Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i5-11400F + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX

This combination pairs a 6-core Rocket Lake processor with AMD's flagship RDNA 3 graphics card, creating a system where the GPU clearly dominates the performance picture. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a setup that scales predictably with graphical load, but the CPU's influence becomes more apparent as resolution drops and frame rates climb. The data shows a combo ranking in the 271st position out of 1,637 tested combinations, placing it comfortably in the upper tier of systems for this FPS title.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about which component is limiting performance. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 184.9 FPS at 1920x1080 to 138.9 FPS at 2560x1440, then further to 86.9 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 53% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a substantial scaling penalty that points directly at the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The RX 7900 XTX, with its 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus delivering 960.0 GB/s bandwidth, is being pushed hard as pixel count quadruples.

The scaling pattern is even more telling at Low settings. Here, the frame rate drops from 236.2 FPS at 1080p to 211.5 FPS at 1440p, and then plummets to 141.9 FPS at 4K. The relatively small gap between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings—only about 10%—suggests the CPU is beginning to cap performance at lower resolutions. The i5-11400F's boost clock of 4.40 GHz across 6 cores and 12 threads appears sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p Low, but the 4K Low result shows the GPU reasserting its dominance as the limiting factor.

Ultra settings reveal the steepest scaling curve. From 144 FPS at 1080p, the frame rate drops to 102.4 FPS at 1440p and 68.2 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is less than half of the 1080p Ultra figure, demonstrating that the combination of high resolution and maximum graphical fidelity creates a load that even this high-end GPU cannot fully overcome. The data indicates that for competitive play at lower resolutions, the CPU becomes more relevant, while at 4K the GPU's raw compute—61.39 TFLOPS FP32—is the dominant constraint.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain high frame rates?

A: At 1920x1080, the combination delivers between 144 FPS (Ultra) and 236.2 FPS (Low), with Medium reaching 209.1 FPS. These are the only measured resolutions where every settings preset exceeds 144 FPS, making 1080p the clear choice for high-refresh-rate displays.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Ultra yields 102.4 FPS while High reaches 138.9 FPS. That is a 36.5 FPS difference, or roughly 26% more performance from dropping one settings tier. The gap narrows at 4K, where Ultra produces 68.2 FPS and High produces 86.9 FPS.

Q: Is the RX 7900 XTX underutilized at 1080p?

A: The data suggests so. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 236.2, which is only 10% higher than the 211.5 FPS at 1440p Low. This small gain despite a 55% reduction in pixel count indicates that the CPU is limiting performance before the GPU's full potential is reached.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 4K Medium settings?

A: The measured average at 3840x2160 with Medium settings is 101.7 FPS. This is the only 4K preset that breaks the 100 FPS barrier, though High comes close at 86.9 FPS.

Q: How does this combo's ranking compare to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 271st out of 1,637 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 16.5% of all systems tested for this game.

Q: Does the CPU's single-thread performance matter for this game?

A: The 3dmark single-thread score of 868 and passmark single-thread score of 2981 indicate moderate single-core capability. The small FPS delta between 1080p Low (236.2) and 1440p Low (211.5) suggests that at lower resolutions, per-core performance becomes a limiting factor.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F brings 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Rocket Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. Its base clock of 2.60 GHz boosts to 4.40 GHz, and the 12 MB of shared L3 cache provides a moderate amount of on-die storage for game data. The processor's 65 W TDP is modest by desktop standards, and its DDR4 memory support with dual-channel configuration delivers 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth.

Benchmark results show this CPU's positioning. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14,372 and single-core score of 2,029 place it as a competent mid-range processor. The 3dmark scores scale from 868 in single-thread to 5,652 at max threads, showing good scaling across the 6-core design. The Geekbench multicore score of 7,579 versus 1,979 single-core reinforces this pattern. The passmark multithread score of 16,908 with a single-thread score of 2,981 indicates that the CPU's aggregate throughput is solid but not exceptional.

