Lockdown Protocol

FAQ

Q: What is the overall ranking of the Intel Core i3-12100F + AMD Radeon RX 570 combo in Lockdown Protocol?

A: This combo ranks 1547th out of 1637 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom percentile of systems for this game.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU bottleneck at 1080p with Low settings?

A: At 1080p Low, the system achieves 75.5 FPS. The data indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor, as the CPU has a high single-thread score of 893 in 3DMark, but the GPU's lower performance ceiling (5.095 TFLOPS) caps frame rates.

Q: How does the RX 570 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 570's average benchmark score is 30158, which is 0.2% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (score 30109) and 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (score 30097). These are essentially performance ties.

Q: What is the FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 46.5 at 1080p High to 24.4 at 4K High, representing a 47.5% reduction in frame rate.

Q: Is the CPU's multi-threaded performance adequate for this game?

A: The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 11912, and its 3DMark 8-thread score is 4026. The data shows that even with a strong CPU, the GPU limits performance, so the CPU is not the bottleneck.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a playable experience at 1440p?

A: Based on the measured rows, Low settings at 1440p produce 53.8 FPS, which is the only 1440p preset that exceeds 50 FPS. Medium yields 42.9 FPS, and High drops to 36.7 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. It has 12 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic tests, the processor achieves a single-thread score of 893 in 3DMark and a multi-thread score of 4026 in 3DMark 8-thread, indicating strong per-core performance relative to its core count.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 75.5 FPS, which is the highest measured result across all configurations. This suggests that the CPU is capable of driving frame rates above 60 FPS when the GPU is not heavily loaded. However, at higher resolutions and settings, the FPS drops significantly, indicating that the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 72nd among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13516, places it close to the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (score 13534, delta -0.1%) and the Intel Core i7-1250U (score 13462, delta 0.4%). This proximity in scores suggests that the i3-12100F delivers competitive processing power for its class, but the game's performance is not CPU-bound in most tested scenarios.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570, based on the Polaris 20 chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock is 1244 MHz, and it delivers 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The GPU's percentile ranking is 74th among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 30158, which is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (score 30109, delta 0.2%) and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (score 30097, delta 0.2%).

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's VRAM capacity and memory bandwidth are critical. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 15.5, and at 4K High, it is 24.4 FPS, suggesting that the 4 GB VRAM buffer is overwhelmed by higher resolutions and settings. The GPU's 224.0 GB/s bandwidth is a limiting factor for texture streaming and frame buffer operations at 4K. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 75.5 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 37.6 FPS, demonstrating that the GPU's shading units and ROPs are the primary constraint as settings increase.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1547 out of 1637 tested combinations places this system in the bottom 5.5% of all tested hardware pairings for Lockdown Protocol. This low ranking is primarily due to the GPU's age and limited VRAM, as the CPU performs adequately in synthetic benchmarks. The data shows that the combo is best suited for 1080p gaming at Low or Medium settings, where it achieves 75.5 FPS and 54.9 FPS, respectively.

In comparison to other combos, the ranking indicates that most tested systems outperform this pairing. The GPU's average benchmark score is comparable to much newer cards like the RTX 5060 and RX 7700 XT, which is surprising given the generational gap, but the RX 570's 4 GB VRAM and 150 W TDP limit its real-world gaming performance. The CPU's score is also mid-pack, but the combination of a budget CPU with an older GPU results in a system that is not competitive at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the system averages 75.5 FPS, while at 1440p Low, it drops to 53.8 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 37.5 FPS. This represents a 50.3% reduction in FPS from 1080p to 4K. At High settings, the drop is more severe: 46.5 FPS at 1080p, 36.7 FPS at 1440p, and 24.4 FPS at 4K, a 47.5% decline.

These results indicate that the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU's performance is relatively constant across resolutions, as evidenced by the 3DMark scores, but the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are strained at higher pixel counts. The 4 GB VRAM is likely exhausted at 4K, causing significant frame rate drops. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is moderate, but the jump to 4K shows a steep decline, highlighting the GPU's inability to handle 4K rendering.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system achieves 75.5 FPS on Low settings, 54.9 FPS on Medium, 46.5 FPS on High, and 37.6 FPS on Ultra. These results show that the GPU can maintain playable frame rates at 1080p across all presets, with Low being the only setting that exceeds 60 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the FPS drops: 53.8 FPS on Low, 42.9 FPS on Medium, 36.7 FPS on High, and 28.8 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p results indicate that only Low settings provide a consistently smooth experience, while Medium and High are borderline.

At 3840x2160, the performance is significantly reduced: 37.5 FPS on Low, 29 FPS on Medium, 24.4 FPS on High, and 15.5 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show that 4K gaming is not viable with this combo, as all presets fall below 40 FPS, and Ultra is nearly unplayable.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1080p with Low settings, which yields 75.5 FPS. This is the only configuration that provides a frame rate well above the 60 FPS threshold, ensuring smooth gameplay. For users willing to accept lower frame rates, 1080p Medium at 54.9 FPS is a reasonable alternative, offering better visual quality while staying above 50 FPS.

At 1440p, Low settings at 53.8 FPS is the only viable option, as Medium drops to 42.9 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced games but not ideal for a FPS. High and Ultra at 1440p are not recommended due to frame rates below 40 FPS. For 4K, none of the presets are playable, with the best result being 37.5 FPS on Low, which is still below the 40 FPS threshold for comfortable gaming.

The data suggests that users should prioritize 1080p with Medium or Low settings to balance visual fidelity and performance. The GPU's 4 GB VRAM is insufficient for higher resolutions, so sticking to 1080p is the most practical choice for this hardware combination.