Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol's performance with the Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 reveals a configuration that scales predictably with resolution, but the data suggests the GPU is the primary driver of frame rates across all tested settings. The measured frames per second (FPS) show a clear hierarchy where lowering resolution yields substantial gains, while increasing graphical fidelity imposes a heavy toll, indicating a system balanced around the GPU's capabilities rather than being limited by the processor.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a significant performance drop, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 246.1 at 1920x1080 to 181.9 at 2560x1440, and then to 114.7 at 3840x2160. This represents a reduction of 26% when moving to 1440p and an additional 37% drop when stepping up to 4K, showing that the RX 9070 handles the increased pixel count with diminishing returns. The data implies that at 1080p, the system is not fully taxed, as the high frame rates suggest headroom, but 4K Low still delivers playable performance above 100 FPS.

The scaling becomes more pronounced at higher settings. For High settings, 1080p yields 153.3 FPS, which drops to 110 at 1440p and further to 69.5 at 4K. This is a steeper decline of 28% and 37% respectively, compared to Low settings, indicating that the combination of resolution and graphical complexity amplifies the load on the GPU. Ultra settings are the most demanding, with 116.3 FPS at 1080p, 84.7 at 1440p, and a notable 54.4 at 4K. The data suggests that the limiting component shifts increasingly toward the GPU as resolution rises, since the CPU's role remains constant while the GPU's workload multiplies.

Benchmark results indicate that the RX 9070's pixel rate of 322.6 GPixel/s is a key factor in these results. The gap between 1440p and 4K at every setting is consistent, roughly a 37-39% reduction, which aligns with the 2.25x increase in pixel count from 1440p to 4K. This consistency points to a purely resolution-driven bottleneck, where the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s are fully engaged. The i5-12400's six cores and 12 threads remain static, so the FPS differences across resolutions are attributable to the GPU's ability to process geometry and shading at higher pixel densities.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070's specifications are central to interpreting these frame rates. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1330 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, with a game clock of 2070 MHz, which indicates sustained performance under load. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s, which is sufficient for the texture and buffer demands of Lockdown Protocol at 4K, as evidenced by the playable 69.5 FPS at High settings. The 3584 shading units and 128 ROPs contribute to the rasterization throughput, with a texture rate of 564.5 GTexel/s, explaining why Medium settings at 1440p achieve 130.6 FPS, a solid middle ground.

The GPU's memory capacity is not a limiting factor in this data, as even at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 54.4, suggesting the 16 GB pool handles the game's asset streaming without spilling to system memory. The 53,900 million transistors on a 4 nm process from TSMC indicate a modern architecture that scales efficiently with resolution. The RDNA 4.0 design, with 56 ray tracing cores, does not appear to introduce a bottleneck in these rasterized benchmarks, as the FPS progression is smooth across settings. The boost clock of 2520 MHz is likely sustained during gaming, but the data shows that raw clock speed alone does not overcome the pixel workload at 4K, where even the highest settings produce sub-60 FPS.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 34780 places it in the 79th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA A2 with a deltaPct of -0.2%, indicating near-identical performance. This context suggests that the RX 9070 is a mid-to-high-tier card, and the measured FPS in Lockdown Protocol aligns with that positioning, delivering high refresh rates at 1080p but requiring settings adjustments for 4K smoothness.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, High settings at 153.3 FPS provide a balanced experience, but Medium at 173.9 FPS offers a 13% improvement with likely minimal visual degradation, making it the best choice for competitive play. Low settings at 246.1 FPS are excessively high for most displays, so Medium is recommended for the sweet spot between fidelity and speed. At 2560x1440, High settings at 110 FPS are excellent, but Medium at 130.6 FPS achieves a 19% FPS gain, which is preferable for smoother motion in a fast-paced FPS, while still maintaining a crisp image. Ultra at 84.7 FPS is playable but not ideal for high-refresh monitors, so it is not recommended unless visual fidelity is paramount.

For 3840x2160, the data shows that High settings at 69.5 FPS are the highest preset that maintains a playable frame rate above 60. Medium at 81.2 FPS is a better choice, providing a 17% improvement over High while reducing the load on the GPU. Low at 114.7 FPS is the only preset that fully utilizes high-refresh 4K displays, but it sacrifices graphical quality significantly. Ultra at 54.4 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold and should be avoided for a smooth experience. The data implies that Medium settings are the best compromise across all resolutions, as it consistently delivers a 10-20% FPS boost over High without the dramatic visual downgrade of Low.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full dataset provides a clear picture of performance. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 246.1 at Low to 116.3 at Ultra, with Medium at 173.9 and High at 153.3. This shows a 53% drop from Low to Ultra, indicating that the game's ultra preset is significantly more demanding. At 2560x1440, the values are 181.9 at Low, 130.6 at Medium, 110 at High, and 84.7 at Ultra, with a 53% reduction from Low to Ultra, mirroring the 1080p scaling. At 3840x2160, the numbers are 114.7 at Low, 81.2 at Medium, 69.5 at High, and 54.4 at Ultra, which is a 53% decrease from Low to Ultra as well. This consistent 53% delta across resolutions from the lowest to highest settings suggests that the GPU's performance scaling is uniform, regardless of pixel count.

