Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i5-11400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060

The Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 pairing delivers a fundamentally balanced 1080p experience in Lockdown Protocol, but the data reveals a sharp performance cliff as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, this combo reaches 144.9 FPS average, which drops to 70.4 FPS at Ultra — a 51% reduction that hints at where the bottleneck shifts. The RTX 2060, with its 6 GB GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, appears to be the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the 6-core, 12-thread i5-11400F with a 4.40 GHz boost clock provides sufficient headroom at 1080p. This combination ranks 1333rd out of 1637 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern: resolution scaling hits this combo hard, particularly when moving from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 144.9 at 1920x1080 to 109.1 at 2560x1440, then plummets to 71.4 at 3840x2160. That represents a 25% loss from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 35% loss from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is even more punishing at Ultra settings, where 70.4 FPS at 1080p falls to 48.3 at 1440p and then to 32.9 at 4K — a cumulative 53% drop from the starting point.

This pattern strongly suggests the GPU becomes the limiting component as pixel count rises. The RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are being saturated by 4K workloads, especially at higher presets. The i5-11400F, by contrast, shows it can feed the GPU adequately at 1080p, but the frame rate degradation across resolutions indicates the graphics card's compute resources are the bottleneck. Notably, the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases: at 1080p, the difference is 74.5 FPS, but at 4K it shrinks to 38.5 FPS, suggesting the GPU is running out of headroom regardless of preset.

How This Combo Ranks

With a combo rank of 1333 out of 1637 tested combinations, this pairing sits in the 19th percentile for Lockdown Protocol performance. That places it well behind the majority of tested systems, which is notable given the individual component rankings: the i5-11400F sits in the 75th percentile among all CPUs, while the RTX 2060 lands in the 58th percentile among GPUs. The discrepancy between component percentiles and the final combo rank suggests that Lockdown Protocol is particularly demanding on the GPU, dragging the overall result down.

The CPU's nearest rivals help contextualize its contribution. The AMD Ryzen 7 5700U scores essentially identically in average benchmark score (17189 vs 17181, a 0% delta), while the Intel Core i7-1260P and Core Ultra 7 164U are each 0.2% behind. This indicates the i5-11400F is a competent mid-range processor, but its 6 cores and 12 threads may not be enough to push this combo higher in the rankings for a game that likely scales with GPU throughput. The RTX 2060's nearest rivals — the AMD Radeon RX 7600S at 0.5% higher score, and the Radeon Pro 5600M and Pro 5700 both at 1.7% higher — show the GPU is competitive within its immediate class, yet the overall combo rank suffers.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F brings 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 12 MB shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth provide adequate data throughput for gaming workloads. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14372 and a single-core score of 2029, indicating solid all-around capability. The 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and 2-thread score of 1691 suggest that single-thread performance is reasonable, which matters for game logic and draw calls.

However, the benchmark results show a clear scaling pattern: the 3DMark 4-thread score is 3171, 8-thread is 4691, and max-thread is 5652. This near-linear scaling up to 8 threads, followed by a flattening, suggests Lockdown Protocol may not fully utilize all 12 threads. The PassMark multithread score of 16908 and physics score of 842 indicate the CPU can handle compute-heavy scenes, but the combo rank in-game suggests the CPU is not the primary limiter. At 1080p Low, the 144.9 FPS average is close to what a capable 6-core processor can deliver, but the dramatic FPS drops at higher resolutions point to the GPU as the binding constraint.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2060 and i5-11400F deliver playable frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce 144.9 FPS average, Medium drops to 102.1 FPS, High comes in at 92.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 70.4 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 30% reduction, while the jump from Medium to High is 9%, and High to Ultra is 24%. This non-linear scaling indicates that certain Ultra settings, likely shadows and reflections, impose disproportionate costs.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 109.1 FPS at Low, 73.6 at Medium, 67.6 at High, and 48.3 at Ultra. The Low-to-Ultra spread narrows to 56%, compared to 51% at 1080p, showing the GPU is becoming the constraint. At 3840x2160, the numbers are 71.4 FPS at Low, 48.1 at Medium, 42.6 at High, and 32.9 at Ultra. Here, even Low settings barely approach 72 FPS, and Ultra falls below 33 FPS, making 4K gaming impractical for this combo. The 1080p Low result of 144.9 FPS is the only configuration that clears a 144 Hz refresh rate, while 1080p Medium and High are well-suited for 60-100 Hz displays.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is built on the TU106 chip with 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. Its boost clock of 1680 MHz and 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus deliver 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores provide ray tracing and DLSS capabilities, though Lockdown Protocol's measured results suggest these features are not being leveraged at the tested presets. The PassMark G3D score of 14111 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1242 place the GPU in the 58th percentile, but the game-specific results are more telling.

The 6 GB VRAM is a likely culprit for the steep 4K performance drop. At 3840x2160, even Low settings only achieve 71.4 FPS, and the gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 38.5 FPS, indicating the GPU is running out of memory bandwidth rather than compute throughput. The FP32 performance of 6.451 TFLOPS and texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s are adequate for 1080p, but at 4K the pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s becomes insufficient. The GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7600S, scores 0.5% higher in average benchmarks, yet the RTX 2060's 160 W TDP and dual-slot cooler are typical for this class.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, Medium settings at 102.1 FPS offer the best balance of visual quality and smoothness, staying well above 60 FPS while providing a 30% visual uplift over Low. High settings at 92.6 FPS are also viable for players prioritizing image quality, but Ultra at 70.4 FPS introduces diminishing returns. For 2560x1440, Low settings at 109.1 FPS are the only option that comfortably exceeds 100 FPS; Medium at 73.6 FPS and High at 67.6 FPS are playable for 60 Hz displays, while Ultra at 48.3 FPS should be avoided. At 3840x2160, no preset achieves a consistent 60 FPS — Low at 71.4 FPS is the only playable option, and even that may dip in intense scenes. The data suggests this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, with Medium or High presets providing the most enjoyable experience.

FAQ

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

A: 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all presets remain above 70 FPS, with Low achieving 144.9 FPS and Ultra at 70.4 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low (109.1 FPS) and Medium (73.6 FPS) are reliably smooth, while 3840x2160 tops out at 71.4 FPS on Low.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 2060's average benchmark score of 16074 is 0.5% below the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (15996) and 1.7% below both the Radeon Pro 5600M and Radeon Pro 5700 (both 16351). It sits 1.8% above the Radeon Pro W5500 (15786).

Q: Is the i5-11400F a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The CPU's 3DMark max-thread score of 5652 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14372 are strong, and the 1080p Low result of 144.9 FPS indicates the CPU can keep up. The bottleneck shifts to the GPU at higher resolutions, as shown by the steep FPS drops.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 67.6 FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings. This is above 60 FPS but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. Medium settings at 73.6 FPS provide a more comfortable margin.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to its component percentiles?

A: The combo ranks 1333rd out of 1637 (19th percentile), while the CPU sits in the 75th percentile and the GPU in the 58th percentile. This gap suggests Lockdown Protocol is heavily GPU-bound, and the RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM limits 4K performance.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this setup?

A: No preset at 3840x2160 reaches 60 FPS. Low settings achieve 71.4 FPS, but Medium drops to 48.1 FPS, High to 42.6 FPS, and Ultra to 32.9 FPS. Players should stick to 1080p or 1440p for consistent performance.