Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB delivers a highly playable experience in Lockdown Protocol, with performance scaling predictably across resolutions and settings. The data shows that the combination is capable of high frame rates, particularly at 1080p and 1440p, but requires careful settings selection to achieve the best balance of visual fidelity and smoothness.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combo reveals a clear hierarchy across the four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces an average of 193 FPS, which is the highest recorded for this configuration. The Medium preset follows at 137 FPS, High at 120 FPS, and Ultra drops to 90 FPS. For players prioritizing maximum smoothness on high-refresh-rate monitors, the Low preset at 1080p is the clear choice, as the average of 193 FPS provides a significant margin above 144 Hz displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance curve shifts. The Low preset still leads with 141 FPS, followed by Medium at 100 FPS, High at 88 FPS, and Ultra at 66 FPS. At this resolution, the Medium preset appears to be the optimal balance, as it maintains an average above 100 FPS while offering improved visual quality over Low. The minimum FPS for Medium at 1440p is 85, which remains comfortably playable.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. The Low preset yields 91 FPS, while Medium drops to 65 FPS, High to 57 FPS, and Ultra to 42 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K is the only setting that provides a minimum FPS reading of 55 and a maximum of 75, indicating a stable frame time. Given the data, the Medium preset at 4K is the recommended choice for maintaining playability, as the Ultra preset's 42 FPS average falls below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider the baseline for smooth gameplay.

Across all resolutions, the Ultra preset consistently shows the largest performance penalty. The delta from Medium to Ultra is substantial: at 1080p, the drop is from 137 to 90 FPS, representing a 34% reduction. At 1440p, the drop is from 100 to 66 FPS, a 34% reduction. At 4K, the drop is from 65 to 42 FPS, a 35% reduction. This consistency suggests that Ultra settings impose a heavy load that this combo cannot fully sustain. For the best experience, the Medium preset is the recommended default, as it delivers the highest average FPS while maintaining acceptable minimums on every resolution tested.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 193, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset.

Q: Does the combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K on any setting?

A: Yes, the Low preset at 3840x2160 produces an average of 91 FPS, and the Medium preset produces 65 FPS. The High preset averages 57 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 42 FPS, both below 60 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from Medium to Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 100 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 66 FPS. This represents a 34% reduction in average frame rate.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset at 1080p?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 records a minimum FPS of 116, with an average of 137 FPS and a maximum of 158 FPS.

Q: Is the Ultra preset viable for competitive play at any resolution?

A: Based on the data, the Ultra preset yields 90 FPS at 1080p, 66 FPS at 1440p, and 42 FPS at 4K. While 1080p Ultra is above 60 FPS, the 1440p and 4K results fall below the threshold for high-refresh-rate competitive play.

Q: How does the combo's FPS scale from 1080p to 4K on the High preset?

A: The High preset averages 120 FPS at 1080p, 88 FPS at 1440p, and 57 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is a 52% reduction in average FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture. Its base clock is 3.30 GHz, with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. In synthetic benchmarks, the processor achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11860 and a single-core score of 1674. The 3DMark 16-thread score is 4051, while the 2-thread score is 1659, indicating that multi-threaded scaling is moderate.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions, but it still influences performance at 1080p. The data shows that at 1920x1080, the FPS spread between Low and Ultra is substantial (193 to 90 FPS), which suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck even at the lowest settings. However, the 4-core design limits the ceiling for very high frame rates. The 3DMark 4-thread score of 2859 is notably lower than the 8-thread score of 4026, indicating that the processor relies on its thread count for sustained loads.

The CPU's single-thread performance, as measured by the 3DMark single-thread score of 893 and the Cinebench R15 single-core score of 168, is solid for a quad-core part. This is relevant because Lockdown Protocol is an FPS game where a strong single-thread performance can help maintain frame pacing. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 193 FPS, which suggests the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output at that level. At 4K, the CPU is less stressed, as the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor.

The L3 cache is 12 MB shared, and the processor supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though the memory bandwidth is not specified in the data. The 10 nm process node and 58 W TDP indicate an efficient design that should not throttle under gaming loads. Overall, the CPU provides sufficient headroom for this GPU at 1440p and 4K, but at 1080p with lower settings, the 4-core configuration may cap performance below what the GPU alone could deliver.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combo ranks 1897 out of 3714 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the 51st percentile of all tested combos, meaning it performs better than roughly half of the configurations in the database. The rank is based on measured FPS data across the tested resolutions and settings.

The CPU's individual percentile is 68, indicating it outperforms 68% of all CPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the Intel Core 3 N355 with a delta of 0%, the Intel Core i5-9500 with a delta of 0.3%, and the Intel Core 5 120UL with a delta of -0.7%. This places the i3-12100F in a competitive position among budget and older mid-range processors.