In the context of Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role appears to be most critical at lower resolutions. The 1080p Low result of 236.2 FPS is the highest measured across all settings and resolutions, yet the jump to 1440p Low only drops to 211.5 FPS—a modest 10.5% decrease for a 55% pixel increase. This suggests the CPU is near its limit around the 211-236 FPS range at Low settings. The processor's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark scores include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U at 17,189 (0% delta) and Intel Core i7-1260P at 17,212 (-0.2% delta), indicating the i5-11400F sits in a crowded performance band where small differences in optimization could shift outcomes.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings range shows a wide spread. Low settings produce 236.2 FPS, Medium drops to 209.1 FPS, High reaches 184.9 FPS, and Ultra settles at 144 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra represents a 39% performance penalty for maximum visual quality at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers shift downward across all presets. Low yields 211.5 FPS, Medium produces 155.7 FPS, High delivers 138.9 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 102.4 FPS. The gap between Medium and High at 1440p is 16.8 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 36.5 FPS—the largest single-tier drop in this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance envelope tightens considerably. Low settings still manage 141.9 FPS, but Medium falls to 101.7 FPS, High drops to 86.9 FPS, and Ultra sinks to 68.2 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 73.7 FPS, which is a 52% reduction. Notably, the 4K Medium result of 101.7 FPS is nearly identical to the 1440p Ultra result of 102.4 FPS, suggesting that the GPU's workload at these two configurations is comparable despite the resolution difference.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i5-11400F and RX 7900 XTX achieves a rank of 271 out of 1,637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places the system in the 83rd percentile of all tested configurations, meaning roughly 1,366 other combos perform worse. The ranking reflects the GPU's strength as the dominant contributor to game performance, while the CPU's mid-range positioning prevents the combo from climbing higher.

This rank is notable because the RX 7900 XTX alone sits in the 85th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44,019. Its nearest GPU rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 580 at 44,195 (-0.4% delta) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti at 44,900 (-2% delta). The CPU's 75th percentile ranking among all processors, with an average score of 17,181, means the processor is less exceptional relative to its peers than the GPU is. The combo's 271st rank out of 1,637 suggests that while the GPU pulls the system upward, the CPU holds it back from the very top tier of results.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing high frame rates, Low settings at 1080p deliver the best measured result at 236.2 FPS. This configuration leaves the most headroom for competitive play, though the visual compromise is significant. Medium at 1080p offers 209.1 FPS, a 27.1 FPS reduction that buys improved visuals while still maintaining frame rates well above 144 Hz displays' refresh rate.

At 1440p, Medium settings produce 155.7 FPS, which remains above the 144 Hz threshold and represents a strong balance between image quality and performance. High settings at 1440p drop to 138.9 FPS, slightly below 144 Hz but still smooth for most players. For 4K gaming, Medium is the only preset that exceeds 100 FPS at 101.7 FPS, making it the clear choice for high-resolution play. High at 4K yields 86.9 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced FPS action. The data suggests that Medium settings provide the best overall experience across all three resolutions, as it consistently stays within 10-15% of the Low settings performance while offering meaningfully better visuals.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the clear performance driver in this combination. Built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 31 chip, this GPU features 6,144 shading units, 384 texture mapping units, and 192 render output units. The 96 ray tracing cores add hardware acceleration for ray-traced effects, though their impact on this game's measured results is not separately quantified. The GPU's boost clock of 2498 MHz and game clock of 2365 MHz operate on a 5 nm process from TSMC, with 57,700 million transistors packed into a 529 mm² die.

Memory configuration is a standout feature. The 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus provides 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth, with memory clocked at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective). This massive memory pool ensures that even at 4K Ultra settings, the game's assets fit comfortably within VRAM, eliminating any potential memory-related stuttering. The GPU's compute capabilities include 61.39 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 122.8 TFLOPS of FP16 (2:1 ratio), with a pixel rate of 479.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 959.2 GTexel/s.

Benchmark scores confirm the GPU's high-end positioning. The 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,841, Geekbench OpenCL score of 189,573, and Vulkan score of 192,597 all indicate strong API-level performance. The passmark G3D score of 31,238 places it well above average, while the GPU compute score of 17,689 shows substantial parallel processing capability. The GPU's 85th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44,019, aligns with its measured game performance. The scaling from 1080p Low to 4K Ultra—a drop from 236.2 FPS to 68.2 FPS—demonstrates that the GPU's workload scales consistently with resolution and settings, and its ability to maintain 86.9 FPS at 4K High suggests that for most players, this GPU will not be the limiting factor unless maximum settings are paired with 4K resolution.