Lockdown Protocol

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate for Lockdown Protocol at 1920x1080 with Low settings using this combo?

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 delivers an average of 201 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the highest measured result for this configuration.

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

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F scores an average benchmark of 13494, which is essentially tied with the Intel Core 3 N355 (avg score 13492, deltaPct 0) and slightly ahead of the Intel Core i5-9500 (avg score 13452, deltaPct 0.3) by 0.3%.

Q: What is the GPU's relative standing among all tested graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 sits at the 72nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26331. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon 860M, scores 26401, a difference of -0.3% from the RTX 5060.

Q: Does the RTX 5060 outperform the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary in average GPU benchmarks?

A: No, the RTX 5060's average score of 26331 is 0.8% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary's score of 26553, per the deltaPct of -0.8.

Q: What is the best average frame rate achievable at 3840x2160 with this hardware?

A: At 4K resolution, the highest average FPS recorded is 95, achieved with Low settings. The Ultra preset drops to an average of 44 FPS at the same resolution.

Q: How many total combos does this CPU-GPU pairing rank against in Lockdown Protocol?

A: This combination ranks 1649 out of 3714 total tested combos in the game, placing it in the upper-middle portion of the database.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, with the GB206 chip housing 21,900 million transistors on a 181 mm² die. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2280 MHz and a boost clock of 2497 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). It features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, which is substantial for a card in this class.

The GPU's compute capabilities are notable: 3840 shading units, 120 TMUs, 48 ROPs, 30 RT cores, and 120 tensor cores. Pixel rate is 119.9 GPixel/s, texture rate is 299.6 GTexel/s, and FP32 throughput reaches 19.18 TFLOPS. These specifications translate into a PassMark G3D score of 20891 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3628, with the overall average benchmark score at 26331.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's role becomes clearer when examining the measured FPS across settings. At 1920x1080, the RTX 5060 pushes from 94 FPS on Ultra to 201 FPS on Low, indicating that even at the highest settings, the card maintains playable frame rates. The jump from Ultra to High at 1080p is 31 FPS (94 to 125), while the jump from High to Medium is 18 FPS (125 to 143). This suggests that the GPU is the primary driver of performance at lower resolutions, with the CPU less likely to bottleneck.

At 2560x1440, the RTX 5060 delivers 69 FPS on Ultra, 91 FPS on High, 105 FPS on Medium, and 148 FPS on Low. The scaling from Medium to Low at 1440p is a 43 FPS increase, which is the largest single-step gain at that resolution, highlighting how much headroom remains when graphical load is reduced. At 3840x2160, the card manages 44 FPS on Ultra, 59 FPS on High, 68 FPS on Medium, and 95 FPS on Low, showing that 4K Ultra is the only setting that drops below 60 FPS average.

The GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity, combined with GDDR7 speed, is sufficient for Lockdown Protocol's demands across all tested settings, as no memory-related stutters are evident in the measured data. The PCIe 5.0 x8 interface provides ample bandwidth for data transfer, and the 145 W TDP with a suggested 300 W PSU keeps power requirements modest.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S family, built on Intel's 10 nm process with a die size of 163 mm². It runs at a base clock of 3.30 GHz and boosts up to 4.30 GHz, with a TDP of 58 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB L1 per core, 1.25 MB L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports dual-channel DDR4 and DDR5 memory, with PCIe Gen 5 providing 16 lanes for the CPU.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i3-12100F scores 11860 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1674 in single-core, 4981 in Cinebench R20 multi-core and 703 in single-core, and 7252 in Geekbench multi-core with 1932 in single-core. The PassMark multithread score is 14015, with a single-thread score of 3444. These results place it at the 68th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13494.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is most apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo achieves 201 FPS, which is a 53 FPS increase over Medium (143 FPS) and a 76 FPS increase over High (125 FPS). This scaling pattern suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU enough data to reach high frame rates, but the gap between Medium and Low (58 FPS) indicates that the i3-12100F's 4 cores and 8 threads may start to limit performance when the GPU is not the bottleneck.

The CPU's 3DMark scores—4051 for 16 threads, 4026 for 8 threads, 2859 for 4 threads, and 893 for single-thread—show that multi-threaded scaling is limited beyond 8 threads, which is consistent with its core count. This is relevant for Lockdown Protocol, as the game's FPS results at 1080p show only a 76 FPS difference between Low and Ultra, whereas at 4K the difference is 51 FPS (95 to 44). This narrower gap at 4K indicates that resolution scaling is more GPU-bound, while at 1080p the CPU has a larger influence on the upper frame rate ceiling.

