Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i5-12600KF pairs its 10 cores and 16 threads with a 3.70 GHz base clock and a 4.90 GHz boost clock, forming the processing backbone of this test system. This Alder Lake-S desktop chip, built on Intel's 10 nm process, combines six performance cores with four efficiency cores, a hybrid design that allows the operating system to shunt background tasks to the slower cores while keeping the primary game threads on the fast ones. In Lockdown Protocol, an FPS title released in March 2024, the CPU's single-thread strength matters more than raw core count, but the 16 threads ensure that the game's background simulation, physics, and AI routines never starve the main render thread. Benchmark data places this chip at the 84th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27,827. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-10900K, scores 27,829, a delta of 0 percent, meaning the two chips are effectively identical in aggregate compute. The Intel Core i5-12600K scores 27,851, a 0.1 percent delta, while the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H trails by 0.2 percent at 27,872, and the Intel Core i7-13700H leads by 0.4 percent at 27,716. These tiny margins indicate that the i5-12600KF is not the bottleneck in this system; it delivers roughly the same multithreaded throughput as a flagship 10th-gen desktop part and a mobile 13th-gen H-series chip.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads are the architectural foundation for Lockdown Protocol's frame pacing. With a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, the chip can push high single-thread performance, which is critical for the game's main loop. At 1080p Low settings, the system produces 309.8 FPS average, a figure that would be impossible if the CPU were limiting; at that resolution and setting, the GPU is nearly idle, so the CPU must sustain the frame rate on its own. The 3.70 GHz base clock ensures that even when all 16 threads are active, the chip does not drop below a usable floor. The L3 cache of 20 MB shared across the cores helps keep frequently accessed game data close to the execution units, reducing memory latency that could otherwise cause frame hitches in fast-paced FPS combat. The passmark multithread score of 27,575 and the 3DMark 16-thread score of 7,956 both indicate that the CPU delivers consistent throughput across synthetic workloads. In Lockdown Protocol specifically, the 1080p Low result of 309.8 FPS versus the 1440p Low result of 222.9 FPS shows that the CPU has headroom; the drop of 86.9 FPS when resolution increases is primarily a GPU load change, not a CPU limitation. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 23,444 reinforces that this chip is a strong mid-range performer, but its single-core score of 3,309 suggests that the game's responsiveness at high frame rates depends on the boost clock reaching 4.90 GHz. The chip's percentile rank of 84 puts it above the vast majority of installed CPUs, meaning most players with slower processors will see lower frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 672.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock of 2610 MHz and base clock of 2340 MHz, built on TSMC's 5 nm process with 45,900 million transistors, provide the raw shading power needed for Lockdown Protocol's visual effects. The 8448 shading units and 66 RT cores handle the game's rendering and any ray-traced effects, while the 264 tensor cores accelerate DLSS if enabled, though the measured data does not specify DLSS usage. The GPU's percentile rank of 86 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48,704, places it well above typical mid-range cards. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA CMP 50HX at 49,071 (a 0.7 percent lead), the NVIDIA RTX A2000 at 47,915 (a 1.6 percent deficit), the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile at 47,743 (a 2 percent deficit), and the Intel Arc A550M at 49,737 (a 2.1 percent lead). These comparisons show that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER sits in a performance band where small delta percentages translate to noticeable FPS differences in practice. In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's role becomes clear when examining the 4K Ultra result of 70 FPS versus the 4K Low result of 143.1 FPS; the 73.1 FPS gap is almost entirely due to GPU workload scaling. The 16 GB VRAM is ample for the game's textures at 4K, so memory capacity is not a limiting factor. The passmark G3D score of 31,811 confirms strong rasterization performance, while the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5,569 indicates that the GPU handles modern APIs well.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern that shifts the bottleneck from GPU to CPU as resolution drops. At 1080p Low, the system hits 309.8 FPS, which is a CPU-bound scenario; the GPU could render faster, but the CPU's single-thread performance caps the frame rate. Moving up to 1440p Low reduces the average to 222.9 FPS, a drop of 86.9 FPS, indicating that the GPU is now taking on more work. At 4K Low, the system still manages 143.1 FPS, showing that even at 4K with low settings, the GPU is not overwhelmed. The scaling from 1080p Low to 1440p Low is a 28 percent reduction, while from 1440p Low to 4K Low is a 35.8 percent reduction. This non-linear drop is typical of a system where the GPU becomes progressively more dominant as pixel count increases. At 1080p High, the average is 188.5 FPS, while 1440p High yields 142.8 FPS (a 24.2 percent drop), and 4K High yields 91.8 FPS (a 35.7 percent drop from 1440p). The Ultra settings show the steepest scaling: 1080p Ultra at 143.8 FPS, 1440p Ultra at 103 FPS (a 28.4 percent drop), and 4K Ultra at 70 FPS (a 32 percent drop). The fact that 1080p Ultra (143.8 FPS) is nearly identical to 4K Low (143.1 FPS) suggests that at these settings, the system is balancing CPU and GPU loads differently; at 1080p Ultra, the GPU is still the primary limiter, while at 4K Low, the GPU is also the limiter but with different settings. The CPU's influence is most visible at 1080p Low, where the 309.8 FPS result indicates the processor can sustain very high frame rates when the GPU is not burdened. This data collectively shows that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the limiting component for most settings above Low at 1080p and above, while the i5-12600KF becomes the limiter only at the lowest settings and resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p High settings for this CPU/GPU combo?

