Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i5-11400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

The pairing of Intel's 6-core Core i5-11400F with NVIDIA's flagship-class RTX 4080 produces a fascinating study in bottleneck dynamics within Lockdown Protocol. This FPS title, released in March 2024, scales predictably across resolutions, but the data reveals that the CPU becomes an increasingly significant constraint as resolution drops. The measured frame rates, from 234 FPS at 1080p Low down to 73 FPS at 4K Ultra, tell a story of a GPU that is often waiting on its older, 14 nm Rocket Lake partner to feed it data. The i5-11400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, appears to cap performance in the lower resolutions, while the RTX 4080's immense compute resources shine at higher fidelity settings where the GPU finally takes over as the primary workload driver.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate transition from 1080p to 4K reveals the classic signature of a CPU-bound configuration at lower resolutions. At High settings, the measured average FPS drops from 197 at 1920x1080 to 151 at 2560x1440, a 23% reduction, then further to 98 at 3840x2160, which is a 35% drop from the 1440p figure. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is steeper, suggesting the GPU begins to take on more of the load as pixel count increases. However, the 1080p to 1440p gap of 46 FPS is relatively modest, indicating that the i5-11400F's 6 cores and 12 threads are likely the limiting factor at the lower resolution.

At Low settings, the pattern becomes even more pronounced. The jump from 1080p (234 FPS) to 1440p (211 FPS) is only a 10% decline, while moving to 4K (157 FPS) represents a 26% drop from 1440p. This relatively flat performance across resolutions at Low settings strongly suggests a CPU bottleneck, as the RTX 4080 is not being fully utilized even at 4K. The Ultra preset tells a different story: 155 FPS at 1080p, 113 FPS at 1440p, and 73 FPS at 4K, a 53% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a much steeper scaling curve indicative of GPU limitation.

The Medium settings provide the most complete picture with min and max FPS data. At 1080p Medium, the average is 206 FPS with a range of 175 to 237 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 173 FPS (range 147-199), and at 4K Medium, the average is 112 FPS (range 95-129). The minimum frame rates at each resolution scale proportionally with the averages, suggesting consistent frame pacing rather than sporadic stutters. The 4K Medium minimum of 95 FPS is notably high, indicating that even in demanding scenarios, this combination maintains playable performance.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 brings substantial resources to Lockdown Protocol, and the measured data reflects its capabilities when the CPU allows it to stretch. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, the GPU offers 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, plenty for the textures and geometry of a modern FPS at 4K. The 9728 shading units and 304 texture mapping units provide the raw compute needed for high-resolution rendering, while the 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores support advanced effects that this game may or may not use.

The GPU's clock behavior shows a base of 2205 MHz and a boost of 2505 MHz, with memory running at 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective). This configuration yields a pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s, which explains why the 4K Ultra setting (73 FPS) is still reasonably playable despite the heavy load. The RTX 4080's FP32 throughput of 48.74 TFLOPS is identical to its FP16 performance (1:1 ratio), which suggests it can handle both traditional rasterization and compute-heavy workloads efficiently.

The GPU's percentile ranking is 86th among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54209, a delta of just 0.1%, meaning the two are essentially identical in synthetic tests. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% behind, while the Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and Radeon 8060S trail by 2.6% and 2.7% respectively. These deltas are minor, confirming that the RTX 4080 sits at the top tier of GPU performance, which makes the CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions all the more apparent.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 14 nm process. Its base clock of 2.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz provide moderate single-thread performance, as reflected in its 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2024. The 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 512 KB L2 per core help with game data locality, but the 14 nm process node and 65 W TDP indicate this is not a high-frequency champion by modern standards.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are solid for a 6-core part: Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14340, Geekbench multicore of 7737, and Passmark multithread of 16908. The 3DMark scores show scaling from 1691 (2 threads) to 5652 (max threads), which suggests the 12 threads are utilized reasonably well. However, the percentile ranking of 71st among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17177, places it in the mid-to-upper tier, but far below the GPU's 86th percentile.

The nearest CPU rivals demonstrate how close the i5-11400F is to its competition. The AMD EPYC 7H12 scores 17120 (0.3% higher), the Intel Core i5-12450H scores 17239 (0.4% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G scores 17278 (0.6% lower). These tiny deltas of less than 1% mean the i5-11400F is statistically indistinguishable from these alternatives in synthetic benchmarks, yet in Lockdown Protocol, the 6-core/12-thread configuration may still create a ceiling that prevents the RTX 4080 from reaching its full potential at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured data set spans three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 234 FPS average, Medium delivers 206 FPS (min 175, max 237), High delivers 197 FPS, and Ultra delivers 155 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 79 FPS, which is substantial but not as large as the resolution scaling suggests it could be if the CPU were not the limit.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 211 FPS (Low), 173 FPS (Medium, min 147, max 199), 151 FPS (High), and 113 FPS (Ultra). The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs between 23 and 42 FPS depending on the preset, with the largest absolute drop occurring at Low settings (234 to 211 FPS). The Medium preset's minimum of 147 FPS at 1440p is still well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 157 FPS (Low), 112 FPS (Medium, min 95, max 129), 98 FPS (High), and 73 FPS (Ultra). The 4K Ultra result of 73 FPS is the only measured value that falls below 90 FPS, indicating that this combination is capable of high-refresh-rate gaming at 4K with lowered settings. The Medium preset at 4K offers a strong balance with 112 FPS average and a 95 FPS minimum, ensuring consistent performance.

