Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i5-12400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

Lockdown Protocol, the FPS title released in March 2024, shows a clear performance hierarchy when paired with the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080. The measured data spans three resolutions and four quality presets, revealing how this combination scales from high-refresh 1080p gaming to demanding 4K output. The RTX 4080's raw compute power dominates at lower resolutions, while the CPU's six-core, twelve-thread Alder Lake architecture becomes increasingly relevant as frame rates climb. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS rows, contextualizes the GPU's role, and explains where this specific combo ranks among 3,714 tested combinations.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial across all quality presets, but the pattern reveals a system that transitions from CPU-bound at lower resolutions to GPU-bound at 4K. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 274 FPS at 1920x1080 to 157 FPS at 3840x2160, a 42.7% reduction. This steep decline at the lowest preset indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as pixel count increases, since the CPU has ample headroom to feed frames at lower graphical loads. The i5-12400F, with its 4.40 GHz boost clock and 18 MB of shared L3 cache, can sustain high instruction throughput, but the RTX 4080's rendering pipeline saturates when pushing four times the pixels.

At Medium settings, the scaling shows a similar trajectory: 236 FPS at 1080p drops to 173 FPS at 1440p, then further to 112 FPS at 4K. The 1440p to 4K transition here represents a 35.3% performance loss, which aligns closely with the pixel count increase of 2.25x. This near-linear scaling suggests the RTX 4080 is the dominant constraint at Medium quality, with the CPU contributing minimal bottlenecking. The measured minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 95, while the maximum reaches 129, indicating that even in demanding scenes, the frame time variance remains controlled.

High settings exhibit the most consistent scaling pattern across the board. From 206 FPS at 1080p to 151 FPS at 1440p, the drop is 26.7%, and then from 1440p to 4K, the average falls to 98 FPS, a 35.1% reduction. This gradual degradation reflects the added shading and texture work that the RTX 4080 must handle at each resolution step. The 4K High result of 98 FPS sits comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, making this preset viable for high-refresh 4K monitors, though not for 120 Hz panels.

Ultra settings produce the lowest frame rates at every resolution, with the most dramatic scaling from 1080p to 4K. The 155 FPS average at 1080p drops to 113 FPS at 1440p, and then collapses to 73 FPS at 4K. This 52.9% reduction from 1080p to 4K is the largest proportional drop of any preset, indicating that Ultra's additional effects, likely including ray-traced elements and higher texture filtering, disproportionately burden the GPU at higher pixel counts. The 4K Ultra result of 73 FPS remains playable, but the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K (157 vs. 73 FPS) shows the wide performance envelope this combo can deliver.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide clear guidance for optimizing the experience in Lockdown Protocol. At 1920x1080, every preset delivers above 155 FPS, making the choice dependent on display refresh rate and visual fidelity preferences. Low settings hit 274 FPS, which exceeds the capabilities of most 240 Hz panels, while Medium at 236 FPS offers a better balance for 144 Hz monitors. High at 206 FPS still provides excellent headroom, and even Ultra at 155 FPS remains fluid for standard 144 Hz displays. The data suggests that at 1080p, the i5-12400F can push the RTX 4080 to its limits, so players with high-refresh monitors should prioritize frame rate over visual extras.

At 2560x1440, the recommended preset shifts based on target frame rates. Ultra at 113 FPS is suitable for 120 Hz panels, while High at 151 FPS comfortably drives 144 Hz displays. Medium at 173 FPS provides additional margin for competitive play, and Low at 244 FPS approaches the ceiling for most 240 Hz 1440p monitors. The 1440p Medium measurement includes a minimum of 147 FPS and maximum of 199 FPS, suggesting that frame times remain stable even during intense firefights. For most players, High at 1440p delivers the best combination of visual quality and performance, keeping the average above 150 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the choices become more constrained. Ultra at 73 FPS is playable but leaves little room for demanding scenes. High at 98 FPS is the sweet spot for 4K, providing a smooth experience on 60 Hz and basic 120 Hz displays. Medium at 112 FPS offers a modest boost, though the visual difference between Medium and High in Lockdown Protocol may justify the 14 FPS cost. Low at 157 FPS is surprisingly viable for competitive 4K play, though the visual compromises are significant. The 4K Medium measurement shows a minimum of 95 FPS, indicating that even with this preset, the system rarely drops below 60 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the measured results. Built on the Ada Lovelace architecture at TSMC's 5 nm process, the GPU packs 45,900 million transistors across a 379 mm² die. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves sufficient for Lockdown Protocol's texture streaming at 4K Ultra. The 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores provide the hardware foundation for any ray-traced effects and DLSS features the game may utilize, though the measured FPS rows do not specify whether these are enabled.

Clock speeds play a critical role in the performance scaling observed. The RTX 4080's base clock of 2205 MHz boosts to 2505 MHz under load, with memory running at 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective). This boost behavior explains why the GPU maintains high frame rates at lower resolutions, the silicon has thermal and power headroom to sustain elevated clocks when pixel shader work is lighter. At 4K Ultra, the GPU's 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 280.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are taxed heavily, resulting in the 73 FPS average. The 761.5 GTexel/s texture rate handles the game's asset loading efficiently, as evidenced by the stable minimum FPS readings.