A: The system achieves 188.5 FPS average at 1920x1080 with High settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in aggregate benchmark score?

A: The Intel Core i5-12600KF scores 27,827, which is 0 percent different from the Intel Core i9-10900K's 27,829, making them statistically equivalent.

Q: What is the largest FPS drop observed when moving from 1440p to 4K?

A: At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 222.9 at 1440p to 143.1 at 4K, a reduction of 79.8 FPS.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU more likely to limit performance at 4K Ultra?

A: The 4K Ultra result of 70 FPS, combined with the GPU's 16 GB VRAM and 672.3 GB/s bandwidth, indicates the GPU is the limiting factor, as the CPU would not constrain performance at this resolution.

Q: What percentile does the GPU rank among all GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER ranks in the 86th percentile among all GPUs.

Q: How does the 1080p Low FPS compare to the 1080p Ultra FPS?

A: The 1080p Low average is 309.8 FPS, while 1080p Ultra is 143.8 FPS, a difference of 166 FPS that reflects the GPU workload increase from Low to Ultra settings.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER ranks 151st out of 1,637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 9.2 percent of all configurations. The rank reflects the balance between a CPU that scores in the 84th percentile and a GPU in the 86th percentile, with no single component dragging the pair down. The measured FPS data shows that the combo is capable of exceeding 300 FPS at 1080p Low and maintaining above 140 FPS at 4K Low, which are strong results for an FPS title. Compared to other combos in the database, the 151st rank out of 1,637 means that only 150 configurations deliver higher average frame rates across the tested settings. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i9-10900K, would likely pair with similar GPUs to produce comparable results, but the exact combo rank depends on the full system configuration. The GPU's nearest rivals, including the NVIDIA CMP 50HX which scores 0.7 percent higher, would produce slightly better frame rates if paired with the same CPU, but the delta is small enough that the in-game experience would be nearly identical. The 4K Ultra result of 70 FPS is a notable data point, as it shows the combo can handle demanding settings at high resolution, though not at the highest refresh rates. The 1080p High result of 188.5 FPS and 1440p High result of 142.8 FPS indicate that the combo is well-suited for high-refresh-rate monitors at 1440p. Overall, the combo's rank of 151 out of 1,637 places it in the upper echelon of tested systems, with the GPU providing the primary performance headroom and the CPU ensuring no bottleneck at lower resolutions.