Lockdown Protocol

Best Settings per Resolution

Lockdown Protocol is a demanding FPS title, but the combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER delivers enough headroom to max out the visual preset at every tested resolution while maintaining a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset runs at 124.2 FPS average. This is the most demanding setting available, and it clears the 60 FPS bar by more than double. The frame rate is high enough for competitive play, and the data shows no reason to compromise visual fidelity at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Ultra preset still holds at 101.2 FPS average. The drop from 1080p is 23.0 FPS, which is a meaningful reduction but still leaves a 41.2 FPS cushion above the 60 FPS threshold. The GPU is clearly not maxed out at this resolution, as the frame rate remains well within high-refresh territory.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 67.1 FPS. This is the only resolution where the frame rate approaches the 60 FPS floor, but it still clears it by 7.1 FPS. The High preset offers a more comfortable 85.6 FPS average, but Ultra remains technically playable. The data indicates that 4K Ultra is the ceiling for this combination, with no settings preset falling below the playable threshold.

The pattern is consistent: this CPU-GPU pairing can run Lockdown Protocol at maximum settings across all three resolutions, with the margin of safety narrowing as resolution increases. The verdict data confirms all four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable at every resolution tested.

FAQ

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

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 67.1 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playability threshold. It is the tightest margin of any resolution-preset combination, but it clears the bar.

Q: What is the best settings preset at 1440p for this hardware?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 delivers 101.2 FPS average. Since all presets at this resolution are playable, Ultra is the best choice because it provides the highest visual quality while still maintaining a large frame rate cushion.

Q: How much performance does the Low preset gain over Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 165.7 FPS, while Ultra averages 124.2 FPS. The difference is 41.5 FPS, but both are far above the 60 FPS threshold, so the trade-off favors Ultra for most users.

Q: Is the frame rate stable enough for competitive play at 4K?

A: The 4K Ultra preset averages 67.1 FPS, which is above 60 but close to it. For competitive play where frame rate stability matters more than resolution, the 1440p Ultra preset at 101.2 FPS would be the safer choice.

Q: Does this system bottleneck at any resolution?

A: The recorded data shows no resolution where any preset falls below 60 FPS. The smallest margin is 7.1 FPS at 4K Ultra, which indicates the system is balanced enough to keep every tested configuration playable.

Q: How does the 4K High preset compare to 4K Medium?

A: At 3840x2160, High averages 85.6 FPS while Medium averages 96.8 FPS. The difference is 11.2 FPS, with High providing better visuals at a still very playable frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data covers three resolutions and four settings presets, with average frame rates recorded for each combination. No minimum or maximum frame rate values were captured, so the analysis relies on average FPS as the primary metric.

1920x1080:

• Low: 165.7 FPS average
• Medium: 145.3 FPS average
• High: 135.1 FPS average
• Ultra: 124.2 FPS average

The spread from Low to Ultra is 41.5 FPS. The largest single step is from Low to Medium, which costs 20.4 FPS. The step from Medium to High costs 10.2 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 10.9 FPS. The scaling is consistent, with no anomalous jumps between presets.

2560x1440:

• Low: 144.3 FPS average
• Medium: 130.3 FPS average
• High: 124.7 FPS average
• Ultra: 101.2 FPS average

The spread from Low to Ultra is 43.1 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 14.0 FPS, from Medium to High costs 5.6 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 23.5 FPS. The High to Ultra transition is the largest penalty at this resolution, indicating that Ultra settings impose a disproportionate load at 1440p.

3840x2160:

• Low: 129.3 FPS average
• Medium: 96.8 FPS average
• High: 85.6 FPS average
• Ultra: 67.1 FPS average

The spread from Low to Ultra is 62.2 FPS, the largest of any resolution. The step from Low to Medium costs 32.5 FPS, from Medium to High costs 11.2 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 18.5 FPS. At 4K, the Low preset is the only one that keeps the frame rate above 100 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to just 7.1 FPS above the playable threshold.

Comparing resolutions at the same preset tells a similar story. At Ultra, moving from 1080p to 1440p costs 23.0 FPS, and moving from 1440p to 4K costs 34.1 FPS. At Low, the same resolution transitions cost 21.4 FPS and 15.0 FPS respectively. The data shows that resolution scaling is steeper at higher presets, which is typical for a GPU-bound FPS title.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The database records the nearest rivals for both the CPU and GPU based on average benchmark scores. These comparisons help identify other hardware combinations that would likely deliver similar performance in Lockdown Protocol.

For the Intel Core i5-9400, the nearest rival is the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, which has an average benchmark score of 2259, just 0.2% lower than the i5-9400's 2254. The Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264, which is 0.4% higher. The Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248, 0.3% lower. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, 0.4% lower. All four rivals are within a 0.8% band of the i5-9400, meaning any of them would produce nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Lockdown Protocol.

