Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i5-12600KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti

The measured frame rates for this combination across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system that scales predictably with resolution but behaves differently at the extremes of settings. The data shows a strong pairing where the RTX 5070 Ti carries the load at higher resolutions, while the i5-12600KF becomes a more significant factor at 1080p. With 12 measured data points spanning Low to Ultra presets, the pattern is consistent: frame rates drop sharply as resolution climbs, but the drop from 1440p to 4K is steeper than the drop from 1080p to 1440p, indicating where the GPU begins to hit its limits.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 shows a clear and consistent decline across all settings, but the magnitude of the drop varies by preset. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 308 at 1080p to 230 at 1440p, a reduction of 78 FPS, then further to 148 at 4K, another 82 FPS drop. This translates to a 25% decline from 1080p to 1440p and a 36% decline from 1440p to 4K. At High settings, the averages are 194, 142, and 92 FPS respectively, with a 27% drop to 1440p and a 35% drop to 4K. The Medium preset shows 223, 163, and 105 FPS, with drops of 27% and 36%. Ultra settings produce 146, 107, and 69 FPS, with drops of 27% and 35%.

The consistency of these percentage declines across presets indicates that resolution scaling is governed primarily by the GPU, not by the CPU or the specific quality level. However, the absolute frame rates tell a different story about headroom. At 1080p Low, the system produces 308 FPS, which is more than double the 4K Ultra figure of 69 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at the same resolution grows as resolution decreases: at 4K, Low is 148 FPS versus Ultra at 69 FPS, a 79 FPS spread; at 1440p, the spread is 123 FPS (230 vs 107); at 1080p, the spread reaches 162 FPS (308 vs 146). This widening gap at lower resolutions suggests that the CPU can feed frames fast enough at 1080p to let the GPU stretch its legs, but at 4K the GPU becomes the bottleneck and the settings impact is compressed.

The 4K Medium row is the only one with complete min and max FPS data: 90 min, 105 average, 121 max. This 31 FPS range between min and max indicates some frame time variance, but the average sits comfortably above 100 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 139 to 188, a 49 FPS spread, while at 1080p Medium it is 189 to 256, a 67 FPS spread. The increasing variance at lower resolutions points to CPU involvement in frame pacing, as the GPU can complete frames faster and the CPU becomes the limiting factor for consistent delivery.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti ranks 357th out of 3714 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the top 9.6% of all tested combos, a strong showing for this pairing. The data indicates that this system outperforms the vast majority of alternatives tested in this game, though it does not reach the very top tier.

The GPU's synthetic benchmark percentile of 86 versus all GPUs suggests it outperforms 86% of tested graphics cards, while the CPU's percentile of 79 versus all CPUs indicates it beats 79% of tested processors. The combination rank of 357 out of 3714 implies that the pairing works well together in this specific title, with neither component dragging the other down significantly. If either component were severely mismatched, the combo rank would likely fall below what either component achieves individually.

Looking at the measured FPS data, the 4K High average of 92 FPS and 4K Ultra average of 69 FPS are both playable, but the 1440p Ultra figure of 107 FPS and 1080p Ultra figure of 146 FPS show that the system can handle the game at high visual quality without dropping below 60 FPS at any tested resolution. The rank suggests that in Lockdown Protocol, this combo delivers a smooth experience at mainstream resolutions while maintaining decent performance at 4K, which is consistent with the measured numbers.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, and it carries 20 MB of shared L3 cache alongside 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core and 80 KB of L1 cache per core. The chip supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration and connects via PCIe Gen 4 with 20 CPU lanes. Its synthetic benchmarks show a multi-threaded 3DMark score of 7956 with 16 threads and 7952 with max threads, indicating that the 10 cores scale well. The single-thread 3DMark score is 1016, while Cinebench R23 yields 23391 multi-core and 3302 single-core. The Geekbench scores are 12137 multi-core and 2157 single-core.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role becomes most evident at 1080p Low, where the system reaches 308 FPS average. This high frame rate suggests that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at this resolution, but the fact that the 1080p Low figure is not even higher indicates potential CPU limitations. The jump from 1080p High (194 FPS) to 1080p Low (308 FPS) is a 114 FPS increase, which shows that reducing graphical load allows the CPU to push more frames. At 4K, the difference between Low (148 FPS) and High (92 FPS) is only 56 FPS, a smaller absolute gap that reflects GPU-bound conditions.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-10900K with a delta of -0.3%, the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE at +0.3%, the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U at -0.3%, and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D at -0.3%. These deltas are all within one percentage point, meaning the i5-12600KF performs essentially on par with these processors in aggregate benchmarks. The 5800X3D, which is often favored for gaming due to its 3D V-Cache, is only 0.3% ahead of the i5-12600KF in average score, suggesting that in this game the i5's 10 cores and 4.90 GHz boost clock provide comparable performance. The CPU's 125 W TDP and unlocked multiplier allow for overclocking, but the measured data does not include any overclocked results.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 provides the best balance of visual quality and performance, with 142 FPS at High settings and 107 FPS at Ultra. At 4K, Ultra drops to 69 FPS, which is playable but noticeably lower, while 1080p reaches 194 FPS at High but the visual fidelity is lower.

