Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol places measurable demands on both the processor and the graphics card, and the Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 produces a distinct performance profile across the three tested resolutions. The data shows a system that is capable of high refresh rates at 1080p but becomes increasingly bound by the graphics solution as resolution climbs. This analysis breaks down the measured frames per second (FPS) data, contextualizes the combo's standing among other tested pairings, and examines the specific roles the CPU and GPU play in this first-person shooter.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the High settings preset, the average FPS drops from 109 at 1080p to 80 at 1440p, and finally to 51 at 4K. This progression represents a 26.6% decrease from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 36.3% decrease from 1440p to 4K. The overall drop from 1080p to 4K is 53.2%, indicating that the rendering load at 4K is substantially heavier than at 1080p.

This scaling behavior is a strong indicator that the AMD Radeon RX 9060 is the primary limiting component at higher resolutions. The GPU is responsible for pixel processing, and the jump to 4K increases the pixel count by a factor of four compared to 1080p. The fact that the average FPS does not drop by a proportional amount suggests that the CPU is able to keep up with the increased workload at lower resolutions, but the GPU's performance ceiling is reached more quickly as resolution scales. The RX 9060, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit memory bus, appears to be the bottleneck in this configuration at 1440p and especially at 4K.

At the Low settings preset, the scaling pattern is similar but with higher absolute numbers. The average FPS at 1080p is 175, dropping to 128 at 1440p, and then to 83 at 4K. This represents a 52.6% total decrease from 1080p to 4K. The larger drop at lower settings reinforces the notion that the GPU's raw compute and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors, as the reduced graphical load at Low settings allows the CPU to feed frames more easily, but the GPU still cannot maintain high frame rates at 4K.

The Medium settings preset shows a more moderate scaling curve, with average FPS of 124 at 1080p, 91 at 1440p, and 59 at 4K. This represents a 52.4% total decrease from 1080p to 4K. The presence of minimum and maximum FPS data for the Medium preset provides additional insight: at 1080p, the range is 106 to 143 FPS, at 1440p it narrows to 77 to 105 FPS, and at 4K it further narrows to 50 to 68 FPS. This tightening of the frame time variance at higher resolutions suggests that the system is more consistently workload-bound as resolution increases, with less headroom for the GPU to complete frames quickly.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 achieves a rank of 1647 out of 2828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places the system in the 58.2nd percentile of all tested combinations, meaning it outperforms a slight majority of other CPU-GPU pairings in this specific game. This mid-pack ranking is consistent with the individual performance characteristics of its components, which are solid mainstream parts but not top-tier.

The CPU's own benchmark results place it at the 71st percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU sits at the 59th percentile of all GPUs. The combo's in-game rank of 1647 is slightly lower than either component's individual percentile, suggesting that the pairing is not perfectly balanced for this game's specific workload. The CPU appears to be relatively stronger than the GPU, which means that in many scenarios, particularly at higher resolutions, the GPU will be the limiting factor. This is a common situation where the processor has more headroom than the graphics card can utilize.

Compared to its nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database, the i5-11400F is closely matched with several other processors. It scores 0.3% higher than the AMD EPYC 7H12 and 0.6% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U, while scoring 0.4% lower than the Intel Core i5-12450H and 0.6% lower than the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G. These sub-1% differences indicate that the i5-11400F's processing power is essentially equivalent to these other options, meaning the choice between them would have minimal impact on Lockdown Protocol's frame rates. For the GPU, the RX 9060 scores 0.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, but 1% higher than the AMD Radeon R9 370X and AMD Radeon RX 7700, and 2.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500. This places the RX 9060 in a competitive position relative to these cards, with performance deltas that are small enough to be considered within the margin of error for benchmarking.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Lockdown Protocol with this combo for a high refresh rate experience?

A: The data shows that at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 175 FPS, and at High settings it reaches 109 FPS. These are the only resolution and settings combinations that exceed 100 FPS, making 1080p the clear choice for high refresh rate monitors.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Lockdown Protocol?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 39 at Ultra settings to 83 at Low settings. The system is playable at 4K, but the frame rates are below the 60 FPS threshold for all settings except Low, which achieves 83 FPS. This suggests that 4K gaming is possible, but requires significant settings compromises to maintain smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to the RTX 3060 Ti in terms of benchmark scores?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9060 has an average benchmark score of 16014, which is 0.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti's score of 16129. This indicates that the two graphics cards are very closely matched in overall performance, with the RTX 3060 Ti holding a marginal lead.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-11400F a stronger component than the GPU in this setup?

A: The CPU has a percentile ranking of 71 among all CPUs, while the GPU has a percentile ranking of 59 among all GPUs. This suggests that the i5-11400F is relatively stronger compared to its peers than the RX 9060 is compared to its peers, meaning the CPU is likely not the primary bottleneck in most scenarios.

Q: What is the average FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves an average of 128 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves 60 FPS. This represents a 68 FPS difference, or a 53.1% reduction in performance when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

Q: Does the system provide a stable frame rate at Medium settings?

