Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol is a demanding FPS, and the pairing of the Intel Core i5-12400 with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX delivers a performance profile that is heavily dictated by graphics settings and resolution. The data indicates that this combination is a high-refresh-rate powerhouse at 1080p and 1440p, but requires careful settings management to maintain smooth framerates at 4K. The measured results show a clear hierarchy: the Ultra preset imposes a significant performance penalty across all resolutions, while the Low preset unlocks the highest frame rates, suggesting that the game's visual extremes have a substantial impact on the GPU's workload.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting the highest refresh rates on high-refresh monitors, the Low preset is the clear choice. At 1920x1080, this settings level produces an average of 274.3 FPS, which is 57.8 FPS higher than the next best preset (Medium at 216.5 FPS) and nearly double the frame rate of the Ultra preset (138.6 FPS). This indicates that the Low preset significantly reduces the rendering load, allowing the RX 7900 XTX to push frames at a rate that exceeds the refresh rate of most gaming monitors.

The Medium preset offers a balanced alternative for those who want improved visual fidelity without sacrificing too much performance. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset achieves an average of 158.4 FPS, which remains comfortably above the 144 Hz threshold. This makes it the optimal choice for 1440p gaming, as it provides a substantial visual upgrade over Low while still delivering a fluid experience. The data shows that the jump from Low to Medium at 1440p results in a 62.7 FPS drop, from 221.1 FPS to 158.4 FPS, illustrating the cost of enabling additional graphical features.

The High preset is a viable option for 4K gaming, as it is the only preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS at 3840x2160, with a score of 87.4 FPS. While the Ultra preset is technically playable at 4K with an average of 67.6 FPS, the High preset provides a more comfortable margin above the 60 FPS baseline, making it the recommended setting for 4K displays. The performance difference between High and Ultra at 4K is 19.8 FPS, a significant gap that suggests the Ultra preset enables features that are disproportionately taxing on the GPU.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for achieving the highest frame rate at 1080p?

A: The Low preset achieves the highest average frame rate at 1920x1080, with a measured 274.3 FPS, outperforming the Medium preset by 57.8 FPS.

Q: Can this hardware combination handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, at 3840x2160, the High preset yields an average of 87.4 FPS, and the Ultra preset maintains an average of 67.6 FPS, both of which are above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: How much of a performance drop occurs when moving from 1080p to 4K on the High preset?

A: The average frame rate drops by 97.2 FPS when moving from 1920x1080 (184.6 FPS) to 3840x2160 (87.4 FPS) on the High preset.

Q: Is the Ultra preset viable for competitive play?

A: The Ultra preset provides the lowest frame rates, with a 138.6 FPS average at 1080p and 103.1 FPS at 1440p. While playable, the significantly higher frame rates of the Low and Medium presets are better suited for competitive scenarios.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 221.1 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves 103.1 FPS, a difference of 118 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank among other tested configurations?

A: The combination ranks 238th out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 15% of all configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a clear pattern of performance scaling across resolutions, with the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 on the Low preset, the CPU is likely the limiting factor, as the RX 7900 XTX is capable of producing 274.3 FPS, which is a massive workload for the i5-12400's 6 cores and 12 threads to feed. The performance drop from 1080p to 1440p on the Low preset is 53.2 FPS (from 274.3 to 221.1), and the further drop to 4K is 79.3 FPS (from 221.1 to 141.8), indicating that the GPU's rendering capabilities are being increasingly taxed.

