficient for this title at 1080p. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 6629 and single-core score of 935 indicate a processor that can handle game logic and draw calls without becoming a bottleneck at mainstream resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the situation reverses. The RTX 2070 SUPER's pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s become the limiting factors, as evidenced by the dramatic FPS drops across all presets. The 4K Low average of 83 FPS versus 4K Ultra average of 39 FPS shows that the GPU's shading units (2560) and RT cores (40) are heavily taxed at higher settings. The FP32 throughput of 9.062 TFLOPS is simply insufficient for 4K Ultra in this game.

The scaling between resolutions provides insight into which component matters more. Going from 1080p Ultra (82 FPS) to 1440p Ultra (60 FPS) is a 27% drop, while going from 1440p Ultra (60 FPS) to 4K Ultra (39 FPS) is a 35% drop. This steeper decline at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly dominant as pixel count rises. Conversely, the relatively small performance difference between 1080p Low (163 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (82 FPS) shows that the CPU can maintain high frame rates even when the GPU is not fully loaded.

At Medium settings, the ranges tell a similar story. The 1080p Medium range of 106 to 143 FPS shows minimal frame time variance, while the 4K Medium range of 50 to 68 FPS exhibits more instability. This suggests that at 4K, the GPU is working near its limits, causing occasional dips below the average.

The Verdict

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER can run Lockdown Protocol, but the experience depends heavily on resolution and settings. At 1920x1080, all four presets clear the 60 FPS threshold, with the lowest preset (Ultra) averaging 82 FPS. At 2560x1440, all four presets also clear 60 FPS, with Ultra averaging exactly 60 FPS, meeting the playability requirement with no headroom. At 3840x2160, only Low settings achieve a playable average of 83 FPS; Medium averages 59 FPS, which falls just below the threshold, High averages 59 FPS, and Ultra averages 39 FPS.

The verdict by resolution is clear: this system is fully playable at 1080p and 1440p at all settings, but at 4K, users must restrict themselves to Low settings. The 4K Low preset provides 83 FPS, which offers a smooth experience, but visual quality will be significantly reduced compared to higher presets. For users with 4K displays, the system can run the game, but not with the visual fidelity that the RTX 2070 SUPER's 8 GB of VRAM might suggest.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Low, with an average of 83 FPS. Medium falls short at 59 FPS average, so Low is the only viable option at 4K.

At 2560x1440, the most demanding preset that maintains 60 FPS is Ultra, averaging exactly 60 FPS. This provides the full visual experience at a playable frame rate, though users sensitive to frame drops may prefer High (80 FPS) for additional headroom.

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that clears 60 FPS is Ultra, averaging 82 FPS. This gives users the maximum visual quality with a comfortable margin above the playability threshold, making 1080p Ultra the recommended configuration for this hardware pairing.