Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol is a fast-paced FPS where frame pacing matters as much as raw averages, and this particular pairing of an Intel Core i3-12100F with an AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT delivers a surprisingly balanced experience. The data shows a system that is clearly capable of high-refresh-rate play at mainstream resolutions, but it also reveals the expected hard ceiling at 4K Ultra. The benchmark results indicate that this combo sits in the 56th percentile of all tested combinations, ranking 925th out of 1637, which places it firmly in the upper-middle tier of the database.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable but steep penalty as resolution climbs, confirming that the RX 6700 XT becomes the primary bottleneck at higher pixel counts. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 190.8 FPS, which is a massive 108% lead over the 4K Low result of 91.9 FPS. This gap narrows as settings increase, but the trend is consistent: dropping from 1080p to 1440p at High settings costs 28.8 FPS (from 117.5 to 88.7), and the jump from 1440p to 4K at High settings costs another 30.6 FPS (from 88.7 to 58.1). The scaling factor is roughly 2x when moving from 1080p Low to 4K Low, which points directly at the GPU's 384.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 192-bit bus being saturated by the added pixel workload.

The limiting component shifts depending on the preset. At 1080p Low, the i3-12100F's 4 cores and 8 threads are likely the ceiling, as the GPU is not fully stressed at 190.8 FPS. However, at 4K Ultra, the RX 6700 XT's 2560 shading units are clearly overwhelmed, producing just 41 FPS. The sweet spot for this pairing appears to be 1440p, where the CPU can feed the GPU adequately without the GPU being completely overtaxed. The delta between 1440p Medium (98.5 FPS) and 4K Medium (66.1 FPS) is 32.4 FPS, indicating that the GPU's compute throughput (13.21 TFLOPS FP32) is the deciding factor at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo handle 1440p gaming in Lockdown Protocol?

A: Yes, comfortably. The measured data shows 88.7 FPS at 1440p High and 64.4 FPS at 1440p Ultra, which are both playable figures. Even the demanding Ultra preset stays above 60 FPS, making 1440p the ideal resolution for this pairing.

Q: Is the Intel Core i3-12100F a bottleneck for the RX 6700 XT?

A: At 1080p Low, the CPU appears to limit performance, since the FPS reaches 190.8 but the GPU has more headroom. At 1440p and above, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the larger FPS drops when increasing resolution. The CPU's single-thread score of 893 in 3DMark and 1681 in Cinebench R23 single-core indicate it holds up well in this title.

Q: What is the best preset for a high-refresh-rate 1080p monitor?

A: Medium settings at 1080p deliver 134.7 FPS, which is sufficient for most 120Hz displays. For 144Hz panels, Low settings at 190.8 FPS are the better choice, as the visual fidelity loss is minimal compared to the frame rate gain.

Q: How does this combo compare to the GPU's nearest rivals in terms of overall score?

A: The RX 6700 XT has an average benchmark score of 33721, which is 0.7% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6800 (33493) and 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A5000 (33294). It is also 1% slower than the AMD Radeon HD 7950 (34050), though that older card's score is likely skewed by different driver optimizations.

Q: Does the CPU's multi-threading capability matter for this game?

A: The i3-12100F scores 11912 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4026 in 3DMark 8-thread tests. While Lockdown Protocol is a modern FPS that can use multiple threads, the 4-core/8-thread configuration is sufficient to avoid severe stutters, as shown by the consistent FPS averages across all tested presets.

Q: Is the 12 GB VRAM on the RX 6700 XT necessary for 4K?

A: The 12 GB GDDR6 memory is not the limiting factor at 4K; the GPU's compute power is. The 41 FPS at 4K Ultra suggests the card struggles with the shader workload, not memory capacity. At 4K Low, the 91.9 FPS result shows the card can handle the pixel count when effects are reduced.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is the dominant component in this pairing for Lockdown Protocol, and its specifications explain the measured FPS patterns. The GPU runs at a base clock of 2321 MHz and a boost clock of 2581 MHz, with a game clock of 2424 MHz that represents typical sustained performance. These clocks translate to a pixel rate of 165.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 413.0 GTexel/s, which are the raw throughput numbers that dictate how fast the card can fill frames at high resolutions. The 13.21 TFLOPS FP32 compute is moderate by modern standards, which is why 4K Ultra (41 FPS) falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

