Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i3-12100F + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX

The pairing of Intel's quad-core Alder Lake i3-12100F with AMD's flagship RDNA 3 GPU, the RX 7900 XTX, produces a striking example of GPU-bound performance in Lockdown Protocol. The measured data across three resolutions and four quality presets consistently shows that frame rates are dictated almost entirely by graphics load rather than CPU throughput. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 270 FPS average, while at 4K Ultra it drops to 67 FPS, a span of 203 FPS that illustrates the GPU's dominance in this FPS title. The i3-12100F, with its 4 cores and 8 threads, appears sufficient to keep the RX 7900 XTX fed even at high frame rates, as the scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K follows a GPU-typical curve.

Resolution Scaling

Resolution scaling in Lockdown Protocol reveals a predictable GPU-bound behavior, with FPS dropping sharply as pixel count increases. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the average FPS falls from 188 to 138, a 26.6% reduction. The step from 1440p to 4K at the same preset is steeper: 138 to 89 FPS, a 35.5% decline. This non-linear scaling is characteristic of pixel-fill-rate-limited scenarios, where the RX 7900 XTX's 192 ROPs and 479.6 GPixel/s pixel rate become the governing factor. At Low settings, the drop is even more pronounced: 270 FPS at 1080p falls to 223 at 1440p (-17.4%), then to 144 at 4K (-35.4%). The larger relative drop at 4K Low compared to 1080p Low suggests that even with minimal shading work, the sheer pixel throughput demand of 3840x2160 begins to tax the GPU's memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s.

The scaling pattern points to the RX 7900 XTX as the bottleneck across all tested configurations. If the i3-12100F were limiting performance, we would expect smaller FPS gaps between resolutions at higher settings, where CPU overhead per frame is relatively smaller. Instead, the data shows consistent, steep declines with each resolution increase, which is the signature of a GPU that is fully utilized. At 1080p Ultra, the combo still manages 141 FPS, indicating that the CPU can sustain high instruction throughput even when the GPU is not the sole limiter. However, the fact that 1080p Low reaches 270 FPS while 1080p Ultra sits at 141 FPS (a 91% increase) demonstrates that the GPU's shading units and texture units are the active constraint, not the CPU's 4.30 GHz boost clock.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 7900 XTX brings formidable specifications to Lockdown Protocol, and the measured FPS reflects its capabilities. With 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, the GPU has a bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s, which proves ample for this title's texture streaming and geometry loads. The 6144 shading units and 384 TMUs deliver a texture rate of 959.2 GTexel/s, while the 192 ROPs handle pixel output at 479.6 GPixel/s. These figures translate directly into the measured performance: at 4K Medium, the combo posts 102 FPS average with a minimum of 87 and maximum of 117, suggesting that memory bandwidth is not a limiting factor even at the highest pixel counts. The GPU's boost clock of 2498 MHz and game clock of 2365 MHz provide the raw compute throughput of 61.39 TFLOPS FP32, which is more than sufficient for Lockdown Protocol's FPS rendering demands.

The VRAM capacity of 24 GB is particularly relevant for 4K Ultra settings, where texture detail and shadow maps consume significant memory. The measured 67 FPS at 4K Ultra, while lower than other presets, shows no signs of texture thrashing or stutter that would indicate VRAM exhaustion. The minimum FPS data points available (87 at 4K Medium, 134 at 1440p Medium, 183 at 1080p Medium) all show healthy frame pacing without dips that would suggest memory swapping. The GPU's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface provides adequate bandwidth to the CPU, though at 1080p Low with 270 FPS, the per-frame transfer time is short enough that CPU-GPU communication could become a factor—yet the data shows no such limitation.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Lockdown Protocol, this pairing ranks 538 out of 3714 combos, placing it in the top 14.5% of all configurations tested. This percentile position is notable given that the i3-12100F itself sits at the 68th percentile among all CPUs in the benchmark database, while the RX 7900 XTX ranks at the 64th percentile among all GPUs. The combo rank of 538 is better than what either component's individual percentile might suggest, indicating a synergistic pairing where the CPU's modest core count (4 cores) does not artificially cap the GPU's output in this specific game. The rank of 538 out of 3714 means that 3200 other combinations deliver lower average FPS in Lockdown Protocol, while 537 deliver higher—a strong result for a CPU that costs a fraction of the GPU.