The GPU's percentile is notably lower at 24, meaning it outperforms only 24% of all GPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test are the Intel HD Graphics 630 with a delta of 0.4%, the NVIDIA Quadro K2100M with a delta of -1.4%, and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M with a delta of 1.5%. This suggests that the RX 9060 XT 8 GB is positioned in the lower tier of the GPU performance spectrum, which is reflected in the combo's overall rank.

The combo rank of 1897 out of 3714 is a direct result of the GPU's relatively low standing. While the CPU is above average, the GPU's performance holds the combination back. In practical terms, this means the combo is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming at medium settings, but it will struggle to maintain high frame rates at 4K with demanding settings. The data indicates that users seeking higher ranks should consider a more powerful GPU, as the CPU is not the limiting factor in most scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the bottleneck characteristics of this combo. On the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 193 at 1080p to 141 at 1440p and 91 at 4K. This represents a 27% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 53% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is nearly linear with pixel count, suggesting that the GPU is the primary limiting factor even at low settings.

On the Medium preset, the average FPS drops from 137 at 1080p to 100 at 1440p and 65 at 4K. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is 27%, and from 1080p to 4K is 53%. This consistency across Low and Medium presets indicates that the GPU's raw throughput is the dominant constraint, as the CPU's workload does not scale significantly with resolution.

The High preset shows a similar pattern: 120 FPS at 1080p, 88 FPS at 1440p, and 57 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 53%, matching the Low and Medium presets. The Ultra preset, however, shows a slightly different scaling: 90 FPS at 1080p, 66 FPS at 1440p, and 42 FPS at 4K. The reduction from 1080p to 4K is 53% as well, but the absolute values are lower due to the increased graphical load.

The fact that the percentage drop is nearly identical across all presets (around 53% from 1080p to 4K) strongly suggests that the GPU is the bottleneck at all settings. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the percentage drop would be smaller at higher resolutions, as the CPU load would remain constant while the GPU load increases. Instead, the consistent scaling indicates that the RX 9060 XT's rendering capacity is the primary constraint, and the CPU has enough headroom to feed it at all tested resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low at 193 FPS, Medium at 137 FPS (with a minimum of 116 and maximum of 158), High at 120 FPS, and Ultra at 90 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one at 1080p with a recorded minimum and maximum, indicating stable frame pacing. The gap between Low and Medium is 56 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 30 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are: Low at 141 FPS, Medium at 100 FPS (with a minimum of 85 and maximum of 116), High at 88 FPS, and Ultra at 66 FPS. The Medium preset again shows the only min/max data, with a spread of 31 FPS between the minimum and maximum. The drop from Low to Medium is 41 FPS, while the drop from High to Ultra is 22 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values are: Low at 91 FPS, Medium at 65 FPS (with a minimum of 55 and maximum of 75), High at 57 FPS, and Ultra at 42 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 55 FPS is the only sub-60 reading among the Medium presets across all resolutions, indicating that 4K Medium is the edge of playability. The gap between Low and Medium is 26 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 15 FPS.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the Medium preset offers the best balance of performance and stability, with the only min/max readings across all resolutions. The Low preset provides the highest average FPS but lacks the min/max data, which may indicate less consistent frame times. The Ultra preset consistently shows the lowest performance, with the 4K Ultra average of 42 FPS being the only reading below 60 FPS across all tested configurations.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB is based on the RDNA 4.0 architecture and the Navi 44 chip. It features 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The GPU has 32 ray tracing cores and a boost clock of 3130 MHz, with a game clock of 2530 MHz. The memory configuration consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 322.3 GB/s.

In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark, the GPU scores 4093, which places it in the 24th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel HD Graphics 630, which has a delta of 0.4%, and the NVIDIA Quadro K2100M, which has a delta of -1.4%. This indicates that the RX 9060 XT's raw performance is modest, and it is not positioned as a high-end part.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's role is clearly dominant, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. The consistent 53% FPS drop from 1080p to 4K across all presets confirms that the GPU's rendering capacity is the primary bottleneck. The 8 GB of VRAM is sufficient for the tested settings, as no VRAM-related issues are apparent in the data. The memory bandwidth of 322.3 GB/s appears adequate for the game's demands, as the FPS scaling is smooth and predictable.

The GPU's boost clock of 3130 MHz is high, but the low ROP count of 64 and the 128-bit memory bus limit its fill-rate and bandwidth capabilities. This is reflected in the 4K Ultra results, where the average FPS of 42 is below playable thresholds. The GPU's transistor count of 29,700 million on a 4 nm process node indicates a modern design, but its positioning in the 24th percentile suggests that it is intended for 1080p and 1440p gaming rather than high-refresh-rate 4K.

The data shows that the GPU holds back the combo's overall rank, as the CPU is capable of higher performance. For users of this combo, the GPU's limitations mean that Medium settings at 1440p are the realistic ceiling for a smooth experience, with 4K requiring Low settings to maintain 60 FPS. The GPU's performance is consistent with its 150 W TDP and 1x 8-pin power connector, indicating a power-efficient but not high-performance design.