Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the Intel Arc B580 delivers a playable experience in Lockdown Protocol, but the ceiling varies sharply by resolution. At 1080p, this combo runs Ultra settings comfortably above 60 FPS; at 1440p, High settings are the limit; at 4K, only Low settings clear the 60 FPS threshold. The data shows a system that is well-balanced for mainstream gaming, with the CPU holding a strong 85th percentile ranking among all processors and the GPU sitting at the 68th percentile among all graphics cards.

Best Settings per Resolution

The measured FPS data identifies a single "best" setting per resolution: the most demanding preset that still maintains an average of at least 60 FPS. For Lockdown Protocol, the verdicts are clear-cut.

3840x2160 (4K): The best playable setting is Low, delivering an average of 73 FPS. High settings drop to 45 FPS average, Medium to 52 FPS, and Ultra falls to 34 FPS. None of the higher presets reach the 60 FPS playability threshold. The gap between Low and Medium is substantial (21 FPS), meaning even a modest increase in visual quality costs significant performance at this resolution.

2560x1440 (1440p): The best playable setting is High, with an average of 70 FPS. This is the sweet spot for this combo at 1440p. Medium runs at 80 FPS and Low at 113 FPS, but High offers the best visual quality while staying above the 60 FPS floor. Ultra is not playable, averaging only 52 FPS — an 18 FPS drop from High.

1920x1080 (1080p): The best playable setting is Ultra, averaging 72 FPS. This is the only resolution where the combo can max out the game entirely. High runs at 95 FPS, Medium at 109 FPS, and Low at 154 FPS, but Ultra remains comfortably above 60 FPS. The 1080p Ultra result is only 2 FPS lower than the 4K Low result, illustrating how resolution scaling affects performance more than preset scaling at the extremes.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results indicate that the GPU is the primary bottleneck in Lockdown Protocol, but the CPU provides enough headroom to avoid limiting frame rates at most settings. The evidence lies in the scaling between resolutions and presets.

At 4K, the frame rate collapses as settings rise: 73 FPS on Low, 52 FPS on Medium, 45 FPS on High, 34 FPS on Ultra. This is classic GPU-bound behavior — the Arc B580's rendering load increases with each preset tier, and the CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads are not the constraint. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28838 and single-core score of 4071 indicate ample processing power for a tactical FPS.

At 1080p, the same pattern holds but with higher absolute numbers: 154 FPS on Low, 109 FPS on Medium, 95 FPS on High, 72 FPS on Ultra. The consistent drop from Low to Ultra (82 FPS total) shows the GPU scaling is dominant. However, the CPU still matters: the i7-12700KF's 3DMark single-thread score of 1043 and passmark single-thread score of 3984 ensure that even at Low settings with 154 FPS, the CPU can feed frames without stalling.

Resolution scaling tells the same story. At High settings, average FPS goes from 95 (1080p) to 70 (1440p) to 45 (4K) — a 53% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario where pixel count drives performance. The CPU's role becomes more relevant only at lower resolutions and higher frame rates; at 1080p Low, the 154 FPS result suggests the CPU is still keeping pace, but the GPU's limits define the upper bound.

The Intel Arc B580's specifications support this interpretation. With 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, the GPU has substantial raw throughput. Its FP32 performance of 13.67 TFLOPS and texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s are the figures that matter for rasterization-heavy FPS titles. The 12 GB GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 456.0 GB/s bandwidth provides adequate capacity for Lockdown Protocol's textures at 4K, but the GPU's compute resources are simply insufficient for Ultra presets at that resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS table provides exact averages, with minimum and maximum values recorded only for Medium settings.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 73 FPS average
• Medium: 52 FPS average, 44 FPS minimum, 59 FPS maximum
• High: 45 FPS average
• Ultra: 34 FPS average

The Medium preset at 4K shows a narrow 15 FPS range between minimum and maximum, indicating consistent frame pacing. The 44 FPS minimum is below the 60 FPS threshold, confirming that Medium is not playable at this resolution. The 59 FPS maximum barely misses the threshold, suggesting that occasional dips into the 40s are common.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 113 FPS average
• Medium: 80 FPS average, 68 FPS minimum, 92 FPS maximum
• High: 70 FPS average
• Ultra: 52 FPS average

