Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i5-11400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D — Performance Analysis

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D delivers a high-refresh-rate experience in Lockdown Protocol, but the data reveals a clear pattern: this combination is heavily GPU-limited at lower resolutions and progressively more balanced as resolution climbs. At 1080p, the combo pushes 234 FPS on Low settings, yet at 4K Ultra, it drops to 88 FPS. The RTX 5090 D, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, is the dominant performance driver, while the six-core, twelve-thread i5-11400F with a 4.40 GHz boost clock provides sufficient headroom to keep frame rates playable across all tested configurations. The benchmark data shows that this pair ranks 168th out of 2,828 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 6% of all configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K tells a compelling story about where the bottleneck resides in this system. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 234 FPS, which drops to 211 FPS at 1440p Low and further to 182 FPS at 4K Low. That represents a 22% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and another 14% reduction from 1440p to 4K. This relatively modest scaling curve indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU is beginning to limit performance, preventing the RTX 5090 D from fully stretching its legs.

Moving to High settings reveals a steeper scaling pattern. The combo delivers 197 FPS at 1080p, 177 FPS at 1440p, and 118 FPS at 4K. The 40% drop from 1080p to 4K on High settings shows the GPU becoming the primary constraint as pixel count increases. At Medium settings, the pattern continues: 206 FPS at 1080p, 186 FPS at 1440p, and 135 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling, with 177 FPS at 1080p falling to 137 FPS at 1440p and finally 88 FPS at 4K — a 50% reduction from the lowest to highest resolution.

The data indicates that the RTX 5090 D is the limiting component at 4K across all settings, but at 1080p, the i5-11400F's six cores become the constraining factor. This is particularly evident in the Low preset, where 1080p and 1440p results (234 FPS and 211 FPS, respectively) are far closer than the resolution increase would suggest if the GPU were fully utilized. The 4K Low result of 182 FPS still demonstrates substantial GPU headroom, suggesting that the CPU cannot feed the GPU fast enough at lower resolutions to reach the RTX 5090 D's theoretical maximum.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 57 FPS (234 vs 177), while at 4K, that gap shrinks to 94 FPS (182 vs 88). This confirms that at 4K, the GPU's rendering workload dominates, and the CPU's role diminishes. Players targeting maximum frame rates should note that even at 4K Low, the combo maintains 182 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on the optimal settings for different priorities. For players seeking the highest possible frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 234 FPS, which is 37 FPS higher than the Ultra preset at the same resolution. However, the Medium preset at 1080p offers 206 FPS — only 28 FPS below Low — while providing substantially better visual quality. This makes Medium at 1080p the best balance of performance and fidelity, as it maintains frame rates well above 200 FPS.

At 1440p, the Medium preset achieves 186 FPS, which represents the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate gaming on 1440p monitors. The High preset at 177 FPS is also viable, but the 9 FPS difference between Medium and High suggests that the visual upgrade may not justify the performance cost for competitive play. The Ultra preset at 137 FPS remains playable but drops below the 144 Hz threshold that many gaming monitors target.

For 4K gaming, the High preset delivers 118 FPS, which is the recommended choice for those prioritizing visual quality while maintaining smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 135 FPS offers a better frame rate but sacrifices some visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 88 FPS is the only tested configuration that falls below 90 FPS, making it less suitable for fast-paced FPS gameplay where reaction time matters. The Low preset at 4K delivers 182 FPS, which is remarkably high for this resolution, but the visual compromises are significant.

Considering the min FPS data available for Medium settings, the 1080p Medium configuration shows a minimum of 175 FPS and maximum of 237 FPS, indicating consistent frame delivery with minimal stuttering. At 1440p Medium, the range is 158 to 214 FPS, while 4K Medium ranges from 115 to 155 FPS. These ranges suggest that Medium settings provide stable performance across all resolutions, with the 4K Medium configuration exhibiting the tightest frame time consistency relative to its average.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for competitive play with this combo?

A: The data shows 1080p Medium at 206 FPS average with a 175 FPS minimum, making it the most consistent high-refresh-rate option. Players wanting maximum frame rates can use 1080p Low at 234 FPS, but the Medium preset provides only 28 FPS less while offering better visuals.

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

A: Yes, all tested 4K settings exceed 85 FPS. High settings deliver 118 FPS, Medium delivers 135 FPS, and even Ultra maintains 88 FPS. The RTX 5090 D's 32 GB VRAM and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth ensure that 4K textures and effects are handled without memory constraints.

Q: How does the i5-11400F perform relative to its rivals?

A: The i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17,177, which places it 0.3% above the AMD EPYC 7H12 and 0.6% above the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U. It trails the Intel Core i5-12450H by 0.4% and the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G by 0.6%. This indicates the CPU is competitive with mid-range processors from various generations.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, Low delivers 211 FPS while Ultra delivers 137 FPS — a difference of 74 FPS. This represents a 35% performance reduction for the highest visual quality preset, which is a significant trade-off for players with 144 Hz or 165 Hz monitors.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D well-matched with this CPU for Lockdown Protocol?