A: The data includes minimum and maximum FPS for the Medium preset. At 1080p, the range is 106 to 143 FPS; at 1440p, it is 77 to 105 FPS; and at 4K, it is 50 to 68 FPS. This indicates that frame pacing is relatively consistent, with no dramatic spikes or drops observed.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all tested resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset leads with an average of 175 FPS, followed by Medium at 124 FPS, High at 109 FPS, and Ultra at 81 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 53.7% reduction in average FPS, which is a substantial cost for the visual quality improvements offered by the Ultra preset. The Medium preset's minimum of 106 FPS and maximum of 143 FPS show that even during demanding scenes, the frame rate does not drop below the 100 FPS mark, making 1080p with Medium settings a very smooth experience.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease across all settings. The Low preset still leads with an average of 128 FPS, which is a 26.9% drop from its 1080p performance. The Medium preset averages 91 FPS, with a minimum of 77 FPS and a maximum of 105 FPS. High settings average 80 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to an average of 60 FPS. At 1440p, the system is still capable of providing a playable experience, but the higher settings presets are now approaching the 60 FPS threshold, which may be a concern for players who prefer a higher frame rate target.

At 3840x2160, the performance takes a significant hit. The Low preset is the only setting that achieves an average above 60 FPS, coming in at 83 FPS. Medium settings average 59 FPS, with a minimum of 50 FPS and a maximum of 68 FPS. High settings average 51 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to an average of 39 FPS. The 4K data clearly shows that the RX 9060 is stretched to its limits, and players seeking 4K gameplay would need to use the Low preset to maintain a frame rate that is generally considered smooth for a first-person shooter.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings preset for this combo depends heavily on the user's resolution and frame rate preferences. For players using a 1920x1080 monitor, the High preset at 109 FPS provides an excellent balance of visual quality and performance. The Medium preset at 124 FPS is also a strong choice, offering a 13.8% frame rate increase over High with the only downside being a reduction in visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 81 FPS is still playable, but the 25.7% drop from High to Ultra may not be worth the visual gains, especially for a fast-paced FPS game.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset at 128 FPS is the only option that provides a high refresh rate experience. The Medium preset at 91 FPS is a good middle ground for players who want a mix of quality and speed, and the minimum of 77 FPS ensures that the game remains playable during intense moments. The High preset at 80 FPS is also acceptable, but the Ultra preset at 60 FPS should be avoided by players who are sensitive to frame rate drops, as it sits right at the edge of the playable threshold.

For 4K gaming at 3840x2160, the options are limited. The Low preset at 83 FPS is the only setting that provides a comfortable frame rate. The Medium preset at 59 FPS is borderline, and the minimum of 50 FPS indicates that there will be noticeable stuttering in demanding scenes. The High and Ultra presets, at 51 FPS and 39 FPS respectively, are not recommended for competitive or fast-paced play, as the frame rates are too low to ensure a responsive and smooth experience. Players who prioritize 4K resolution over frame rate may find the Medium preset acceptable, but the data suggests that 1080p or 1440p are the more sensible choices for this hardware combination.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Rocket Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 12 MB shared L3 cache. This processor was released in March 2021 and is now end-of-life, but its benchmark scores indicate it remains a competent performer for gaming. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14340 and single-core score of 2024 show that it has strong multi-threaded capabilities for its class, while its single-thread performance is adequate for gaming workloads that often rely on fewer cores.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is likely more significant at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the bottleneck. At 1080p, the average FPS of 175 on Low settings suggests that the i5-11400F is capable of feeding frames to the GPU at a high rate. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and 2-thread score of 1691 indicate that its single-core performance is sufficient to handle the game's primary game logic thread without becoming a limiting factor. The 6 cores and 12 threads also provide enough parallelism for background tasks and the game's secondary threads.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 71 across all CPUs indicates that it is a solid mid-range performer. Its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-12450H and AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G, are within 0.6% of its average benchmark score, confirming that the i5-11400F is in a tightly contested performance bracket. The fact that the combo's in-game rank of 1647 is lower than the CPU's individual percentile suggests that the CPU is keeping pace, but the overall system performance is being held back by the GPU, particularly at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is a graphics card from the Radeon RX 9000 series, based on the RDNA 4.0 architecture and built on a 4 nm process. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. The GPU has 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operators, with a boost clock of 2990 MHz and a game clock of 2400 MHz. Its FP32 performance is rated at 21.43 TFLOPS, which places it in the upper mid-range of graphics cards.

The GPU's benchmark results show it is a capable performer, with a Passmark G3D score of 17631 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3322. Its percentile ranking of 59 among all GPUs places it slightly below the median of the top half of all graphics cards. The RX 9060's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, is just 0.7% faster in average benchmark score, indicating that the two cards are essentially equivalent in overall rasterization performance.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU is the primary determinant of frame rates at higher resolutions. The scaling data shows that the FPS drops significantly from 1080p to 4K, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation. The 8 GB of VRAM is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the game's texture and shading demands at 4K may be pushing the card's memory capacity to its limit. The GPU's 128-bit memory bus, while providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, is narrower than what is found on higher-end cards, which can contribute to performance drops at very high resolutions. The data indicates that the RX 9060 is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can deliver high frame rates, while 4K gaming requires significant settings reductions to remain playable.