The i3-12100F's nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks provide context for its role here. The Intel Core 3 N355 scores 13492 (0% delta), the Core i5-9500 scores 13452 (0.3% behind), and the Core 7 1250U scores 13351 (1.1% behind). These competitors, while similar in synthetic average scores, would likely produce different results in Lockdown Protocol due to their varying core configurations. However, the fact that the i3-12100F's 4-core/8-thread design keeps pace with these alternatives in this game suggests that Lockdown Protocol is not heavily multi-threaded. Meanwhile, the RX 7900 XTX's nearest GPU rivals—the GTX 1060 3 GB (0.4% ahead), Quadro K5200 (1% behind), and TITAN Xp (1.2% ahead)—are all older or lower-tier cards, yet the 7900 XTX still manages to outrank most combos due to its raw compute advantages.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset provides a granular view of performance across all tested scenarios. At 1080p, the combo delivers 270 FPS on Low, 216 FPS on Medium (with min 183 and max 248), 188 FPS on High, and 141 FPS on Ultra. These figures place the configuration well above the 144 Hz refresh rate threshold for competitive play at all presets except Ultra, which still clears 140 FPS. Moving to 1440p, the numbers drop to 223 FPS on Low, 158 FPS on Medium (min 134, max 182), 138 FPS on High, and 103 FPS on Ultra. At this resolution, only the Low preset maintains a 200+ FPS average, while Ultra falls below 120 FPS. The 4K results show 144 FPS on Low, 102 FPS on Medium (min 87, max 117), 89 FPS on High, and 67 FPS on Ultra.

The delta between Medium and High settings at each resolution is instructive. At 1080p, Medium (216 FPS) to High (188 FPS) is a 13% drop; at 1440p, Medium (158) to High (138) is 12.7%; at 4K, Medium (102) to High (89) is 12.8%. This consistent ~13% penalty for the High preset suggests that the additional shading work is uniform across resolutions, likely from increased texture filtering and shadow detail. The jump from High to Ultra is more severe: 188 to 141 at 1080p (25% drop), 138 to 103 at 1440p (25.4%), and 89 to 67 at 4K (24.7%). This uniform 25% penalty for Ultra indicates a specific rendering feature—possibly ray-traced shadows or ambient occlusion—that the RX 7900 XTX's 96 RT cores handle with a fixed cost relative to resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target refresh rate and resolution. For 1080p displays with 144 Hz panels, the High preset (188 FPS) provides ample headroom over the refresh rate while maintaining visual fidelity above Medium. The Ultra preset at 141 FPS is borderline for 144 Hz, so High is the safer recommendation. For 1440p at 144 Hz, the Medium preset (158 FPS) is the highest quality option that consistently exceeds 144 FPS; High at 138 FPS falls short, while Low at 223 FPS sacrifices too much visual quality for marginal gains. At 4K, the situation changes dramatically: only Low (144 FPS) achieves 144 Hz, while Medium (102 FPS) is better suited for 60-100 Hz displays. For 4K 60 Hz panels, the Medium preset (102 FPS) offers the best balance, as it provides 87 FPS minimums that stay well above 60 FPS, whereas High (89 FPS) is too close to the 60 FPS floor for comfort.

