Lockdown Protocol

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB lands at rank 899 out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. That places this pairing slightly below the middle of the pack, which is a meaningful signal: this is not a combination that dominates the game's leaderboards, but it is far from the bottom. The percentile position suggests the setup is competent for mainstream play, yet there are enough faster combinations ahead of it to keep expectations tempered.

Benchmark results indicate the combo's standing is driven more by GPU limits at higher settings than by CPU constraints. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system produces 194.9 FPS average, which is a strong result and shows the CPU can feed the GPU adequately. However, as resolution and settings climb, the frame rate drops consistently, revealing where the bottleneck shifts. The CPU's average benchmark score of 19850 places it in the 77th percentile among all CPUs, with nearest rivals like the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831, delta 0.1%) and Intel Core i5-11600K (19771, delta 0.4%) showing near-identical compute performance. The GPU sits at the 50th percentile among all GPUs, which aligns with its mid-pack ranking in this specific game.

# Settings Recommendations

For the best experience per the measured rows, the data points to Medium settings as the sweet spot across every resolution tested. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 137.9 FPS average, which is 15.6 FPS higher than High (121.3) and only 57 FPS below Low (194.9). The jump from Medium to Ultra costs 45.5 FPS at 1080p, making Ultra a poor trade for the visual gain. At 2560x1440, Medium produces 104.5 FPS average, which comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play, while High drops to 90 FPS and Ultra falls to 65 FPS. At 3840x2160, Medium still manages 68.6 FPS, which is playable but close to the edge; High dips to 57.8 FPS, and Ultra hits 42 FPS, which is below ideal smoothness.

If the priority is competitive frame rates, Low is the obvious choice: 194.9 FPS at 1080p, 140.6 FPS at 1440p, and 90.5 FPS at 4K. But for a balanced experience that preserves visual quality without sacrificing responsiveness, Medium is the recommended preset. The data shows a consistent pattern: Medium maintains roughly 70-75% of the Low preset's frame rate at every resolution, while High drops to about 62-65% of Low. Ultra is only worth considering at 1080p, where 92.4 FPS average remains usable, but the 45.5 FPS penalty over Medium is hard to justify for most players.

# FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Lockdown Protocol at 60 FPS on Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080, Ultra yields 92.4 FPS average, which clears 60 FPS comfortably. At 2560x1440, Ultra drops to 65 FPS average, still above 60. At 3840x2160, Ultra falls to 42 FPS average, which does not meet the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in overall performance?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 19850, placing it 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831) and 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i5-11600K (19771). It sits 0.2% behind the Intel Core i7-8700 (19894) and 0.4% behind the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX (19928).

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

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1920x1080 offers the highest playability across all settings, with averages ranging from 92.4 (Ultra) to 194.9 (Low). At 2560x1440, Medium provides 104.5 FPS, making it viable for high-refresh monitors. At 3840x2160, only Low (90.5 FPS) and Medium (68.6 FPS) are recommended.

Q: Does the GPU's VRAM capacity limit performance in this game?

A: The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 322.3 GB/s bandwidth. The measured results show a steep drop from Medium to Ultra at every resolution, with 4K Ultra falling to 42 FPS. This pattern is consistent with VRAM pressure at higher settings, though the game's specific usage is not quantified in the data.

Q: How large is the frame rate gap between Low and Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080, the gap is 102.5 FPS (194.9 vs 92.4). At 2560x1440, the gap is 75.6 FPS (140.6 vs 65). At 3840x2160, the gap is 48.5 FPS (90.5 vs 42). The relative penalty for Ultra grows as resolution increases.

Q: Is this combo better suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming?

