Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol, a 2024 FPS title, presents a demanding workload that scales heavily with both resolution and graphical presets. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, based on benchmark data collected across three resolutions and four quality settings. The data reveals a configuration that is capable of high refresh rate gaming at 1080p, but which becomes increasingly GPU-bound as resolution and settings increase, ultimately struggling to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K with maximum quality.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, clearly indicating that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At the Low preset, average frame rates fall from 158 FPS at 1920x1080 to 120 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 38 FPS, and then further to 77 FPS at 3840x2160. This trajectory shows that while the 1440p result is still highly playable, the transition to 4K incurs a substantial 43 FPS penalty, representing a 35.8% drop from the 1440p figure. The scaling pattern suggests that the GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1440p, but the sheer pixel count at 4K begins to overwhelm the GA104 chip.

The gap between resolution tiers widens dramatically as settings are increased. At the High preset, the FPS drops from 101.7 at 1080p to 69.6 at 1440p, and then to 49.1 at 4K. The 4K result is just under half the frame rate of the 1080p result, underscoring how the RTX 3060 Ti's 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is taxed by the combination of higher resolution and more complex shading. The Ultra preset tells a similar story, with 73.2 FPS at 1080p falling to 56.7 FPS at 1440p and finally to a barely playable 34.4 FPS at 4K. This 4K Ultra result is the lowest in the entire dataset, and it highlights that this combination is not suited for maximum-fidelity 4K gaming.

The scaling between Medium and High settings is relatively tight, while the jump to Ultra is disproportionately punishing. For example, at 2560x1440, the Medium preset yields 81.3 FPS, which drops to 69.6 FPS on High, but then plummets to 56.7 FPS on Ultra. This non-linear scaling suggests that the Ultra preset likely enables effects that are particularly demanding on the memory subsystem, given the RTX 3060 Ti's 256-bit bus and 8 GB frame buffer. The data shows that the CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, maintains a relatively stable performance floor, but it is the GPU's rendering capabilities that dictate the severe frame rate drops as pixel count and settings complexity rise.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database for Lockdown Protocol, this specific CPU-GPU combination holds a rank of 1139 out of 1637 tested combos. This places it in the lower third of all systems tested, which is a significant finding given the hardware's specifications. The percentile data for the components individually shows the CPU at the 73rd percentile and the GPU at the 69th percentile, suggesting that both parts are mid-to-upper tier on their own. However, the combined ranking in this particular game indicates that the system is outperformed by a majority of other pairings, implying that Lockdown Protocol is particularly sensitive to either CPU or GPU characteristics that this combo does not excel at.

The rank of 1139 out of 1637 means that approximately 30% of tested systems perform worse, but it also means that over 69% of systems perform better. This is a crucial context for interpretation; while the individual components are not weak, the pairing does not synergize well for this title. The data suggests that the i5-10400F's single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 688, might be a limiting factor in a game that appears to favor higher IPC and faster memory latency. This is supported by the fact that the CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score, such as the AMD EPYC 7552 and the Intel Core i5-8500, show only a 0.4% to 1.1% difference in overall score, yet the combo's in-game rank is comparatively low.

This discrepancy between component-level benchmarks and in-game performance is a key insight. The GPU's average benchmark score of 25120 places it close to the AMD Radeon RX 6700M and AMD Radeon RX 6600, with a delta of only -0.2% and -0.5% respectively. Yet, in this game, the pairing fails to achieve a higher rank, suggesting that Lockdown Protocol may have specific shader or geometry workloads that do not map perfectly to the Ampere architecture's design, or that the 8 GB VRAM capacity is a constraint at higher settings. The data indicates that users with this combo should expect a mid-pack experience relative to the broader database, with the potential for better results in less demanding scenarios.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process node. Its base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz provide a moderate frequency range that is typical for its generation. The CPU's benchmark results show a significant scaling from 2 threads (1350 in 3DMark) to 8 threads (3929), but the gains from 8 to 16 threads are marginal, with the 16-thread score reaching only 4748. This indicates that the processor has enough parallel throughput for modern games, but its per-core performance is the limiting factor in scenarios that rely heavily on single-threaded execution.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU, but not negligible. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (158 FPS) is high enough to suggest that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at lower resolutions. However, the data from the CPU's Cinebench R23 scores, 10297 multi-core and 1453 single-core, reveals that while multi-threaded performance is respectable, the single-core score is modest. This suggests that in complex scenes with many AI actors or physics calculations, the i5-10400F might struggle to maintain frame pacing, even if the average FPS is high. The PassMark single-thread score of 2541 supports this, positioning it as a solid but not exceptional performer for gaming.