The relative differences between settings are also telling. At every resolution, Medium is roughly 20-30% faster than High, while High is about 30-35% faster than Ultra. For example, at 1440p, Medium (130.6) is 18.7% faster than High (110), and High is 29.9% faster than Ultra (84.7). This pattern indicates that the Ultra preset introduces a disproportionately high cost, likely from effects like shadows and reflections, which the RX 9070 handles at a lower efficiency. The data shows that the leap from High to Ultra is the most punishing, so users targeting high FPS should cap at High or Medium.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest playable setting at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the High preset achieves 69.5 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold, while Medium reaches 81.2 FPS. Ultra falls to 54.4 FPS, so High or Medium are the top choices for smooth 4K play.

Q: How much faster is Low compared to Ultra at 1080p?

A: Low settings produce 246.1 FPS, which is 111.6% faster than Ultra's 116.3 FPS at 1920x1080, showing a massive performance gain for minimal visual quality.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck, as the frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings. The i5-12400's performance is sufficient, and the RX 9070's workload dominates the FPS output.

Q: What is the best resolution for a 144Hz monitor?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings achieve 130.6 FPS, which is close to 144Hz but not fully there. At 1920x1080, Medium reaches 173.9 FPS, exceeding 144Hz, so 1080p is the better choice for maximum refresh.

Q: Is the 16 GB VRAM sufficient for Ultra settings?

A: Yes, the 16 GB GDDR6 memory handles Ultra settings, but the FPS at 4K Ultra is 54.4, which is not ideal for smooth play, indicating that VRAM is not the limiting factor, but rather the GPU's compute power.

Q: How does the RX 9070 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic tests?

A: The RX 9070 has an average benchmark score of 34780, which is 0.2% lower than the NVIDIA A2's 34866, indicating near-identical raw performance in synthetic workloads.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400's specifications suggest it is a capable partner for the RX 9070, but the benchmark data shows it is not the primary constraint. With 6 cores and 12 threads, the CPU has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, which is adequate for modern FPS games. The processor's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide sufficient data locality for game logic, and its 3DMark scores, such as 5873 for 16 threads and 910 for single thread, indicate balanced multi-threaded performance. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15935 and single-core score of 2249 further confirm that the CPU can feed the GPU without causing a frame rate stall.

However, the measured FPS across all resolutions and settings shows that the GPU is the limiting factor. For instance, at 1080p Low, the system achieves 246.1 FPS, which is far above typical CPU-bound thresholds, suggesting the i5-12400 can handle high frame rates. The CPU's 65W TDP and Alder Lake architecture with 10 nm process node are efficient, but the data implies that even the lowest settings do not expose a CPU bottleneck, as the FPS scales down smoothly with resolution increases. The processor's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-9700 with a deltaPct of 0.1% and the i7-8700 at -0.2%, indicate that the i5-12400 is competitively positioned, but its role in this game is to maintain stable frame pacing rather than push higher FPS.

The CPU's integrated UHD Graphics 730 is irrelevant for gaming with a discrete GPU, and the PCIe Gen 5 support with 16 lanes ensures sufficient bandwidth for the RX 9070. Benchmark results indicate that the i5-12400's max threads score of 5890 is only slightly higher than its 16-thread score, showing that the extra threads are not fully utilized in this game, which is typical for FPS titles. Thus, the CPU provides a solid foundation, but the data clearly attributes performance variations to the GPU's workload.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks 527th out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the 68th percentile of all configurations. This ranking is respectable, indicating that the pairing performs well above the median but is not at the top tier. The GPU's 79th percentile among all GPUs and the CPU's 77th percentile among all CPUs suggest that both components are above average, but the combo rank of 527 implies that there are more powerful pairings, likely with higher-end CPUs or GPUs, that achieve better frame rates.

The data shows that this combo's performance is limited by the GPU at higher resolutions, as the CPU is not the bottleneck. The rank of 527 out of 1637 means that there are 1110 combos that perform worse, which is a strong showing for a mid-range processor paired with a high-end GPU. The RX 9070's average benchmark score of 34780 is close to its nearest rival, the NVIDIA A2, with a deltaPct of -0.2%, so the GPU's synthetic performance is consistent with its in-game results. However, the combo's ranking suggests that in Lockdown Protocol specifically, the i5-12400 may not extract the full potential of the RX 9070, as higher-core CPUs could provide marginal improvements in frame pacing, even if the average FPS is GPU-bound.

The measured FPS at 1080p Ultra (116.3) and 1440p Ultra (84.7) are playable, but the combo's rank of 527 indicates that there are many configurations that achieve higher frame rates, likely due to more powerful CPUs like the i7-9700 or i7-8700, which have similar synthetic scores. The data implies that while this combo is well-balanced, it sits in the upper-middle tier, offering a solid experience for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but not dominating the benchmark charts. The rank percentile of 68% (527/1637) confirms that it outperforms the majority of tested systems, making it a reliable choice for Lockdown Protocol without being exceptional.