Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol pairs the Intel Core i3-12100F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, and the measured frame rates reveal a configuration that is surprisingly balanced at lower resolutions but becomes increasingly GPU-bound as pixel count rises. The i3-12100F, a 4-core/8-thread Alder Lake part, holds its own in this FPS title, while the RTX 4060, built on the 5 nm Ada Lovelace architecture with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, provides the graphical muscle. The data indicates that this combo ranks 949th out of 1637 tested configurations in this game, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows show a clear hierarchy across presets, and the optimal choice depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 120.2 FPS on average, which is a strong baseline for a fast-paced FPS. However, the Medium preset at 133.3 FPS offers a 13.1 FPS improvement over High, with only a modest visual fidelity reduction in typical scenes, making it the sensible default for competitive play where frame rate trumps absolute image quality. The Low preset at 187.7 FPS is the maximum performance option, but the visual trade-offs are significant enough that most users will prefer the smoother experience of Medium.

At 2560x1440, the High preset produces 88.7 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 99.5 FPS is the sweet spot here, providing a 10.8 FPS advantage over High while still maintaining a playable frame rate. The Ultra preset at 64.6 FPS is usable but leaves little headroom for dips, so it is only recommended for players who prioritize visual detail over responsiveness.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. The High preset yields 58.2 FPS, which is marginal for a competitive FPS, while Medium at 61.5 FPS is barely better. The Low preset at 90.5 FPS is the only viable option for 4K play, and even then, it represents a significant visual downgrade. The Ultra preset at 44.3 FPS is not recommended for serious play, as the frame rate falls below the playability threshold. In summary, the data suggests Medium at 1080p, Medium at 1440p, and Low at 4K as the best experience per the measured rows.

FAQ

Q: How does the Core i3-12100F compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Core i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13516, which places it within 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534), 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i7-1250U (13462), and 1.8% ahead of the Intel Core i7-7700K (13280). This indicates the i3-12100F performs competitively with much higher-tier processors in general compute tasks.

Q: What is the RTX 4060's position relative to other GPUs in the database?

A: The RTX 4060 holds a 66th percentile rank against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23181. It trails the AMD Radeon RX 6600M by 0.6% (23321) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti by 0.7% (23338), while leading the Intel Arc B580 by 0.7% (23021) and the AMD Radeon 760M by 0.8% (22999). This positions it as a mid-range performer.

Q: Is this combo better suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming?

A: The measured FPS data shows that at 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo achieves 120.2 FPS, while at 2560x1440 with High settings, it drops to 88.7 FPS. Both are playable, but the 1080p result offers a 35.5% higher frame rate, making it the more comfortable choice for high-refresh-rate displays.

Q: How does the frame rate scale from Low to Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 138.2 FPS, Medium provides 99.5 FPS, High gives 88.7 FPS, and Ultra dips to 64.6 FPS. This represents a 53.3% drop from Low to Ultra, showing that the RTX 4060's performance headroom is squeezed by the most demanding preset.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The combo ranks 949th out of 1637 tested combinations, which places it in the 58th percentile of all configurations. This suggests it is a solid mid-pack performer, not at the top tier but well above the median.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the frame rate drops to 58.2 FPS on High settings, compared to 120.2 FPS at 1080p. This 51.6% reduction indicates that the RTX 4060 is the limiting factor at 4K, as the i3-12100F's single-thread score of 893 in 3DMark would not typically bottleneck at such high pixel counts.

How This Combo Ranks

In the Lockdown Protocol database, this Intel Core i3-12100F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination holds the 949th position out of 1637 tested combos. This rank places it in the upper-middle segment of the distribution, meaning it outperforms roughly 42% of all configurations tested in this game. The rank is a composite measure that accounts for the measured FPS across all resolutions and settings, and the data shows that the combo is most competitive at 1080p, where it achieves 187.7 FPS on Low settings, but falls to 44.3 FPS at 4K Ultra—a spread that demonstrates the RTX 4060's limitations at higher resolutions.

The CPU's percentile rank of 72 against all processors, with an average benchmark score of 13516, suggests that the i3-12100F is a capable partner for the RTX 4060 in this title. The GPU's 66th percentile rank and average score of 23181 indicate that it is similarly positioned in the broader GPU landscape. When combined, these components produce a system that is neither overkill nor underpowered for Lockdown Protocol, but rather one that sits comfortably in the mid-range tier. The 949th rank reflects this balance, as the combo manages to stay competitive in a game that appears to favor higher core counts for CPU-bound scenes, while still benefiting from the RTX 4060's solid rasterization performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured frame rates show a clear progression across presets. The Low preset delivers 187.7 FPS on average, which is the highest recorded for this combo. The Medium preset drops to 133.3 FPS, a 29.0% reduction from Low. The High preset produces 120.2 FPS, which is 9.8% lower than Medium. The Ultra preset yields 85.5 FPS, representing a 36.0% drop from High and a 54.5% drop from Low. These numbers indicate that the RTX 4060 has ample headroom at 1080p, and the i3-12100F is likely the primary driver of performance at the lower presets.

At 2560x1440, the same settings hierarchy applies but with lower absolute numbers. The Low preset achieves 138.2 FPS, which is 26.4% lower than the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset produces 99.5 FPS, a 28.0% reduction from Low. The High preset delivers 88.7 FPS, a 10.9% drop from Medium. The Ultra preset falls to 64.6 FPS, a 27.2% reduction from High. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 53.3%, showing that the GPU becomes more stressed as pixel count increases, but the frame rates remain playable on all presets.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly across the board. The Low preset is the only one that remains above 60 FPS, achieving 90.5 FPS. The Medium preset produces 61.5 FPS, a 32.0% reduction from Low. The High preset delivers 58.2 FPS, a 5.4% drop from Medium. The Ultra preset falls to 44.3 FPS, a 23.9% reduction from High. The difference between 1080p Low (187.7 FPS) and 4K Low (90.5 FPS) is 51.8%, indicating that the RTX 4060's 8 GB memory and 128-bit bus are stressed at 4K, even on the least demanding preset.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling data reveals a consistent pattern: as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, the frame rate drops by roughly half at every settings level. For the Low preset, the FPS falls from 187.7 at 1080p to 138.2 at 1440p, a 26.4% decrease, and then to 90.5 at 4K, a 34.5% decrease from 1440p. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 51.8%. For the High preset, the FPS falls from 120.2 at 1080p to 88.7 at 1440p, a 26.2% decrease, and then to 58.2 at 4K, a 34.4% decrease from 1440p, for a total drop of 51.6%. This near-identical scaling across settings suggests that the limiting component is the RTX 4060, as the GPU's workload increases quadratically with pixel count.

The i3-12100F's performance characteristics, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 893 and a multi-thread score of 4023, indicate that it is not the bottleneck at 4K. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rates would show less variation between 1440p and 4K, as the CPU would cap performance regardless of resolution. Instead, the steady decline in FPS from 1080p to 4K points squarely at the GPU. The RTX 4060's 272.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity and 128-bit memory interface become constraints, leading to the observed 44.3 FPS on Ultra. The data indicates that this combo is optimized for 1080p and 1440p play, with 4K reserved for lower presets where the GPU can still maintain a playable frame rate.