For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, the nearest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB, with an average score of 43262, just 0.1% lower than the RTX 4070 SUPER's 43223. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile scores 43268, 0.1% higher. The NVIDIA Quadro M6000 scores 43301, 0.2% higher. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile scores 43667, 1.0% higher. The GPU rivals are similarly clustered, with the RTX 4090 Mobile being the only one to exceed a 1% difference.

A system using the i5-9400's closest CPU rival paired with the RTX 4070 SUPER would produce virtually identical frame rates, with deltas under 1% in both directions. Swapping the GPU for the Quadro M6000 24 GB would also hold performance essentially flat. The RTX 4090 Mobile would provide a small uplift, but the delta of 1% is unlikely to change any playability verdict or recommended settings.

The percentile rankings reinforce this: the i5-9400 sits at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, while the RTX 4070 SUPER sits at the 83rd percentile among all GPUs. This means the GPU is the stronger component in this pairing, and any CPU swap within the nearest rival group would not shift the bottleneck characteristics.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Lockdown Protocol, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 1234 out of 3714 tested combos. This places it in the upper third of all configurations, approximately the 67th percentile.

The rank of 1234 means there are 1233 combinations that deliver higher average frame rates in this game, and 2480 combinations that deliver lower performance. Given that the GPU ranks at the 83rd percentile overall, the combo rank is dragged down by the CPU, which sits at only the 47th percentile. The frame rate data confirms this: at 1080p Ultra, the system hits 124.2 FPS, which is strong, but a higher-ranked CPU would likely push the average higher in CPU-bound scenarios.

The rank is consistent with the measured FPS data. The system clears 60 FPS at every resolution and preset, which places it well above the median combination. However, the gap between the CPU and GPU percentiles suggests that upgrading the processor would yield a larger improvement in overall rank than upgrading the GPU would, since the GPU is already near the top of the distribution.

The Verdict

The recorded data answers the core question directly: yes, this PC can run Lockdown Protocol. The verdict by resolution confirms that all four settings presets are playable at all three tested resolutions, with no configuration falling below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 1920x1080, the best settings preset is Ultra, running at 124.2 FPS average. This is a definitive pass, with more than double the required frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the best settings preset is also Ultra, running at 101.2 FPS average. This clears the threshold by 41.2 FPS, providing a substantial safety margin for demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, the best settings preset is Ultra, running at 67.1 FPS average. This is the narrowest margin, only 7.1 FPS above the threshold, but it still qualifies as playable. For users who prefer a larger buffer at 4K, dropping to High settings yields 85.6 FPS, which is a more comfortable experience.

The overall assessment is that this combination is fully capable of running Lockdown Protocol at maximum quality across common gaming resolutions. The only caution is at 4K Ultra, where frame rate dips are more likely to approach the 60 FPS floor, but the average remains above it.

CPU and GPU Roles

Understanding which component limits performance in Lockdown Protocol requires examining how frame rates scale across resolutions and presets. The data shows a clear pattern of GPU dominance, with the RTX 4070 SUPER being the primary driver of performance.

At 1080p, the frame rate differences between presets are relatively modest. The Low preset hits 165.7 FPS, while Ultra drops to 124.2 FPS, a 25% reduction. This suggests the GPU is not fully saturated at lower settings, and the CPU is able to feed it adequately. The i5-9400, despite its 47th percentile ranking, provides enough throughput to keep the GPU busy at 1080p.

At 1440p, the preset scaling becomes more pronounced. The Low to Ultra drop is 43.1 FPS, and the High to Ultra step alone costs 23.5 FPS. This indicates the GPU is starting to become the limiting factor, as higher presets increase the shading and memory load on the RTX 4070 SUPER. The CPU's role diminishes as resolution increases, since the GPU has more work per frame.

At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck. The Low preset still manages 129.3 FPS, but Ultra drops to 67.1 FPS, a 48% reduction from Low. The 32.5 FPS penalty from Low to Medium is the largest single preset step in the entire dataset, confirming that the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading units are the constraining resources at 2160p.

The resolution scaling reinforces this conclusion. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra costs 23.0 FPS, and moving from 1440p to 4K costs 34.1 FPS. The increasing penalty at higher resolutions is a hallmark of GPU-bound performance. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rate would stay relatively flat across resolutions, which is not what the data shows.

The CPU's role is most visible at 1080p Low, where the frame rate reaches 165.7 FPS. This is likely near the ceiling imposed by the i5-9400's six cores and six threads. At higher resolutions and presets, the GPU takes over as the primary performance determinant. For users aiming for maximum frame rates at 1080p, a stronger CPU would help, but for 4K gaming, the RTX 4070 SUPER is the component that matters most.