Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is a balanced 1080p-oriented setup for Lockdown Protocol, but the benchmark data reveals clear limits as resolution climbs. The GTX 1660 SUPER, with its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus, becomes the dominant constraint at higher resolutions, while the i5-12400F’s six Performance cores provide sufficient headroom at lower settings. This analysis breaks down exactly what the measured FPS rows indicate for this FPS title.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 produces a dramatic FPS collapse across all settings, clearly identifying the GPU as the limiting component. At Low settings, average FPS drops from 121.7 at 1080p to 88.2 at 1440p, then falls further to 56.8 at 4K. That represents a 53% reduction from 1080p to 4K, a steep curve that points squarely at the graphics card’s fill rate and memory bandwidth rather than CPU limitations. The GTX 1660 SUPER’s 336.0 GB/s bandwidth and 5.027 TFLOPS FP32 throughput simply cannot sustain the pixel workload at 4K.

The scaling pattern becomes even more telling at High settings. At 1080p, the combo achieves 73.6 FPS, which drops to 56.0 at 1440p and 37.7 at 4K. The gap between Low and High settings widens as resolution increases — at 1080p the difference is 48.1 FPS, but at 4K that difference shrinks to 19.1 FPS. This compression indicates that at 4K, the GPU is already saturated, so reducing settings yields diminishing returns. The Ultra preset tells the same story: 57.8 FPS at 1080p falls to 41.6 at 1440p and a barely playable 27.6 at 4K.

The data suggests this combo is optimized for 1080p gaming, with 1440p being a stretch on Medium or Low settings. At 4K, even Low settings at 56.8 FPS may feel acceptable for casual play, but the 27.6 FPS Ultra result is below the threshold most FPS players would consider smooth. The 12 GB of combined system memory bandwidth (DDR4/DDR5 dual-channel support) is not the issue here; the GPU’s 192-bit bus and 6 GB VRAM capacity are the bottlenecks at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080, the data shows that Medium settings at 89.1 FPS offer the best balance between visual quality and performance. High settings at 73.6 FPS remain viable for competitive play, but Ultra at 57.8 FPS introduces noticeable dips that could hurt reaction times in a fast-paced FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs 32.6 FPS, while Medium to High costs only 15.5 FPS, indicating that Medium is the sweet spot where the GPU still has headroom.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts to Low settings at 88.2 FPS as the only preset that maintains a high refresh rate. Medium at 65.0 FPS is playable but requires some tolerance for frame pacing, and High at 56.0 FPS borders on marginal. Ultra at 41.6 FPS should be avoided for any serious play — the data shows a 46.6 FPS spread between Low and Ultra, which is too wide for consistent aim.

For 3840x2160, Low settings at 56.8 FPS is the only reasonable choice, and even that is a compromise. The gap between Medium at 40.3 FPS and High at 37.7 FPS is small, suggesting that the GPU is fully saturated regardless of minor setting changes. The CPU’s 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 4.40 GHz boost clock provide enough single-thread performance to avoid holding the GPU back, but the GTX 1660 SUPER’s 48 ROPs and 88 TMUs are simply outmatched at 4K.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of 144Hz gaming at 1080p?

A: Only at Low settings, where the measured average is 121.7 FPS. Medium at 89.1 FPS and High at 73.6 FPS fall short of 144Hz, so a high-refresh monitor would need the lowest preset or a GPU upgrade.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The i5-12400F’s 6 cores and 12 threads with a 4.40 GHz boost clock are sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p, as evidenced by the 121.7 FPS Low result. The CPU’s 77th percentile ranking vs all CPUs indicates it is not the primary constraint in this title.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: The data clearly favors 1920x1080, where every preset except Ultra stays above 70 FPS. At 1440p, only Low and Medium remain above 60 FPS, and at 4K, only Low achieves playable frame rates.

Q: Why is the FPS gap between Low and Ultra smaller at 4K than at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the difference is 63.9 FPS (121.7 vs 57.8), but at 4K it narrows to 29.2 FPS (56.8 vs 27.6). This compression indicates the GPU becomes fully saturated at 4K, so lowering settings cannot recover lost performance.

Q: Does the GTX 1660 SUPER’s 6 GB VRAM cause issues at 4K?

A: The measured data shows severe FPS drops at 3840x2160 across all presets, with Ultra falling to 27.6 FPS. The 192-bit bus and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth likely contribute to this, as texture data must be swapped more frequently at higher resolutions.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested configurations?

A: It ranks 1466 out of 1637 combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the lower 10% of tested systems. This reflects the GPU’s 55th percentile vs all GPUs, which drags down overall performance despite the CPU’s stronger showing.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1466 out of 1637 tested configurations places this system in the bottom 10% for Lockdown Protocol. This is a harsh but accurate assessment — the GTX 1660 SUPER scores in the 55th percentile vs all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14286, while the CPU sits in the 77th percentile with an average score of 19221. The pairing creates a significant GPU bottleneck, particularly at resolutions above 1080p.

Compared to its nearest GPU rivals, the GTX 1660 SUPER trails the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 by 0.2%, the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics by 0.2%, and the AMD Radeon Vega 11 by 0.5%. It also lags the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT by 0.7%. These are narrow margins, indicating that the 1660 SUPER is effectively mid-pack among its peers, but none of these competitors would meaningfully change the 4K results.

The CPU, however, holds its own. The i5-12400F edges out the Intel Core i7-8700K by 0.1% and the Intel Core i5-1335U by 0.3%, while beating the AMD EPYC 7773X by 1.3%. It trails the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS by 0.7%. This means the processor is not the weak link — the data shows that swapping the GPU for a stronger model would yield far greater FPS gains than any CPU upgrade.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F brings 6 cores and 12 threads to the pairing, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its Alder Lake architecture on a 10 nm process provides strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by the 3dmark_single_thread score of 909 and the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2332. For an FPS title like Lockdown Protocol, which typically relies on one or two primary threads, this is more than adequate.

The CPU’s 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 per core help with game asset streaming, but the benchmark results indicate that the GPU saturates before the CPU becomes a factor. At 1080p Low, the 121.7 FPS result suggests the i5-12400F can push far beyond what the GTX 1660 SUPER can render. The 3dmark_16_threads score of 5895 and the Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16518 confirm that even heavily threaded workloads are not a concern.

The 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make this a practical choice for budget builds, but the data shows that Lockdown Protocol is not CPU-bound with this configuration. The percentile rank of 77 vs all CPUs puts it above average, and the nearest rival comparisons show it performing within 1.3% of its peers. In short, the CPU is ready for a GPU upgrade — the current bottleneck is entirely on the graphics side.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 121.7 FPS, Medium hits 89.1 FPS, High reaches 73.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 57.8 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 63.9 FPS, showing that settings have a major impact at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, performance falls off noticeably. Low averages 88.2 FPS, Medium 65.0 FPS, High 56.0 FPS, and Ultra 41.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 46.6 FPS, indicating that the GPU is starting to struggle with the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the results are marginal for competitive play. Low averages 56.8 FPS, Medium 40.3 FPS, High 37.7 FPS, and Ultra 27.6 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra shrinks to 29.2 FPS, confirming that the GTX 1660 SUPER is fully saturated at 4K regardless of settings. For any player targeting 60 FPS or higher, 4K is not viable on this combo; even 1440p requires Low or Medium settings to stay above 60 FPS consistently.