Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern in Lockdown Protocol, with the most significant frame rate gains occurring between 4K and 1440p rather than between 1440p and 1080p. At Ultra settings, the combo delivers 62.9 FPS at 3840x2160, which climbs to 94.9 FPS at 2560x1440—a jump of 32 FPS, or roughly 51%. Moving down to 1920x1080 Ultra yields 128.8 FPS, another 33.9 FPS improvement, but the percentage gain shrinks to about 36%. This tapering curve is typical of a system where the GPU remains the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, but the CPU begins to assert its influence as pixel count drops.

The scaling story becomes more pronounced when examining Low settings, where the frame rate ceiling is less constrained by graphical workload. At 4K Low, the system produces 134 FPS, but at 1440p Low, it hits 181.5 FPS, a 47.5 FPS increase. The jump from 1440p Low to 1080p Low is much smaller—only 14.8 FPS, landing at 196.3 FPS. This compressed delta at lower resolutions and settings strongly suggests that the i5-10400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is approaching its practical limit in Lockdown Protocol's engine, preventing the RX 7900 XT from fully stretching its legs at 1080p. The data indicates that the sweet spot for this pairing is 1440p, where the GPU still has enough headroom to scale meaningfully with settings while the CPU keeps pace.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a system that scales predictably with resolution but with diminishing returns as pixel count decreases. At Ultra settings, the gap between 4K and 1440p is 32 FPS (62.9 to 94.9), while the gap between 1440p and 1080p is 33.9 FPS (94.9 to 128.8). These nearly identical absolute deltas suggest that the RX 7900 XT is still the dominant factor at both 4K and 1440p, but the percentage improvement going from 1440p to 1080p (36%) is notably smaller than the jump from 4K to 1440p (51%). This compression indicates the CPU is starting to cap performance at lower resolutions.

At High settings, the pattern repeats: 83.8 FPS at 4K, 127.3 FPS at 1440p, and 169.2 FPS at 1080p. The 4K-to-1440p delta is 43.5 FPS (52% improvement), while the 1440p-to-1080p delta is 41.9 FPS (33% improvement). The trend is even clearer at Low settings, where the 4K-to-1440p jump is 47.5 FPS (35.4% improvement), but the 1440p-to-1080p gain is only 14.8 FPS (8.2% improvement). This dramatic flattening at 1080p Low is the strongest evidence that the i5-10400F is the limiting component in low-resolution scenarios, as the GPU is clearly capable of pushing far beyond 196 FPS if given the data fast enough.

For users targeting 4K, the Ultra preset delivers 62.9 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive FPS. Dropping to High at 4K yields 83.8 FPS, a 33% improvement that suggests dialing back one notch is worth the visual trade-off. At 1440p, all settings remain comfortably above 94 FPS, with Low hitting 181.5 FPS, making this resolution the most balanced for high-refresh-rate monitors. At 1080p, the system is firmly CPU-bound at Low and Medium settings, where the difference between 196.3 and 173.5 FPS is marginal compared to the GPU headroom available.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT brings substantial resources to Lockdown Protocol, including 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, delivering 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is far more than the game requires at any tested resolution, meaning the frame rate deltas between settings are governed by compute and shading throughput rather than memory capacity. The GPU's 5376 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 192 ROPs provide the raw pixel-pushing power, with a pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 804.4 GTexel/s.

Clock behavior plays a significant role in the observed scaling. The GPU has a base clock of 1387 MHz and a boost clock of 2394 MHz, with a game clock rated at 2025 MHz. The 51.48 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is more than enough for Lockdown Protocol's demands at 4K, as evidenced by the 83.8 FPS at High settings. However, the fact that Low settings at 4K only improve to 134 FPS—while 1080p Low reaches 196.3 FPS—indicates that the GPU is not the sole bottleneck at higher resolutions. The 300 W TDP and dual 8-pin power connectors suggest the card is running at full power, but the CPU's Comet Lake architecture, with its 14 nm process and 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth, cannot feed the GPU's 800.0 GB/s appetite efficiently at lower resolutions.