Q: How does the i5-12600KF compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i5-12600KF has an average benchmark score of 27799, which is 0.3% below the Intel Core i9-10900K, 0.3% below the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U, and 0.3% below the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D. It is 0.3% above the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE. These differences are negligible in practice.

Q: Is the RTX 5070 Ti the limiting factor at 4K?

A: Yes. The frame rate drops from 148 FPS at 4K Low to 69 FPS at 4K Ultra, a 79 FPS reduction, while the CPU has enough headroom to push higher frame rates at lower resolutions. The 4K Ultra figure of 69 FPS suggests the GPU is the primary constraint at this resolution.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1080p with this combo?

A: At 1920x1080, the measured averages are 308 FPS at Low, 223 FPS at Medium, 194 FPS at High, and 146 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset shows a min of 189 FPS and a max of 256 FPS, indicating consistent performance.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 Ti rank among GPUs?

A: The RTX 5070 Ti has a percentile of 86 versus all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 49957. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 at -0.1%, the Intel Arc A550M at +0.4%, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT at -2%, and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT at +3.1%.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data suggests mild CPU limiting at 1080p Low, where 308 FPS is achieved. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, with frame rates dropping to 69 FPS at Ultra. At 1440p, the system appears balanced, with 230 FPS at Low and 107 FPS at Ultra.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB203 chip, fabricated on TSMC's 5 nm process with 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die. It features 8960 shading units, 280 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation units, along with 70 ray tracing cores and 280 tensor cores. The GPU clock speeds are 2295 MHz base and 2452 MHz boost, with memory running at 1750 MHz or 28 Gbps effective. The 16 GB of GDDR7 memory sits on a 256-bit bus, providing 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's compute capabilities include 43.94 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16, a pixel rate of 235.4 GPixel/s, and a texture rate of 686.6 GTexel/s.

In Lockdown Protocol, the RTX 5070 Ti's 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for the tested resolutions, as the game does not appear to exceed this amount even at 4K Ultra. The GPU's synthetic benchmarks show a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6604, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 212363, and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 225122. The Passmark G3D score is 32974, with a GPU compute score of 20203. The GPU's percentile of 86 versus all GPUs indicates it outperforms the vast majority of graphics cards, and its average benchmark score of 49957 places it near the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, which is 2% higher, and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, which is 3.1% lower.

The measured frame rates show the GPU's strength at 1440p and 1080p, where it delivers well over 100 FPS even at Ultra settings. At 4K, the GPU still manages 92 FPS at High and 105 FPS at Medium, which are respectable figures for a demanding resolution. The 4K Ultra average of 69 FPS shows that the GPU can handle the highest preset but with a noticeable performance cost. The GPU's 300 W TDP and 700 W suggested PSU indicate that this card requires substantial power, but the measured data does not include power consumption figures for the game itself.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 4K, Medium delivers 105 FPS average with a min of 90 and max of 121, which is well above the 69 FPS of Ultra and comfortably above the 148 FPS of Low but with better visual quality than Low. At 1440p, Medium produces 163 FPS with a min of 139 and max of 188, providing smooth gameplay with headroom for competitive play. At 1080p, Medium reaches 223 FPS with a min of 189 and max of 256, which is more than sufficient for high refresh rate monitors.

The High preset is the next best option if visual fidelity matters more. At 4K, High averages 92 FPS, which is still playable, and at 1440p it hits 142 FPS. The Ultra preset, while visually superior, drops to 69 FPS at 4K and 107 FPS at 1440p, which may be acceptable for single-player experiences but less ideal for fast-paced FPS gameplay. The Low preset offers the highest frame rates — 308 FPS at 1080p and 148 FPS at 4K — but sacrifices visual quality significantly.

For players with a 144 Hz monitor, the Medium preset at 1440p is the recommended choice, as the 163 FPS average stays above the refresh rate with room to spare. For 4K displays, Medium at 105 FPS provides a smooth experience, while High at 92 FPS is also viable. The min FPS data for Medium at all resolutions — 90 at 4K, 139 at 1440p, and 189 at 1080p — indicates that the system maintains frame rates above 90 FPS even in the worst measured moments, which is a strong indicator of consistent performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured averages are 308 FPS at Low, 223 FPS at Medium, 194 FPS at High, and 146 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset has a min of 189 and max of 256, while the other settings do not have min or max data. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 162 FPS drop, with each settings tier costing roughly 50-80 FPS on average.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 230 FPS at Low, 163 FPS at Medium, 142 FPS at High, and 107 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset records a min of 139 and max of 188. The drop from Low to Ultra is 123 FPS, with the Medium to High gap being 21 FPS and the High to Ultra gap being 35 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 148 FPS at Low, 105 FPS at Medium, 92 FPS at High, and 69 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset shows a min of 90 and max of 121. The drop from Low to Ultra is 79 FPS, with the Medium to High gap at 13 FPS and the High to Ultra gap at 23 FPS. Across all resolutions, the Medium preset is the only one with complete min and max measurements, providing the most detailed view of frame time consistency. The data shows that the system delivers playable frame rates at every resolution and settings combination tested, with the lowest average being 69 FPS at 4K Ultra.