Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol, a 2024-released FPS title, demonstrates significant performance scaling across resolutions when paired with the Intel Core i5-12400F and AMD Radeon RX 9070. The measured data indicates a system that transitions from being heavily GPU-bound at 4K to increasingly CPU-limited at 1080p, with the specific bottleneck shifting based on the quality preset selected. This combination ranks 534th out of 1637 tested configurations for this game, placing it in the upper third of all hardware pairings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, revealing the expected behavior of a high-end graphics card paired with a mid-range processor. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 244.7 FPS at 1920x1080 to 179.5 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 26.6%. Continuing to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 115.6 FPS, representing a cumulative 52.8% decrease from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern indicates that at Low settings, even at 1440p, the RX 9070 is still delivering well over 170 frames per second, suggesting the CPU is the primary limiter at the lower resolutions.

The Medium preset shows a similar relative decline. Performance starts at 175.4 FPS at 1080p, falls to 130.7 FPS at 1440p (a 25.5% drop), and then reaches 82.2 FPS at 4K. The incremental reduction from 1440p to 4K is 37.1%, which is a larger relative drop than the 1080p to 1440p transition. This steeper decline at higher resolutions is the classic signature of the GPU becoming the dominant constraint as pixel count increases. The High preset follows this pattern precisely: 153.1 FPS at 1080p, 109.7 FPS at 1440p, and 70.5 FPS at 4K.

The Ultra preset exhibits the most dramatic scaling, with averages of 112.7 FPS at 1080p, 87.1 FPS at 1440p, and 53.2 FPS at 4K. The 4K result is less than half the 1080p figure, confirming that the most demanding settings place an overwhelming load on the GPU. Notably, the gap between High and Ultra at 4K is 17.3 FPS, while at 1080p the same settings gap is 40.4 FPS. This compression of the settings delta at higher resolutions further emphasizes that pixel throughput, rather than shading complexity, is the limiting factor at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achievable with this CPU and GPU combination?

A: The highest measured average is 244.7 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K with maximum quality?

A: No. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate is 53.2 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the i5-12400F compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19221, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-8700K's score of 19210 and 0.3% higher than the Intel Core i5-1335U's 19167.

Q: What is the GPU's relative performance standing among all tested graphics cards?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9070 sits in the 79th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 34780.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1440p High settings?

A: The data suggests a balanced state. At 109.7 FPS, the system is not yet CPU-bound as evidenced by the 1080p High score of 153.1 FPS, but the GPU is also not fully saturated, as the 4K High score of 70.5 FPS indicates remaining headroom.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The difference is 132.0 FPS, with Low averaging 244.7 FPS and Ultra averaging 112.7 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. Its synthetic performance profile shows a single-thread score of 909 in 3dmark and a max-thread score of 5912, indicating moderate scaling across its 12 threads. In Cinebench R23, it scores 2332 single-core and 16518 multi-core.

The benchmark data shows this CPU sits at the 77th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 19221. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-8700K, scores 19210, a delta of just 0.1%, making them statistically equivalent in aggregate performance. The AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS is 0.7% faster, while the AMD EPYC 7773X is 1.3% slower. This places the i5-12400F in a competitive band where it neither dominates nor is dominated by its immediate peers.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's impact is most visible at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 244.7 FPS, a figure that likely approaches the engine's threading limits for this processor. The fact that 1080p Ultra (112.7 FPS) is significantly lower than 1080p Low (244.7 FPS) suggests that the GPU is still doing substantial work even at 1080p, and the CPU is only fully exposed as the limiter at the very lowest settings. The 12 threads provide sufficient parallelism for the game's core logic, but the 2.50 GHz base clock means that lightly-threaded sections may not scale as aggressively as higher-clocked rivals.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings produces a wide spread of results. Low averages 244.7 FPS, Medium drops to 175.4 FPS, High reduces further to 153.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 112.7 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 69.3 FPS reduction, while the step from High to Ultra is a 40.4 FPS reduction. This indicates that the Low to Medium transition carries the largest performance penalty per setting tier.

Moving to 2560x1440, the corresponding figures are 179.5 FPS for Low, 130.7 FPS for Medium, 109.7 FPS for High, and 87.1 FPS for Ultra. The delta between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 92.4 FPS, which is smaller than the 132.0 FPS delta at 1080p. This compression of the settings spread as resolution increases is a direct consequence of the GPU becoming more heavily utilized.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 115.6 FPS (Low), 82.2 FPS (Medium), 70.5 FPS (High), and 53.2 FPS (Ultra). The Low to Ultra delta here is 62.4 FPS, further confirming that the GPU's pixel throughput is the dominant factor. The 4K Ultra result of 53.2 FPS is the only measured configuration that falls below the 60 FPS target, while 4K High (70.5 FPS) and 4K Medium (82.2 FPS) remain playable. Across all resolutions, the Medium preset offers a balanced compromise, staying above 82 FPS even at 4K.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture using TSMC's 4 nm process, with a die size of 357 mm² containing 53,900 million transistors. It features 3584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 128 render output units, along with 56 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1330 MHz, a game clock of 2070 MHz, and a boost clock of 2520 MHz. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at an effective 20.1 Gbps across a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RX 9070 achieves a 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6290 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 165532. Its Passmark G3D score is 25381, with a GPU compute score of 14737. The card sits at the 79th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 34780. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA A2, which scores 34866, a mere 0.2% higher, while the NVIDIA Quadro GV100 is 0.3% slower and the AMD Radeon HD 7970 is 0.7% slower. This places the RX 9070 in a tight cluster where no single rival holds a meaningful advantage.

The GPU's role in Lockdown Protocol becomes increasingly apparent at higher resolutions. At 4K, the performance differences between settings are substantial: Low (115.6 FPS) is more than double Ultra (53.2 FPS). The 16 GB VRAM capacity is well-suited for the game's texture demands at 4K Ultra, as there is no indication of memory-related stuttering or frame drops in the data. The 644.6 GB/s bandwidth provides adequate throughput for the pixel and geometry workloads. The boost clock of 2520 MHz allows the card to maintain high utilization in GPU-bound scenarios, which is why the 4K Medium result of 82.2 FPS remains respectable. The data indicates that for this game, the RX 9070 is a capable 4K performer at Medium settings, a strong 1440p card at High, and an exceptionally fast 1080p option that is frequently constrained by the i5-12400F.