The GPU's 320 W TDP and triple-slot cooler design suggest it can maintain boost clocks under sustained load, which is important for Lockdown Protocol's extended multiplayer sessions. The 1x 16-pin power connector and 700 W suggested PSU indicate this is a high-power component, but the measured FPS data shows the performance payoff. The RTX 4080's percentile ranking of 86 among all GPUs places it firmly in the enthusiast tier, and its average benchmark score of 54,247 confirms its position just below the RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores 54,209, a negligible 0.1% delta that does not meaningfully affect Lockdown Protocol results.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combination delivers exceptional performance across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 274 FPS, the highest measurement in the entire dataset. Medium averages 236 FPS with a minimum of 201 and maximum of 272, showing tight frame pacing. High drops to 206 FPS, while Ultra maintains 155 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the i5-12400F's single-thread performance, evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and Geekbench single-core of 1,964, is sufficient to keep the RTX 4080 fed, but the CPU's 12 threads may limit frame rate scaling beyond 274 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the results scale predictably. Low averages 244 FPS, a 10.9% reduction from 1080p. Medium averages 173 FPS with a minimum of 147 and maximum of 199, representing a 26.7% drop. High averages 151 FPS, and Ultra drops to 113 FPS. The 1440p results show that the RTX 4080's 16 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor, as the frame rates remain high even with Ultra settings. The GPU's 716.8 GB/s bandwidth handles the increased pixel throughput efficiently, and the 44.7% reduction from Low to Ultra at this resolution mirrors the 1080p pattern.

At 3840x2160, the performance envelope narrows considerably. Low averages 157 FPS, which is still remarkably high for 4K. Medium averages 112 FPS with a minimum of 95 and maximum of 129, providing a stable experience. High averages 98 FPS, while Ultra falls to 73 FPS. The 4K data reveals that the RTX 4080 is the clear bottleneck at this resolution, as the CPU's utilization drops and the GPU's shading units, texture mapping units, and render output units are fully engaged. The 157 FPS at 4K Low is particularly notable, demonstrating that even at 4K, this combo can drive high-refresh displays if visual quality is sacrificed.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 3,714 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol, the Intel Core i5-12400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 pairing holds rank 295, placing it in the top 8% of all systems. This ranking reflects the GPU's strength as the primary performance driver, while the CPU's mid-range positioning prevents the combo from reaching the very top tier. The i5-12400F's percentile ranking of 73 among all CPUs shows it is a solid mid-range processor, but its average benchmark score of 19,039 is closely matched by rivals such as the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (19,047, 0% delta) and Intel Core 3 201E (19,056, -0.1% delta). These near-identical scores indicate that the CPU is not the differentiator in this combo's rank.

The RTX 4080, by contrast, ranks in the 86th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54,247. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54,209 (0.1% delta), showing that the non-SUPER variant is effectively performance-equivalent in aggregate benchmarks. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54,828 (-1.1% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55,698 (-2.6% delta), meaning the RTX 4080 sits at the lower end of a performance cluster. This GPU-centric performance profile explains why the combo ranks at 295, the RTX 4080 carries the system to a strong position, but the i5-12400F's 6-core, 12-thread configuration may hold back frame rates in CPU-intensive scenarios at lower resolutions.

The rank of 295 out of 3,714 combos indicates that this system outperforms the vast majority of tested configurations in Lockdown Protocol. The data suggests that users with higher-tier CPUs (such as 8-core or 16-core processors) paired with the same GPU would likely rank higher, but the i5-12400F's performance is sufficient to avoid severe bottlenecking at the resolutions tested. The 73rd percentile CPU ranking and 86th percentile GPU ranking combine to produce a top-8% overall result, which is a strong outcome for this mid-range CPU + high-end GPU pairing.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo handle Lockdown Protocol at 4K with high refresh rates?

A: At 4K High settings, the average FPS is 98, which exceeds 60 Hz but falls short of 120 Hz. For 120 Hz 4K displays, Medium settings at 112 FPS or Low at 157 FPS are required. Ultra at 4K drops to 73 FPS, which is below typical high-refresh thresholds.

Q: What is the best preset for competitive play at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings deliver 244 FPS, which is ideal for 240 Hz monitors. Medium at 173 FPS with a minimum of 147 FPS is also viable for 144 Hz panels, providing better visual fidelity while maintaining high frame rates.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival in this game?

A: The RTX 4080's average benchmark score is 54,247, while the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54,209, a 0.1% delta. This negligible difference means the two GPUs should perform nearly identically in Lockdown Protocol, with the SUPER variant offering no tangible advantage.

Q: Is the i5-12400F a bottleneck for the RTX 4080?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 274 FPS, suggesting the CPU limits frame rates at lower resolutions. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as shown by the proportional FPS drops. The CPU's 3DMark max-thread score of 5,912 indicates moderate multi-threading capability.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 1080p Ultra?

A: At 1920x1080 Ultra, the average FPS is 155. This is sufficient for standard 144 Hz monitors but below the 165 Hz or 240 Hz thresholds found on high-end displays. Medium at 236 FPS or High at 206 FPS provide better options for high-refresh 1080p monitors.

Q: How does this combo rank overall in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The combination ranks 295th out of 3,714 tested combos, placing it in the top 8%. This ranking is driven primarily by the RTX 4080's 86th percentile GPU performance, while the i5-12400F's 73rd percentile CPU ranking is adequate but not exceptional.