The memory subsystem plays a critical role in this game. The 12 GB GDDR6 VRAM on a 192-bit bus provides 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but becomes strained at 4K. The data supports this: the FPS drop from 1440p Medium (98.5) to 4K Medium (66.1) is 32.4 FPS, a 33% reduction that correlates with the increased memory pressure. The GPU's 40 ray tracing cores are present but do not appear to impact the measured results, as the benchmarks show no separate RT-specific rows. The card's 77th percentile ranking among all GPUs (avg score 33721) places it above the median, and its nearest rival by score is the RX 6800 with a delta of only 0.7%, meaning performance is tightly clustered in this tier.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS table reveals a consistent hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the progression from Low to Ultra is: 190.8, 134.7, 117.5, and 91.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 56.1 FPS, which is the largest single-step delta at this resolution, suggesting that Medium introduces significant visual effects that tax the GPU. The High to Ultra drop is 25.8 FPS, indicating that Ultra settings add a heavy post-processing load.

At 2560x1440, the numbers scale down proportionally: Low at 138.2, Medium at 98.5, High at 88.7, and Ultra at 64.4 FPS. The Low to Medium delta here is 39.7 FPS, which is smaller than at 1080p, confirming that the GPU is becoming more stressed at higher resolutions. The High to Ultra drop of 24.3 FPS is similar to 1080p, showing that the Ultra preset's cost is resolution-independent in relative terms.

At 3840x2160, the results are 91.9 (Low), 66.1 (Medium), 58.1 (High), and 41 (Ultra). The Low to Medium drop is 25.8 FPS, and the High to Ultra drop is 17.1 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 41 FPS is the only sub-60 figure in the entire dataset, marking it as the sole unusable configuration. The 4K High result of 58.1 FPS is borderline playable, but the 4K Medium result of 66.1 FPS is the minimum viable option for 4K gaming on this combo.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT ranks 925th out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the 56th percentile. This is a strong showing for a CPU that costs $97 at launch and a GPU that launched at $479 USD. The CPU's percentile versus all CPUs is 72, and its average benchmark score of 13516 is within 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534) and 0.6% of the Intel Core i3-10105 (13430). This means the i3-12100F is punching well above its weight class in synthetic tests, and the real-world game data confirms this.

The GPU's percentile versus all GPUs is 77, with an average score of 33721. Its nearest rival, the RX 6800, scores 33493 (0.7% slower), and the RTX A5000 scores 33294 (1.3% slower). The fact that the CPU and GPU both sit in the 72-77 percentile range indicates a well-matched pairing; neither component is dramatically over- or under-powered relative to the other. The 925th rank out of 1637 means this combo outperforms 712 other tested systems, which is a solid middle-tier result for a budget-oriented build.

Settings Recommendations

Based strictly on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend on the target display and performance goal. For 1080p users with a 144Hz monitor, Low settings at 190.8 FPS is the clear choice, as it provides the highest frame rate headroom and the visual difference from Medium is acceptable given the 56.1 FPS gain. For 1080p users with a 60Hz or 120Hz display, Medium settings at 134.7 FPS is the best balance, offering a 17.2 FPS improvement over High while maintaining a smooth experience.

For 1440p, the data strongly recommends Medium settings at 98.5 FPS. This is 9.8 FPS faster than High (88.7) and 34.1 FPS faster than Ultra (64.4), while still looking substantially better than Low (138.2). The 1440p Medium result is the most efficient configuration in the entire dataset, delivering near-100 FPS with a reasonable visual quality. Ultra at 1440p is only viable for players who prioritize image quality over frame rate, as the 64.4 FPS result is above 60 but leaves no headroom for drops.

For 4K, the only playable options are Low (91.9 FPS) or Medium (66.1 FPS). High at 58.1 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 41 FPS is simply too slow for a fast-paced FPS. The 4K Medium setting is the recommended choice for 4K displays, as it provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while retaining some visual fidelity. The data shows no scenario where Ultra settings are advisable on this combo, as the lowest FPS figure in the entire dataset (41 FPS at 4K Ultra) confirms that this preset is beyond the hardware's capability.