A: The combo ranks 168th out of 2,828 tested combinations, placing it in the top 6%. At 1080p, the CPU limits performance, but at 4K, the GPU becomes the primary factor. The pairing works well for high-resolution gaming but leaves performance on the table at lower resolutions.

Q: How consistent are frame times across different settings?

A: The only configurations with min/max data are Medium settings. At 1080p, frames range from 175 to 237 FPS; at 1440p, from 158 to 214 FPS; at 4K, from 115 to 155 FPS. These ranges indicate smooth performance with no severe frame drops, though the 4K Medium configuration shows the tightest relative spread.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset provides a comprehensive view of this combo's performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 234 FPS average, the Medium preset delivers 206 FPS with a range of 175 to 237 FPS, the High preset maintains 197 FPS, and the Ultra preset produces 177 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 57 FPS drop, with each quality tier costing between 9 and 29 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 211 FPS, the Medium preset averages 186 FPS with a range of 158 to 214 FPS, the High preset achieves 177 FPS, and the Ultra preset produces 137 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra here is 74 FPS, indicating that resolution scaling amplifies the cost of higher quality settings. The 1440p Medium configuration offers the best balance, with an average 25 FPS above High and 49 FPS above Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 182 FPS, the Medium preset averages 135 FPS with a range of 115 to 155 FPS, the High preset delivers 118 FPS, and the Ultra preset produces 88 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 94 FPS, the largest spread across all resolutions. Notably, the 4K Low result of 182 FPS is higher than the 1440p Ultra result of 137 FPS, demonstrating that players can achieve higher frame rates at 4K with lower settings than at 1440p with maximum settings.

Comparing across resolutions at the same settings reveals interesting patterns. For Low, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 23 FPS, and from 1440p to 4K is 29 FPS. For Medium, the drops are 20 FPS and 51 FPS, respectively. For High, the drops are 20 FPS and 59 FPS. For Ultra, the drops are 40 FPS and 49 FPS. These numbers show that the cost of higher resolution grows significantly at higher quality settings, reinforcing that the RTX 5090 D's rendering workload scales non-linearly with pixel count and visual complexity.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 168 out of 2,828 tested combinations places it in the top 5.9% of all configurations tested in Lockdown Protocol. This ranking reflects the substantial GPU power of the RTX 5090 D, which scores in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 77,712. The GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT at 76,904 (1.1% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT at 78,940 (1.6% higher), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe variants at 79,396 and 79,605 (2.1% and 2.4% higher, respectively).

The CPU component, the i5-11400F, sits in the 71st percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 17,177. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7H12 at 17,120 (0.3% lower), the Intel Core i5-12450H at 17,239 (0.4% higher), and the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G at 17,278 (0.6% higher). This places the CPU in the mid-range tier, which is consistent with its 6-core/12-thread configuration and 12 MB shared L3 cache.

The combination of a top-tier GPU with a mid-range CPU results in a system that ranks highly overall but may underperform compared to pairings with stronger processors. The rank of 168 suggests that most of the 2,660 combos ranked below this configuration feature weaker GPUs, while many of the 167 combos ranked above likely pair the RTX 5090 D with faster CPUs. The data indicates that this combo's performance ceiling in Lockdown Protocol is determined primarily by the GPU, with the CPU providing adequate but not exceptional support.

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. It has a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support includes dual-channel DDR4 with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, and the chip connects via PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role varies significantly by resolution and settings. At 1080p Low, the 234 FPS result suggests the CPU is nearing its limit, as the RTX 5090 D could likely render more frames if fed faster. The 3DMark benchmarks provide context: the CPU scores 5,652 in the max threads test and 868 in single-thread, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14,340 and single-core score of 2,024. These numbers indicate solid multi-threaded performance for a 6-core part, but the single-thread score of 868 in 3DMark suggests that per-core performance may be a limiting factor in lightly-threaded game workloads.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 71 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17,177, places it above the median but well below high-end desktop processors. Its nearest rivals include server and mobile parts, showing that the i5-11400F competes with a broad range of processors despite being from the 2021 era. The 14 nm process node and 276 mm² die size indicate this is a mature design that has been superseded by newer architectures, yet it still delivers playable performance in Lockdown Protocol.

At 4K resolutions, the CPU's impact diminishes, as the GPU becomes the bottleneck. The 4K Low result of 182 FPS versus the 1080p Low result of 234 FPS shows a 52 FPS difference, which is attributable to the GPU's increased workload at higher pixel counts. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to maintain frame rates above 175 FPS in most configurations, with only the 4K Ultra preset dropping below 100 FPS due to GPU constraints. The data suggests that for this game, the i5-11400F provides adequate CPU performance without being the primary limiting factor except at the lowest resolutions and settings.