The 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for a 2020-era CPU, but they do not offer the same headroom as more modern designs. The fact that the combo ranks at 1139 out of 1637 suggests that the CPU's memory latency and bandwidth might be a slight bottleneck in Lockdown Protocol, which is a fast-paced FPS that likely benefits from quick data access. Despite having 12 threads, the processor's architecture is now several generations old, and the data implies that newer CPUs with higher IPC could yield better in-game results, even when paired with the same GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across all settings. At 1920x1080, the results are strong: Low settings produce 158 FPS, Medium achieves 115.4 FPS, High reaches 101.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 73.2 FPS. These numbers indicate a highly playable experience at 1080p, with even the Ultra preset maintaining a frame rate that exceeds the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The difference between Low and Ultra is 84.8 FPS, a massive gap that shows the GPU's rendering load scales dramatically with effects quality.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain respectable but show clear signs of GPU strain. Low settings produce 120 FPS, which is excellent, but Medium drops to 81.3 FPS and High falls to 69.6 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p yields 56.7 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS target, indicating that users will need to make compromises to maintain a consistent high-refresh experience. The 1440p results are more consistent with the GPU's mid-range positioning, as the pixel count begins to tax the 8 GB memory buffer and the 448.0 GB/s bandwidth.

At 3840x2160, the combo is clearly out of its depth for high-fidelity gaming. Low settings manage 77 FPS, which is playable, but Medium drops to 56.6 FPS, High to 49.1 FPS, and Ultra to just 34.4 FPS. The 4K results show a dramatic degradation, with the Ultra preset failing to maintain a smooth 30 FPS floor for cinematic games, let alone a competitive FPS. The data suggests that this resolution is only viable for the Low or Medium presets, and even then, the experience will be suboptimal compared to 1080p or 1440p. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is a 42.6 FPS drop, highlighting the GPU's inability to handle the combined load of high resolution and intensive effects.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is a mid-range Ampere architecture GPU with 4864 shading units, 152 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output pipelines. Its base clock of 1410 MHz and boost clock of 1665 MHz are paired with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU's benchmark scores are strong, with a PassMark G3D score of 20349 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2626. These figures place it just behind the AMD Radeon RX 6700M in average score, with a delta of -0.2%, indicating that it is a solid performer in synthetic benchmarks.

However, the in-game data reveals that Lockdown Protocol is more demanding than these synthetic tests might suggest. The GPU's 8 GB VRAM is likely a limiting factor at 4K Ultra settings, where texture and geometry data can exceed this capacity, causing the system to rely on slower memory paging. The memory clock of 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) is sufficient, but the capacity is the issue, not the speed. The RTX 3060 Ti's pixel rate of 133.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 253.1 GTexel/s are also taxed heavily at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops.

The GPU's role in this combo is dominant, as the FPS scaling with resolution and settings confirms. The fact that the 4K Low result (77 FPS) is higher than the 1080p Ultra result (73.2 FPS) is counterintuitive but can be explained by the different workloads; the Low preset reduces shader complexity and memory pressure, allowing the GPU to push more frames even at a higher resolution. The RTX 3060 Ti's support for DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 ensures it can handle the game's modern API features, but its 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is simply not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K with demanding presets. The data clearly shows that this GPU is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can deliver high performance without hitting its memory and compute ceilings.