Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol, an esports-flavored team FPS, slated for release on March 11, 2024, places both CPU and GPU under measurable strain. The system tested here combines an Intel Core i5-12400F (6 cores, 12 threads, base 2.50 GHz, boost 4.40 GHz, 65 W TDP) with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6 GB GDDR6, 192-bit, 1365 MHz base, 1680 MHz boost). Benchmark results across four quality presets and three resolution classes show a range of average frame rates from 32 FPS at 4K Ultra to 145 FPS at 1080p. The hardware pairing ranks 2941 of 3714 in the game's measured benchmark database, placing it well below the median.

Resolution Scaling

Frame rates drop steeply as resolution rises. At 1080p Low, the pairing delivers 145 FPS average. At 1440p Low, that falls to 106 FPS, and at 4K Low, 69 FPS is still above the 60 FPS target. At High settings, 1080p averages 90 FPS, 1440p 66 FPS, and 4K 43 FPS. Ultra settings cause the sharpest decline: 45 FPS at 1080p, 49 FPS at 1440p, and just 32 FPS at 4K.

The performance pattern suggests a GPU-bound workload at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, 145 FPS means the six-core CPU can sustain high render rates, and the RTX 2060 is not the limiting factor. When output resolution climbs to 4K, the GPU's 1920 shading units (12 TMUs, 48 ROPs) and 336 GB/s of memory bandwidth become decisive. The RTX 2060 has 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores, but these are not engaged; the drop from 1080p Low to 4K Low is about 45% of the 1080p number, while the decline from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is even more severe, from 67 FPS to 32 FPS.

This pattern is consistent with the game being lightly threaded—the CPU's multi-core headroom is irrelevant at 1080p Low. At 1440p Medium, average FPS 76 (min 64, max 87) and at 4K Medium 49 (min 41, max 56) further show that resolution scaling is the dominant variable. At 1080p, even Ultra at 67 FPS is playable, but at 4K only the Low preset exceeds 60 FPS. The linear scaling between Low, Medium, and Ultra at medium resolution suggests the GPU is the bottleneck throughout the range.

GPU Role

The RTX 2060 is built on the Turing architecture with TU106 chip, featuring 30 Compute Units (CO₁ abbreviated as 60? Actually 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores, 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, 48 ROPs). Boost clock 1680 MHz provides the headroom, but the 6GB GDDR6 frame buffer (192-bit bus) is one of its limitations. At 4K Ultra, the average 32 FPS is the lowest of the twelve tested presets, likely because the 6GB capacity is at its limit when textures load. The memory clock of 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) yields a bandwidth of 336 GB/s; at high settings with large textures, this may be the reason the FPS headroom shrinks.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score is 14,111, placing it in percentile 58. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580, posts an average score slightly higher at 15,283 (Delta +0.1%?), actually the system lists GTX 580 with an average score of 15,283 and delta of 0.8% from the RTX 2060—that tiny margin indicates the 2060 holds a modest lead over a decade-old card. The OpenCL Geekbench score of 65,014 and Vulkan of 65,846 suggest similar compute headroom. This correlates with the observed performance: the GPU can still hit 60+ at 1440p Low (133 FPS) or High (49 at 4K), so only at the edge of ultra settings (4K, 1440p Ultra) does it fall short.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Lockdown Protocol with this CPU/GPU pair?

A: At 1080p, the RTX 2060 holds over 60 FPS at every preset. At 1440p, only Low/Medium/High exceed 60 (106/76). At 4K, only Low (69 FPS) is above 60, while Medium at 49 FPS falls below.

Q: Does the i5-12400F bottleneck at 1080p?

No—at 1080p Low the CPU archives 145 FPS, which is well above most displays. Even at 1080p Ultra it reaches 67 FPS, but the CPU still cause a limit only at the 4K setting. 3DMark multi-thread scores of 5,895 (16 threads) and 9,0–9,472 geekbench multi-core show plenty capacity.

Q: Should I lower texture quality to get more performance?

It depends on resolution. At 1080p, from Low to Medium, FPS drops from 145 to 103 (a 42% fall), and from High to Ultra from 90 to 67. At 4K, the drop from Low to Medium is 69→49, but the CPU is still the main variable. The 6GB VRAM is not sufficient for 4K Ultra textures, but the fall from 33 to 32 at 4K suggests the resolution is the ultimate limiter.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 perform relative to other GPUs in the database?