The scaling behavior changes with more demanding presets. On the Ultra preset, the frame rate drops from 138.6 FPS at 1080p to 103.1 FPS at 1440p, a 35.5 FPS reduction, and then to 67.6 FPS at 4K, another 35.5 FPS reduction. This linear scaling pattern at higher settings suggests that the GPU is the dominant constraint across all resolutions when the visual workload is high. The 4K performance on the High preset (87.4 FPS) is 47.2 FPS lower than the 1080p High score (184.6 FPS), demonstrating that the 24 GB of GDDR6 memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth are being fully utilized to handle the increased pixel count.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware combinations, this specific pairing performs exceptionally well. The combo holds the 238th rank out of 1637 tested configurations, placing it in the 85th percentile of all systems tested in Lockdown Protocol. This high ranking is attributable to the synergy between the i5-12400's solid multi-threaded performance and the RX 7900 XTX's immense graphical horsepower. The CPU's average benchmark score of 19850 places it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU's average score of 44019 puts it in the 85th percentile of all GPUs.

The ranking indicates that this system is capable of outperforming the vast majority of other combinations in this game. The data shows that the i5-12400 is a capable partner for the RX 7900 XTX, as its 6-core, 12-thread configuration with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz provides sufficient processing power to avoid creating a severe bottleneck at most settings. The 0.1% performance delta with the Intel Core i7-9700 and the 0.4% delta with the Intel Core i5-11600K in CPU benchmarks suggest that the i5-12400 is well within the performance envelope of its peers.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark results show a strong single-threaded performance with a 3dmark_single_thread score of 910 and a passmark_single_thread score of 3456. This is critical for Lockdown Protocol, which, like most FPS titles, relies heavily on single-threaded performance for game logic and physics calculations. The CPU's performance in 3dmark_16_threads (5873) and cinebench_r23_multicore (15935) indicates it has sufficient multi-threaded headroom for background tasks and the game's broader processing needs.

The CPU's role in this pairing becomes evident when analyzing the performance scaling at lower resolutions. At 1080p with the Low preset, the system produces 274.3 FPS. This high frame rate indicates that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to achieve such performance, but it also suggests that the CPU is nearing its limit, as the frame rate increases are less dramatic between presets at 1080p compared to higher resolutions. The CPU's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory contribute to its ability to maintain consistent performance. The 65W TDP and the fact that it is not multiplier-unlocked define it as a mainstream part that still delivers performance within 0.1% of the Intel Core i7-9700 and 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-8700.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a comprehensive view of the system's capabilities. At 1920x1080, the average FPS values are 274.3 (Low), 216.5 (Medium), 184.6 (High), and 138.6 (Ultra). The spread of 135.7 FPS between the lowest and highest presets at this resolution highlights the significant impact of graphical settings on performance. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 221.1 (Low), 158.4 (Medium), 139 (High), and 103.1 (Ultra). The relative performance gap between presets narrows slightly, with a difference of 118 FPS between Low and Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the data shows a more constrained performance envelope. The average FPS values are 141.8 (Low), 100.9 (Medium), 87.4 (High), and 67.6 (Ultra). The difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K is 74.2 FPS, which is smaller than at lower resolutions. This indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor, as even the Low preset cannot achieve the same relative frame rate advantage it has at 1080p. The data confirms a consistent hierarchy: Low > Medium > High > Ultra, across all three resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is a flagship GPU built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a 5 nm process node. It features 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. The GPU's high memory capacity and bandwidth are crucial for Lockdown Protocol at 4K resolution, where large textures and high-resolution assets require substantial memory throughput. The GPU's boost clock of 2498 MHz and its 6144 shading units contribute to its raw compute power, which is reflected in its passmark_g3d score of 31238.

The GPU's role as the dominant performance driver is evident in the resolution scaling data. The frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K are substantial across all presets, with the High preset dropping by 97.2 FPS (184.6 to 87.4) and the Medium preset dropping by 115.6 FPS (216.5 to 100.9). This indicates that the GPU's rendering capabilities are being fully exercised at higher resolutions. The GPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks, such as the 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 score of 6841 and the geekbench_vulkan score of 192597, confirms its high-end positioning, which is consistent with its 85th percentile ranking among all GPUs. The GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, has an average benchmark score of 44900, which is 2% lower than the RX 7900 XTX's 44019, highlighting the AMD card's competitive standing in this pairing.