The GPU's benchmark profile reinforces its capability: it sits at the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 38358. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (deltaPct 0.0) and the NVIDIA CMP 70HX (deltaPct 0.3), placing it in strong company. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5623 and Passmark G3D score of 29009 further validate that the GPU is not the weak link in this combo. The data suggests that Lockdown Protocol is particularly sensitive to CPU frame pacing, and the i5-10400F's 2.90 GHz base clock, boosting to 4.30 GHz, is the constraining factor when resolution drops below 1440p.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in Lockdown Protocol?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 2560x1440 offers the best balance. At High settings, it delivers 127.3 FPS, and even Ultra maintains 94.9 FPS, while 4K Ultra dips to 62.9 FPS and 1080p shows diminishing returns due to CPU limits.

Q: Why does the frame rate barely improve from 1440p to 1080p at Low settings?

A: At 1440p Low, the system produces 181.5 FPS, while 1080p Low reaches 196.3 FPS—only a 14.8 FPS gain. This small delta indicates the Intel Core i5-10400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is the limiting factor, as the GPU has ample headroom at these lower resolutions.

Q: How does the RX 7900 XT compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 7900 XT has an average benchmark score of 38358, placing it at the 82nd percentile. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile, scores 38349 with a deltaPct of 0.0, meaning they are effectively tied in these aggregated tests.

Q: Is the i5-10400F a bottleneck for the RX 7900 XT at 4K?

A: At 4K Ultra, the combo achieves 62.9 FPS and 83.8 FPS at High, indicating the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The CPU's constraint becomes visible only at 1080p, where Low settings cap around 196 FPS, well below what the GPU could theoretically deliver.

Q: What settings should a user choose for 4K play?

A: The data shows High settings at 4K yield 83.8 FPS, which is 33% faster than Ultra's 62.9 FPS. Given the visual impact of Ultra versus High in most FPS titles, High is the recommended setting for smoother gameplay at this resolution.

Q: How does the combo rank overall in Lockdown Protocol?

A: This specific pairing ranks 457th out of 1637 tested combinations, placing it in the top 28% of all combos, which is respectable given the CPU's age and the GPU's high-end positioning.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Lockdown Protocol, this Intel Core i5-10400F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT pairing sits at rank 457 out of 1637 total combos. This places it in the upper third of all configurations, which is noteworthy because the CPU is a mid-range 10th-generation part from 2020 while the GPU is a high-end RDNA 3.0 card from 2022. The ranking reflects the measured FPS data, which shows the combo performing well at 1440p and 4K but falling short of top-tier results at 1080p due to CPU limitations.

The CPU itself ranks at the 73rd percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 14168. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7552 (deltaPct 0.4) and the Intel Core i5-8500 (deltaPct -1.1), indicating that the i5-10400F is competitive with older server and desktop parts but far from modern flagship performance. The GPU, ranking at the 82nd percentile, is the stronger component in this pairing, and the 457th overall combo rank is pulled down by the CPU's inability to fully utilize the GPU at lower resolutions. For users comparing against other combos, the data indicates that upgrading the CPU would yield significant gains at 1080p, while the GPU would remain the bottleneck at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160 (4K)

• Ultra: 62.9 FPS average
• High: 83.8 FPS average
• Medium: 94 FPS average
• Low: 134 FPS average

At 4K Ultra, the system barely maintains playable frame rates, but dropping to Medium yields a 49% improvement to 94 FPS. Low settings nearly double the Ultra frame rate to 134 FPS, demonstrating that the GPU has substantial headroom when graphical load is reduced.

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Ultra: 94.9 FPS average
• High: 127.3 FPS average
• Medium: 145.5 FPS average
• Low: 181.5 FPS average

The 1440p results are uniformly strong. Even Ultra stays above 94 FPS, while Low reaches 181.5 FPS, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The gap between Medium and Low (35.9 FPS) is larger than between High and Medium (18.2 FPS), suggesting the game's settings have a non-linear impact on performance.

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Ultra: 128.8 FPS average
• High: 169.2 FPS average
• Medium: 173.5 FPS average
• Low: 196.3 FPS average

At 1080p, the frame rates are high but the scaling is compressed. Ultra delivers 128.8 FPS, which is already smooth, but the jump from Ultra to High (40.4 FPS) is substantial, while High to Medium (4.3 FPS) is negligible. Low reaches 196.3 FPS, but the limited gain from 1440p Low (181.5 FPS) confirms the CPU bottleneck. The data shows that at 1080p, users should stick with High settings for the best balance, as the difference between High and Medium is only 4.3 FPS, while Low offers just a 13% improvement over High.