The i3-12100F's nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks include the Intel Core 3 N355 (avg score 13492, deltaPct 0) and the Intel Core 5 120UL (avg score 13594, deltaPct -0.7), showing that this chip is competitive with newer low-power parts despite its older Alder Lake architecture.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear progression across settings. Low settings deliver an average of 201 FPS, which is the highest recorded for this combo. Medium settings drop to 143 FPS with a minimum of 121 FPS and a maximum of 164 FPS. High settings average 125 FPS, and Ultra settings average 94 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 58 FPS reduction, while the step from Medium to High is 18 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 31 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down predictably. Low settings average 148 FPS, which is 53 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result. Medium settings average 105 FPS with a minimum of 89 FPS and a maximum of 120 FPS. High settings average 91 FPS, and Ultra settings average 69 FPS. The delta between Low and Medium at 1440p is 43 FPS, and between Medium and High it is 14 FPS, while High to Ultra is 22 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results show that 4K is demanding for this hardware. Low settings average 95 FPS, which is still playable. Medium settings average 68 FPS with a minimum of 57 FPS and a maximum of 78 FPS. High settings average 59 FPS, and Ultra settings average 44 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 4K is 27 FPS, between Medium and High is 9 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 15 FPS.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently provides a balanced frame rate with minimum FPS values that stay above 57 FPS at 4K, 89 FPS at 1440p, and 121 FPS at 1080p. The Low preset offers the highest averages but lacks the visual fidelity of higher settings. The Ultra preset, while playable at 1080p (94 FPS) and 1440p (69 FPS), drops below 45 FPS at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

In Lockdown Protocol, the Intel Core i3-12100F with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 combination ranks 1649 out of 3714 total tested combos, placing it in the 44th percentile of all configurations. This rank reflects a mid-tier position, meaning that while this combo delivers solid frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, there are 1648 other combos that achieve higher overall performance in the game.

The CPU's 68th percentile standing among all CPUs and the GPU's 72nd percentile among all GPUs suggest that both components are above average individually, but the combo's rank in this specific game is tempered by the CPU's 4-core/8-thread configuration. The measured FPS data supports this: at 1080p Low, the combo hits 201 FPS, which is strong, but at 4K Ultra it falls to 44 FPS, indicating that the GPU is not the sole limiting factor.

Compared to the GPU's nearest rivals, the RTX 5060's average benchmark score of 26331 is only 0.3% lower than the AMD Radeon 860M and 0.8% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary. This means that swapping the GPU for one of these alternatives would likely produce similar frame rates in Lockdown Protocol. Similarly, the CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core 3 N355, has an identical average score (13492 vs 13494), so performance with that CPU would be nearly indistinguishable.

The combo's rank of 1649 suggests that for Lockdown Protocol specifically, there are many configurations with higher-end CPUs that would push frame rates higher, particularly at 1080p where CPU headroom matters. However, the data shows that at higher resolutions like 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes more dominant, and the combo's performance is more competitive relative to other tested systems.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all three resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 143 FPS average with a minimum of 121 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes. At 2560x1440, Medium averages 105 FPS with a minimum of 89 FPS, which remains well above the 60 FPS threshold for competitive play. At 3840x2160, Medium averages 68 FPS with a minimum of 57 FPS, which is borderline but still playable for most users.

For users prioritizing maximum visual quality, the High preset is the best choice at 1080p and 1440p. At 1080p, High averages 125 FPS, which is only 18 FPS lower than Medium but offers noticeably better graphics. At 1440p, High averages 91 FPS, maintaining smooth performance. However, at 4K, High drops to 59 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target, so Medium is recommended for 4K if consistent frame rates are desired.

The Ultra preset is only viable at 1080p, where it averages 94 FPS, and at 1440p, where it averages 69 FPS. At 4K, Ultra's 44 FPS average is below playable standards for a fast-paced FPS, so it should be avoided at that resolution. The Low preset, while delivering the highest frame rates (201 FPS at 1080p, 148 FPS at 1440p, 95 FPS at 4K), sacrifices too much visual quality for the modest gains over Medium at higher resolutions.

For 1080p gaming, Medium or High is recommended depending on whether frame rate or visuals take priority, as both stay above 120 FPS. For 1440p, Medium is the sweet spot with a 105 FPS average, while High is also acceptable at 91 FPS. For 4K, Medium is the only setting that maintains an average above 60 FPS, making it the default recommendation for this resolution. The minimum FPS values for Medium (121 at 1080p, 89 at 1440p, 57 at 4K) indicate that frame pacing is consistent, which is crucial for a FPS title like Lockdown Protocol.