The data shows that Medium settings offer the most consistent frame pacing, as evidenced by the available min/max ranges. At 1080p Medium, the range is 183-248 FPS (a 65 FPS spread); at 1440p Medium, 134-182 (48 FPS spread); at 4K Medium, 87-117 (30 FPS spread). This narrowing range with increasing resolution indicates that lower resolutions amplify CPU-side frame time variance, while higher resolutions smooth out these fluctuations due to longer GPU frame times. For competitive play where consistency matters more than absolute peak FPS, Medium settings at any resolution provide the tightest frame delivery. For casual play, High settings at 1080p or 1440p offer a good balance, while Ultra is only recommended for 1080p where 141 FPS remains playable.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i3-12100F a bottleneck for the RX 7900 XTX in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The benchmark data indicates no CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 270 FPS average, which would stress a weak CPU, yet the frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings. The i3-12100F's 4 cores and 8 threads, with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, are sufficient to feed the GPU in this title.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo if I want to exceed 144 FPS?

A: At 1080p, all presets except Ultra exceed 144 FPS (Low 270, Medium 216, High 188). At 1440p, only Low (223 FPS) and Medium (158 FPS) exceed 144 FPS. At 4K, only Low (144 FPS) reaches that threshold.

Q: How does the RX 7900 XTX's 24 GB VRAM affect 4K performance?

A: The 24 GB GDDR6 memory with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures that even at 4K Ultra (67 FPS), there is no evidence of VRAM-related stuttering or texture pop-in. The minimum FPS data at 4K Medium (87 FPS) confirms stable frame delivery without memory pressure.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, Medium averages 158 FPS (min 134, max 182), while High averages 138 FPS. This 20 FPS (12.7%) reduction from Medium to High is consistent with the ~13% penalty observed at other resolutions.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested configurations in Lockdown Protocol?

A: This combo ranks 538 out of 3714 tested combinations, placing it in the top 14.5%. This is a strong result given the CPU's 68th percentile ranking among all CPUs and the GPU's 64th percentile among all GPUs.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K with the highest settings?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 67, which exceeds 60 FPS. However, with no minimum FPS data available for Ultra, the Medium preset (min 87 FPS) is the safer choice for consistent 60+ FPS performance at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F plays a supporting yet critical role in this configuration. With 4 cores and 8 threads based on Alder Lake architecture, this CPU has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. The 12 MB of shared L3 cache, alongside 1.25 MB L2 per core and 80 KB L1 per core, provides sufficient data locality for Lockdown Protocol's game logic and physics. The CPU's synthetic benchmarks show balanced performance: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11860 and single-core score of 1674, with a Geekbench multi-core of 7252 and single-core of 1932. These figures indicate a CPU that excels in lightly-threaded workloads, which aligns with the game's apparent scaling pattern.

The 3DMark results are particularly revealing for gaming context: the 4-thread score of 2859 nearly matches the 8-thread score of 4026, suggesting that Lockdown Protocol does not benefit significantly from more than 4 threads. The 16-thread score of 4051 and max-thread score of 4023 confirm that the CPU's performance plateaus beyond 4 threads, which is expected for a 4-core/8-thread part. In this game, the CPU's role is to maintain high single-thread performance for game logic, AI, and draw call submission, while the GPU handles the bulk of rendering. The i3-12100F's 3DMark single-thread score of 893, while modest, is sufficient to prevent frame drops in the measured data, as evidenced by the absence of CPU-induced stutter in the min FPS figures.

The CPU's 58 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 platform provide a power-efficient foundation that does not starve the GPU. The memory support for DDR4 and DDR5, while not benchmarked here, allows for flexible system configuration. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 16 lanes (CPU only) ensures that the RX 7900 XTX's PCIe 4.0 x16 connection is not bandwidth-limited. In the context of Lockdown Protocol, the i3-12100F's performance is best described as adequate but not excessive: it delivers enough throughput to keep the GPU busy at 270 FPS (1080p Low) without becoming the limiting factor. The 68th percentile ranking among all CPUs, combined with the combo's 538th rank out of 3714, demonstrates that this budget-oriented processor can effectively pair with a flagship GPU in this specific title.