Lockdown Protocol

# FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank for the Intel Core i5-10400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D in Lockdown Protocol?

A: This combination ranks 385th out of 2,828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 13.6% of all configurations tested for this game.

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves at 1080p?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 200 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The Medium preset at 1080p reaches 176 FPS average, while High and Ultra deliver 168 FPS and 151 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14,185, placing it between the Intel Xeon 6756E (14,163, 0.2% slower) and the Intel Core 7 160UL (14,232, 0.3% faster). It also sits ahead of the AMD EPYC 7552 (14,115, 0.5% faster for the EPYC) and behind the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (14,277, 0.6% faster for the Ryzen).

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested GPUs?

A: The RTX 5090 D sits in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77,712.

Q: Does the RTX 5090 D's performance in Lockdown Protocol scale linearly with resolution?

A: No. At High settings, moving from 1080p to 1440p reduces average FPS from 168 to 151 (a 10.1% drop), and from 1440p to 4K it drops from 151 to 118 (a 21.9% drop). The scaling is not linear, indicating increasing GPU load at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in any measured configuration?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 115, occurring at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. This is the only resolution/settings combination where a minimum FPS value was provided.

# GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant component in this pairing. With 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, the memory subsystem delivers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock reaches 2,407 MHz, and its 21,760 shading units process geometry through 680 texture mapping units and 176 raster output pipelines. The chip itself, built on TSMC's 5 nm process, contains 92,200 million transistors across a 750 mm² die.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's role is substantial across all measured settings. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 49 FPS on average (200 vs. 151), demonstrating that the GPU's rendering workload changes significantly with preset quality. However, the GPU is not the sole determinant of performance—the CPU's capabilities also factor into the final frame rates.

The RTX 5090 D's compute capabilities are extensive: 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 1,636.8 GTexel/s of texture fill rate. These theoretical numbers translate into practical headroom for this game. The GPU's 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores suggest it is equipped for demanding workloads, though Lockdown Protocol's measured results show that even at 4K Ultra, the average FPS stays at 88—still well above playable thresholds.

The GPU's memory configuration deserves attention. The 32 GB frame buffer is paired with GDDR7 memory running at 1,750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). This bandwidth is critical at 4K resolutions, where the measured FPS drops from 156 at Low to 88 at Ultra. The GPU's pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s become more relevant at higher resolutions and quality settings, as the rendering pipeline must process more fragments and textures per frame.

Interestingly, the GPU's benchmark scores show a percentile ranking of 92, yet its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (1.1% higher average score), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.6% lower), and two NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants (2.1% and 2.4% lower). This suggests that in synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 5090 D's performance is closely clustered with these competing parts, even though its specifications are substantially different.

# Resolution Scaling

The measured data reveals clear resolution scaling patterns. At Low settings, average FPS progresses from 200 at 1080p to 180 at 1440p to 156 at 4K—a cumulative drop of 22% from 1080p to 4K. At High settings, the progression is 168 to 151 to 118, a 29.8% cumulative reduction. Ultra settings show 151 to 136 to 88, representing a 41.7% drop from 1080p to 4K.

The scaling behavior indicates a shift in bottleneck characteristics. At 1080p Low, the CPU likely plays a more significant role in limiting frame rates, as the GPU has ample headroom. The 200 FPS ceiling at 1080p Low suggests an upper bound that may be influenced by the i5-10400F's single-thread performance, which benchmarks at 688 in 3DMark single-thread and 1,451 in Cinebench R23 single-core.

As resolution increases, the GPU becomes progressively more stressed. The 4K Ultra result of 88 FPS represents a 56% reduction from the 1080p Low result, indicating that the RTX 5090 D's rendering load at 4K Ultra is substantially heavier. The transition from 1440p to 4K is particularly steep at High settings: 151 to 118 FPS (21.9% drop), compared to the 1080p to 1440p transition which only drops 10.1%.

The Medium preset provides the most complete data, with minimum and maximum FPS recorded at all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the range is 149 to 202 FPS; at 1440p Medium, 135 to 182; and at 4K Medium, 115 to 155. The spread between minimum and maximum widens at lower resolutions (53 FPS at 1080p) compared to higher resolutions (40 FPS at 4K), suggesting more frame-time variance when the GPU is less constrained.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 200 average FPS
• Medium: 176 average FPS (minimum 149, maximum 202)
• High: 168 average FPS
• Ultra: 151 average FPS

At 1080p, the scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 24.5% performance reduction. The step from Low to Medium costs 24 FPS, while Medium to High costs 8 FPS and High to Ultra costs 17 FPS. The Medium preset shows the widest frame-time distribution, with a 53 FPS gap between minimum and maximum.

2560x1440:

• Low: 180 average FPS
• Medium: 158 average FPS (minimum 135, maximum 182)
• High: 151 average FPS
• Ultra: 136 average FPS

At 1440p, the Low to Ultra reduction is 24.4%, nearly identical to 1080p. The Medium preset shows a 47 FPS spread between minimum and maximum. The incremental cost of each quality step is 22 FPS (Low to Medium), 7 FPS (Medium to High), and 15 FPS (High to Ultra).