At 1440p, the Medium preset's minimum of 68 FPS stays above the 60 FPS floor, but the High preset's 70 FPS average is the recommended choice. The 24 FPS spread in Medium (68-92 FPS) shows more variance than at 4K, likely due to the higher frame rate giving the CPU more work per second. Ultra at 52 FPS is tantalizingly close to playable but falls short.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 154 FPS average
• Medium: 109 FPS average, 93 FPS minimum, 126 FPS maximum
• High: 95 FPS average
• Ultra: 72 FPS average

The 1080p Medium preset shows a 33 FPS range (93-126 FPS), the widest variance of any measured setting. This suggests that at higher frame rates, frame time consistency becomes harder to maintain. The Ultra preset's 72 FPS average has no recorded minimum or maximum, but its position 23 FPS below High indicates a significant jump in GPU workload. The 154 FPS Low result demonstrates the combo's ability to push very high frame rates when visual effects are minimized.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for both components provide context for what hardware would behave similarly in Lockdown Protocol.

CPU alternatives to the Intel Core i7-12700KF: The CPU's average benchmark score of 35365 places it within 0.2% of several alternatives. The Intel Core i7-13700T (avg score 35403, delta -0.1%) is effectively identical in performance. The Intel Core i5-13600T (avg score 35305, delta 0.2%) is also a match. The Intel Core 5 213PE (avg score 35428, delta -0.2%) and the Intel Core i7-12700K (avg score 35287, delta 0.2%) round out the group. Any of these CPUs would deliver the same frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, as the game is GPU-bound in most scenarios tested. The i7-12700K is the closest direct sibling — same architecture, same core count, and a benchmark delta of just 0.2%.

GPU alternatives to the Intel Arc B580: The GPU's average benchmark score of 23021 has a wider spread among rivals. The AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (avg score 23061, delta -0.2%) is the nearest match, though it is an older architecture. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (avg score 22895, delta 0.6%) is slightly slower. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (avg score 23172, delta -0.7%) is marginally faster. The NVIDIA P106-100 (avg score 23249, delta -1%) is also close. In practice, swapping the Arc B580 for any of these would yield nearly identical FPS numbers in Lockdown Protocol — within 1% on average. This means the 4K Low, 1440p High, and 1080p Ultra verdicts would remain unchanged with any of these GPUs.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core i7-12700KF and Intel Arc B580 ranks 2795 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. That places it in the 25th percentile of all system pairings — meaning roughly three-quarters of tested combos perform better in this game.

The ranking reflects the GPU's modest 68th percentile standing among all GPUs. The CPU is much stronger (85th percentile), but in a GPU-bound title like Lockdown Protocol, the graphics card dominates the outcome. The combo's rank is therefore dragged down by the Arc B580's mid-tier position. The 4K Ultra result of 34 FPS and 1440p Ultra result of 52 FPS are the weakest showings, while the 1080p results (72-154 FPS) are competitive with mainstream gaming systems.

Notably, the combo ranks below what the CPU's percentile alone would suggest. This is because the GPU's 68th percentile is the binding constraint. A system with the same CPU but a higher-tier GPU would rank significantly better, while a system with the same GPU but a weaker CPU would rank similarly. The data indicates that for Lockdown Protocol specifically, upgrading the GPU would yield larger gains than upgrading the CPU.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Lockdown Protocol at 4K with High settings?

A: No. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings is 45 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS playability threshold. Only Low settings (73 FPS average) are playable at 4K.

Q: What is the best setting for 1440p gaming with this hardware?

A: High settings provide the best visual quality while maintaining playability, with an average of 70 FPS. Medium runs at 80 FPS and Low at 113 FPS, but Ultra drops to 52 FPS, which is not playable.

Q: Is 1080p Ultra viable with the Intel Core i7-12700KF and Arc B580?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 72 FPS, comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. This is the only resolution where the combo can max out all settings.

Q: How does the Arc B580 compare to an RTX 3080 in this game?

A: The RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 23172, which is 0.7% higher than the Arc B580's 23021. In Lockdown Protocol, this would translate to a negligible FPS difference — likely 1-2 FPS at most settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor for this game?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck. Evidence comes from the steep FPS drops as settings increase (e.g., from 73 FPS at 4K Low to 34 FPS at 4K Ultra) and the consistent resolution scaling (95 FPS at 1080p High vs 45 FPS at 4K High). The CPU's 85th percentile ranking suggests it has ample headroom.

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

A: The measured average is 80 FPS, with a minimum of 68 FPS and a maximum of 92 FPS. This preset stays above the 60 FPS threshold, but High settings (70 FPS average) are recommended for better visuals.