Its average benchmark score is 15,209, with nearest rival AMD Radeon 680M (15,270, +0.1%) and RTX 3050 OEM (15,009, +0.6%). This places it about 0.3% behind the £950W competitor.

Q: Is the i5-12400F a bottleneck for this GPU?

No. The CPU is rated at 21st percentile (per the ), and in the game, it yields 145 FPS at 1080p, suggesting it has raw single-thread might. Its multi-core Cinebench R23 (1230) 10.1 runs runs fine.

Q: What is the highest playable setting at each resolution for 60 FPS?

At 1080p, even Ultra achieves 67 FPS. At 1440p, High (66 FPS) is the highest preset above 60, while Ultra (49) must be avoid. At 4K, only Low (69 FPS) can hold over 60.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920×1080

• Low: 145 avg capacity
• Medium: 103 avg (min 88, max 119)
• High: 90 avg
• Ultra: 67 avg

At all four presets, the frame rate remains above 60, confirming smooth play for most users. The spike between Medium and High is 13 FPS; between High and Ultra, 23 FPS.

2560×1440

• Low: 106 avg
• Medium: 76 avg (min 64, max 87)
• High: 66 avg
• Ultra: 49 avg

Under 1440p, the Premium is the first to dip below 60. The Medium preset still provides a very playable 76, High is marginal at 66 with the frame-time variation of not shown, but Ultra drops 23.

3840×2160

• Low: 69 avg
• Medium: 49 avg (min 41, max 56)
• High: 43 avg
• Ultra: 32 avg

At 4K, only Low surpasses 60. The 4Kp High and Medium show 49 FPS and 43, indicating the GPU loses more than half its peak hip to render resolution.

The benchmark data includes min/max only for the Medium preset at each res: 66–119 at 1080p, 64–87 at 1440p, and 41–56 at 2160p. These show consistency—the spread only widens as res climbs, re-affirming that the GPU is the limiting factor.

Settings Recommendations

For 60+ FPS: At 1080p, the user can safely run Ultra (67) because it stays above 60. If the display allows 100 Hz, Medium (103) is a worthwhile step back. At 1440p, High (66 FPS) is the maximum preset that keeps 60+. Any Ultra setting is not recommended as it drops to 49, similar to 4K low. At 4K, only Low delivers a comfortable 69 FPS; Medium dips to 49, which may be acceptable on a 40–60 Hz screen if you accept lower texture assignment.

The Medium preset (for avg) provides, at 1080p and 1440p, a large jump in FPS (145→103 and 106→76) compared to High, but Ultra brings only 45 FPS penalty. For those who prioritize speed, choosing Medium High gain is the best trade-off. At 4K, the Low preset is the only 60, but if a 30 FPS experience is tolerable, Ultra reaching 32 FPS may be worth the visual uplift.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F operates with 6 physical cores and 12 threads, clocking from a 2.50GHz base to a 4.40GHz boost with a TDP of 65W. Its L3 cache is 18MB shared. In synthetic tests, the processor hits a Geekbench single-core score of 1,964 and multi-core 9,472; 3DMark indicates 5919 16-thread points. The CPU is rated in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs (still high) with an average score of 105,080, but against its most direct rivals it sees a deltaPct of -0.1% vs Intel Core 3 201E and +0.3% higher than the i5-1335U.

In Lockdown Protocol, the i5-12400F has shown strong per-core performance by holding at 67 to 145 FPS at 1080p. The CPU’s role is to feed the graphics card; at 1080p Low the 145 FPS shows the CPU is not blocking the image. Even at low power, the R23 multi-thread result (5,891) supports the claim that the 6 cores handle the team-based AI and ballistic calculations without target frame ties. For the resolution to 1440p, the CPU’s impact diminishes since the RTX 2060 falls below 60 first at Ultra.

The pairing’s 3DMark 8-thread score (4,779 points) and Cinebench R20 multi-core (6,980) are solid, but the game is a GPU-heavy at bolt. The i5-12400F with 12 threads keeps the system fluid in 60 FPS range in most presets. The only trace of CPU-binding appears in the 1% low across the Medium settings at 4K, which shows a spread that could be a thread-scheduling, but no definitive threshold.

In summary, the i5-12400F contributes the raw bandwidth to reach high FPS at low resolution; the RTX 2060's resolution limits are the decisive factor for the high downlands. The CPU stands well within its capacity in this mix, as confirmed by multiple synthetic metrics, but does not dominate the frame budget in this title.