3840x2160:

• Low: 156 average FPS
• Medium: 135 average FPS (minimum 115, maximum 155)
• High: 118 average FPS
• Ultra: 88 average FPS

At 4K, the Low to Ultra reduction is 43.6%, significantly steeper than at lower resolutions. The step from Low to Medium costs 21 FPS, Medium to High costs 17 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 30 FPS. The Medium preset shows a 40 FPS spread between minimum and maximum.

The data indicates that 4K Ultra is the most demanding configuration, with 88 FPS average. All measured configurations exceed 60 FPS average, and only the 4K Ultra preset falls below 100 FPS. The 4K Low preset at 156 FPS demonstrates that even at maximum resolution, the GPU has substantial headroom when settings are reduced.

# How This Combo Ranks

This configuration ranks 385th out of 2,828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. The percentile placement—top 13.6%—reflects the combination of a mid-range 10th-gen Intel processor with a flagship-tier GPU. The rank is determined by the actual measured performance in this specific game, not by synthetic benchmarks.

The CPU's overall percentile ranking is 68th among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14,185. Its nearest rivals in synthetic testing are closely matched: the Intel Xeon 6756E scores 14,163 (0.2% lower), the Intel Core 7 160UL scores 14,232 (0.3% higher), the AMD EPYC 7552 scores 14,115 (0.5% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C scores 14,277 (0.6% higher). These small margins indicate that the i5-10400F's synthetic performance is well-established within a tight cluster.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 92 and average benchmark score of 77,712 place it in the upper echelon of graphics cards. Its nearest rivals in the database—the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76,904, 1.1% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78,940, 1.6% lower), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants (79,396 and 79,605, 2.1% and 2.4% lower)—show that the RTX 5090 D's synthetic performance is competitive but not dominant over these specific parts.

The gap between the GPU's 92nd percentile ranking and the combo's top 13.6% game-specific rank suggests that Lockdown Protocol's performance is not purely GPU-bound. If the game were entirely GPU-limited, this combo would likely rank higher given the GPU's strong synthetic scores. The CPU's 68th percentile ranking indicates that the i5-10400F may be constraining overall performance in certain scenarios, particularly at lower resolutions where CPU overhead is more significant.

# Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 200 FPS average, which is excellent for competitive play on high-refresh-rate monitors. However, the Medium preset at 176 FPS still provides very high frame rates while offering better visual quality. The High preset at 168 FPS remains above 165 Hz thresholds, making it a viable choice for 165 Hz displays. Ultra at 151 FPS is playable but represents a 24.5% reduction from Low.

At 1440p, the Low preset at 180 FPS is the clear choice for maximum frame rates. Medium at 158 FPS balances quality and performance, while High at 151 FPS still exceeds 144 Hz. Ultra at 136 FPS drops below 144 Hz but remains well above 120 FPS, making it suitable for 120 Hz displays.

At 4K, the Low preset at 156 FPS is the only configuration that exceeds 144 Hz. Medium at 135 FPS is suitable for 120 Hz displays, and High at 118 FPS remains above 100 FPS. Ultra at 88 FPS is the only measured configuration that falls below 100 FPS, but it still provides a smooth experience on 60 Hz or 90 Hz displays.

For players prioritizing consistent minimum frame rates, the Medium preset offers the only recorded minimum FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 149 FPS; at 1440p Medium, 135 FPS; and at 4K Medium, 115 FPS. These minimums suggest that Medium provides a more stable frame-time experience compared to other presets, where minimum FPS data is not available.

The data suggests that Medium is the most balanced preset across all resolutions, offering average FPS within 12-13% of Low while providing improved visual quality. For players with high refresh-rate displays at 1080p or 1440p, Low or Medium will maximize frame rates. For 4K displays, Medium at 135 FPS average provides the best combination of visual quality and performance.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Comet Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. It operates at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boosts up to 4.30 GHz. The processor includes 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 256 KB of L2 cache per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is limited to DDR4 with dual-channel configuration and 42.7 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is evident in the resolution scaling patterns. At 1080p Low, the 200 FPS average suggests that the CPU's single-thread performance—benchmarked at 688 in 3DMark single-thread and 1,451 in Cinebench R23 single-core—is sufficient to drive high frame rates. However, the 1080p Ultra result of 151 FPS indicates that even at lower resolutions, the GPU's workload scales with settings, and the CPU can maintain adequate frame delivery.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities, measured at 4,748 in 3DMark 16-thread and 10,283 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, provide ample processing power for game logic and physics. The PassMark multi-thread score of 12,115 and data compression score of 185,944 indicate strong general-purpose computing performance. However, the CPU's 68th percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests that it is not a top-tier processor by 2025 standards.

The bottleneck analysis is nuanced. At 4K Ultra, the 88 FPS result is likely GPU-limited, as the RTX 5090 D's rendering load at this resolution and settings is substantial. At 1080p Low, the 200 FPS result may be approaching CPU limitations, as the GPU has significant headroom at these settings. The i5-10400F's boost clock of 4.30 GHz is competitive for gaming, but its 14 nm process and DDR4 memory support may limit performance in CPU-intensive scenarios.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks—the Intel Xeon 6756E, Intel Core 7 160UL, AMD EPYC 7552, and AMD Ryzen 3 7320C—all score within 0.6% of the i5-10400F's average benchmark score of 14,185. This clustering indicates that the CPU's performance is typical for its class, and the combination's 385th rank in Lockdown Protocol reflects a balanced pairing where neither component dramatically overpowers the other.