A: The data supports 1080p as the primary target, with all four settings exceeding 90 FPS average. At 1440p, Low and Medium remain strong (140.6 and 104.5 FPS respectively), but High drops to 90 FPS and Ultra to 65 FPS, making 1440p viable only with lower presets.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce 194.9 FPS average, the highest figure recorded across all configurations. Medium follows at 137.9 FPS, then High at 121.3 FPS, and Ultra trails at 92.4 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 102.5 FPS, indicating that settings have a substantial impact on performance at this resolution. Even the worst case, Ultra, remains above 90 FPS, meaning 1080p play is smooth across the board.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down proportionally. Low yields 140.6 FPS average, which is still excellent for high-refresh displays. Medium drops to 104.5 FPS, maintaining fluid gameplay. High falls to 90 FPS, which is acceptable but starts to show the GPU working harder. Ultra bottoms out at 65 FPS average, which is playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. The delta between Low and Ultra here is 75.6 FPS, showing a narrower range than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the combo begins to strain. Low settings produce 90.5 FPS average, which is surprisingly strong for 4K. Medium drops to 68.6 FPS, still playable but noticeably lower. High falls to 57.8 FPS, dipping below the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra plummets to 42 FPS average, which is the weakest result in the entire dataset. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 48.5 FPS, the smallest absolute spread but the largest relative penalty, with Ultra delivering less than half of Low's frame rate.

The data shows a clear pattern: the combo handles 1080p with ease, manages 1440p well on lower presets, and only suits 4K with Low or Medium settings. Across all resolutions, Medium provides the most balanced tradeoff, while Ultra consistently exacts a heavy toll.

# GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with the Navi 44 chip, fabricated on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It packs 29,700 million transistors on a 199 mm² die, with 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units. The GPU's boost clock reaches 3130 MHz, with a game clock of 2530 MHz and a base clock of 1700 MHz. Memory runs at 2518 MHz, translating to 20.1 Gbps effective, across an 8 GB GDDR6 interface with a 128-bit bus and 322.3 GB/s bandwidth.

The GPU's role in Lockdown Protocol becomes evident when examining the FPS scaling across resolutions. At 1080p, the GPU has enough headroom to push 194.9 FPS on Low, but Ultra drops to 92.4 FPS — a 52.6% reduction. At 1440p, the same settings comparison shows 140.6 FPS down to 65 FPS, a 53.8% reduction. At 4K, Low yields 90.5 FPS while Ultra drops to 42 FPS, a 53.6% reduction. This consistent ~53% penalty for Ultra across all resolutions points to the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth being the limiting factor, rather than the CPU.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is likely a contributor to the steep Ultra penalty, especially at 4K where higher-resolution textures and effects demand more memory. The 322.3 GB/s bandwidth and 128-bit bus are modest by current standards, and the data suggests the GPU cannot sustain the increased memory pressure of Ultra settings at higher resolutions. The pixel rate of 200.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 400.6 GTexel/s provide theoretical throughput, but the measured results show practical limits that align with a mid-range GPU sitting at the 50th percentile.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration, and the CPU-only PCIe interface runs Gen 5 with 16 lanes. The integrated UHD Graphics 730 is present but irrelevant for gaming with a discrete GPU.

The CPU's benchmark scores show strong multi-threaded performance: Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 15935, while single-core hits 2249. PassMark multithread scores 18747, with single-thread at 3456. These numbers place the i5-12400 in the 77th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19850. Its nearest rivals — the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831, +0.1%) and Intel Core i5-11600K (19771, +0.4%) — are within a fraction of a percent, confirming this is a well-balanced mid-range CPU.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is to keep the GPU fed, and the data suggests it does so effectively at lower settings. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p (194.9 to 137.9 FPS) is driven by GPU load, but the fact that the combo reaches nearly 195 FPS on Low indicates the CPU is not a bottleneck at that point. However, the 6-core/12-thread configuration may limit performance in scenes with heavy physics or AI, which is common in FPS games. The Cinebench R15 multicore score of 1606 and PassMark physics score of 1105 represent the CPU's compute capability, but the game's specific CPU demands are not isolated in the measured data. The boost clock of 4.40 GHz provides solid single-thread performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2249, which helps maintain frame pacing in CPU-bound scenarios.