Comparing presets within each resolution, the difference between Low and Ultra grows as resolution increases: 79 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p, and 84 FPS at 4K. This non-linear progression suggests that at 1080p, the CPU limits both Low and Ultra to a similar degree, while at 4K, the GPU becomes the dominant factor, making the preset choice more impactful.

FAQ

Q: Does the i5-11400F bottleneck the RTX 4080 in Lockdown Protocol?

A: Yes, particularly at 1080p and 1440p Low settings. The 1080p Low result of 234 FPS is only 11% higher than 4K Low's 157 FPS, a small gain that indicates the CPU is limiting performance. At 1440p High (151 FPS) versus 1080p High (197 FPS), the 30% reduction suggests the GPU is more engaged, but the CPU still caps raw throughput.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination?

A: The data shows 2560x1440 with High settings (151 FPS) provides a strong balance. At 1440p Medium, the 173 FPS average with a 147 FPS minimum ensures smooth 144Hz+ gameplay. 4K is viable but requires Medium settings (112 FPS) to maintain high frame rates, while Ultra drops to 73 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080's average benchmark score is 54247, while the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54209, a delta of 0.1%, making them effectively identical. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% behind, and both the Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and Radeon 8060S are 2.6% and 2.7% slower respectively.

Q: Is the 16 GB VRAM sufficient for Lockdown Protocol at 4K?

A: The measured results suggest yes, as the game runs at 98 FPS average on 4K High and 73 FPS on 4K Ultra. The 716.8 GB/s memory bandwidth and 256-bit bus provide ample throughput for the textures and effects at these settings, with no indications of VRAM capacity limitations.

Q: What CPU performance tier does the i5-11400F belong to?

A: The CPU ranks in the 71st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17177. Its closest rival, the AMD EPYC 7H12, is 0.3% faster, while the Intel Core i5-12450H and AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G are 0.4% and 0.6% slower respectively, placing it in the mid-upper tier.

Q: How much FPS do you gain from 4K Ultra to 4K Medium?

A: The gain is 39 FPS, from 73 FPS at Ultra to 112 FPS at Medium. This 53% improvement comes at the cost of some visual fidelity, but the 95 FPS minimum at Medium ensures more consistent frame pacing during intense gameplay sequences.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing high refresh rates at 1080p, the Medium preset (206 FPS average, 175 FPS minimum) offers a better experience than Low (234 FPS) because the visual quality improvement is substantial while the FPS sacrifice is only 28 FPS. The High preset at 1080p (197 FPS) is also excellent, but Ultra (155 FPS) represents a 25% drop from High that may not justify the visual gains given the CPU bottleneck.

At 1440p, the Medium preset provides the best measured experience with 173 FPS average and a 147 FPS minimum. This ensures the frame rate stays above 144 Hz even in demanding scenes. High settings (151 FPS) are also viable for 144 Hz displays, but the minimum FPS data is not available for High, making Medium the safer choice based on the available min/max range. Ultra at 1440p (113 FPS) is suitable for 120 Hz displays but sacrifices the headroom needed for consistent high-refresh gameplay.

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset (112 FPS, min 95) is clearly the optimal choice, as it maintains frame rates above 90 FPS while providing better visuals than Low (157 FPS). High settings (98 FPS) are playable on 100 Hz displays, but the lack of min FPS data makes Medium the more reliable recommendation. Ultra at 4K (73 FPS) is only suitable for 60 Hz displays or for players who prioritize maximum visual fidelity over frame rate consistency.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Core i5-11400F and RTX 4080 ranks 449th out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 12% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the strength of the RTX 4080, which carries the overall performance, while the i5-11400F's 71st percentile CPU score moderates the ceiling. The GPU's 86th percentile score is the dominant contributor to this high ranking.

Given that the i5-11400F is a 2021-era mid-range processor and the RTX 4080 is a 2022-era flagship, the pairing is somewhat mismatched in terms of tier. However, the data shows that at 4K resolutions, the combination performs admirably, with the CPU bottleneck becoming less pronounced as pixel count increases. The rank of 449 suggests that many other combos outperform this pairing, likely those with newer high-core-count CPUs that can feed the RTX 4080 more effectively at lower resolutions.

The measured FPS results confirm that this combo excels at 1440p and 4K Medium-to-High settings, where the GPU's power is fully utilized. At 1080p, the CPU limits performance to levels that are still very high (155-234 FPS) but below what the RTX 4080 could achieve with a stronger processor. For a benchmark database, this combo represents a realistic mid-range CPU paired with a top-tier GPU, and the ranking reflects that the CPU is the limiting factor in most scenarios. The 449th rank out of 3714 is respectable, but it also highlights the importance of CPU selection when building around a flagship GPU for FPS titles like Lockdown Protocol.