Lockdown Protocol

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. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU demonstrates a balanced profile: its 3DMark multi-threaded score of 5890 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15935 indicate strong parallel throughput, while its single-thread score of 2249 in Cinebench R23 shows capable per-core performance for lightly threaded workloads. Its overall average benchmark score of 19850 places it at the 77th percentile among all tested CPUs, making it a solid mid-range contender for gaming. The nearest rivals confirm this positioning: the Core i7-9700 scores 19831 (a 0.1% delta), the Core i7-8700 scores 19894 (-0.2%), and the Core i5-11600K scores 19771 (0.4%). This effectively places the i5-12400 in a three-way statistical tie with those older or similarly positioned parts, meaning its real-world gaming performance is unlikely to be a bottleneck in most scenarios.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's influence is most evident at lower resolutions where frame rates are highest. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 219.3 FPS, which is significantly higher than the 4K Ultra result of 50.3 FPS. The gap between 1080p Low and 1080p Ultra is 114.1 FPS, suggesting that the GPU is the primary scaling factor even at the lowest resolution. However, the CPU's 12 threads and 18 MB of shared L3 cache are sufficient to feed the RTX 4060 Ti without creating a hard ceiling, as evidenced by the fact that the 1080p Low result exceeds 200 FPS. The data shows that this processor does not artificially cap performance in this title; instead, the frame rate scales consistently with GPU load across settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with 4352 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. Its memory configuration includes 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The core clocks are a base of 2310 MHz and a boost of 2535 MHz, with memory running at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective). In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, this GPU scores 2913, which puts it at the 17th percentile among all GPUs — a surprisingly low ranking that is mirrored by its nearest rivals: the GT 555M scores 2913 (0% delta), the RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB scores 2907 (0.2%), and the GT 650M scores 2893 (0.7%). This data suggests that the 3DMark Steel Nomad workload is not well optimized for this class of GPU, or that the benchmark itself is not representative of typical gaming loads.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's role is dominant. The measured FPS shows a clear pattern: at 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 114.1 FPS (from 219.3 to 105.2), while at 4K, the same setting change results in a 56.9 FPS drop (from 107.2 to 50.3). This indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at all tested resolutions, as the frame rate scales inversely with resolution and settings in a predictable manner. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this game, as there are no anomalies or sudden performance collapses at 4K Ultra — the drop from Medium to Ultra at 4K is 26.5 FPS, which is consistent with increased shading and texture work rather than memory overflow. The GPU's 160 W TDP and PCIe 4.0 x8 interface are adequate for this title, and the data shows no signs of bandwidth starvation.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS across resolutions reveals a consistent scaling pattern that highlights the GPU-bound nature of this combo. At High settings, the frame rate drops from 133.9 FPS at 1080p to 98.4 FPS at 1440p (a 26.5% reduction), and then to 63.2 FPS at 4K (a 35.8% reduction from 1440p). This logarithmic decline is typical of a GPU-limited scenario, where each resolution step increases pixel count by roughly 1.78x (1080p to 1440p) and 2.25x (1440p to 4K). The fact that the FPS does not drop proportionally to the pixel count increase (e.g., 1440p to 4K is 2.25x pixels but only 1.56x FPS drop) suggests that the game's rendering pipeline is not purely pixel-bound, and that other factors like memory bandwidth or cache efficiency come into play.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more revealing: 219.3 FPS at 1080p drops to 163.5 FPS at 1440p (a 25.4% reduction) and then to 107.2 FPS at 4K (a 34.4% reduction from 1440p). The relative consistency of these percentage drops across settings indicates that the GPU's compute and memory subsystems are being utilized uniformly, with no single bottleneck emerging at any resolution. The Ultra preset shows the steepest absolute drops: 105.2 FPS at 1080p, 75.5 FPS at 1440p, and 50.3 FPS at 4K. This pattern confirms that the RTX 4060 Ti is the limiting factor; if the CPU were the constraint, we would expect to see similar FPS across resolutions at the same settings, which is not the case. The data clearly shows that this combo is GPU-bound from 1080p all the way to 4K.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy of settings presets for this combo. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 219.3 FPS, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on modern monitors, while the Medium preset still achieves 156.3 FPS. The High preset drops to 133.9 FPS, and Ultra falls to 105.2 FPS. For competitive play in an FPS title like Lockdown Protocol, the Low preset offers the highest frame rate, but the Medium preset provides a better balance — it retains 156.3 FPS at 1080p, which is 28.7% higher than High and 48.6% higher than Ultra, while presumably offering improved visual fidelity over Low.

At 1440p, the recommendation shifts. The Low preset hits 163.5 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh 1440p displays, but Medium drops to 114.4 FPS — still sufficient for 120 Hz panels. High at 98.4 FPS is playable but below the 100 FPS threshold that many competitive players prefer, and Ultra at 75.5 FPS is best suited for slower-paced gameplay. At 4K, the situation is more constrained: Low achieves 107.2 FPS, which is the only preset that breaks the 100 FPS barrier, while Medium (76.8 FPS), High (63.2 FPS), and Ultra (50.3 FPS) all require a 60 Hz display to be fully utilized. For the best experience per the measured rows, the Medium preset at 1080p is the sweet spot — it offers 156.3 FPS, which is 48.7% higher than Ultra at the same resolution, and it maintains a comfortable margin above 144 FPS. At 1440p, Medium is also the recommended choice, as it provides 114.4 FPS, which is 16.3% higher than High and 51.5% higher than Ultra. At 4K, users should stick to Low (107.2 FPS) if they have a high-refresh display, or Medium (76.8 FPS) if they prioritize visual quality on a 60 Hz monitor.

How This Combo Ranks

In the global ranking of tested combos for Lockdown Protocol, this configuration of the Intel Core i5-12400 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB holds the 672nd position out of 1637 total combos. This places it in the top 41% of all tested systems, which is a solid mid-pack result. The ranking reflects the combination's overall capability across all tested resolutions and settings, and it is consistent with the component-level data: the CPU is at the 77th percentile, while the GPU is at the 17th percentile in its own benchmark suite. The GPU's low percentile in 3DMark Steel Nomad is somewhat misleading for gaming, as the measured FPS in Lockdown Protocol shows that this combo can deliver playable frame rates even at 4K with Medium settings (76.8 FPS).

The rank of 672 out of 1637 suggests that there are 965 combos that perform better, which is expected given the mid-range positioning of both components. However, the data also shows that this combo is not a poor performer — it outranks roughly 59% of all tested systems. The nearest GPU rivals in the benchmark database (the GT 555M, GT 650M, and GTX 860M) are all much older mobile parts, which highlights that the 3DMark Steel Nomad score is not a reliable indicator of gaming performance for this GPU. In contrast, the measured FPS in Lockdown Protocol demonstrates that the RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB is a capable gaming card, particularly at 1080p and 1440p, where it achieves frame rates well above 100 FPS in most presets. The combo's rank is therefore a reflection of its balanced performance: it lacks the raw horsepower of high-end GPUs or the extreme thread counts of flagship CPUs, but it delivers a smooth, playable experience across the board, making it a dependable choice for this title.