Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol places this combination of the Intel Core i5-13400F and the AMD Radeon RX 570 in a challenging position. The benchmark data shows that the RX 570 is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, but the CPU provides a solid foundation that allows the system to scale reasonably well at 1080p. The measured frame rates indicate that this pairing is viable for competitive play at lower settings, but it struggles to maintain fluid motion at higher graphical presets.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals a clear GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p with Ultra settings, the system produces an average of 35.9 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same preset drops the average to 28.3 FPS, a 21% reduction. At 4K Ultra, the average plunges to 16.9 FPS, which is a 53% decrease from the 1080p result. This scaling pattern indicates that the Radeon RX 570's 4 GB VRAM and 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are being saturated, causing the frame rate to collapse as pixel count increases.

The data shows a different story at Low settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 79.1 FPS, which is more than double the 4K Ultra result. At 1440p Low, the average remains playable at 56.2 FPS, and even 4K Low produces 36.9 FPS. The fact that Low settings at 4K outperform Ultra settings at 1080p by a single frame per second highlights how much the GPU is struggling with higher-quality textures and effects. The limiting component is unambiguously the graphics card, as the frame rate scales almost directly with the number of pixels being rendered when settings are held constant. The CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but the RX 570 cannot keep pace as resolution climbs.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Lockdown Protocol with this hardware?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the combination achieves consistently playable frame rates. At 1080p Low, the system averages 79.1 FPS, and even at High settings it maintains 47.9 FPS. At 1440p, only the Low preset (56.2 FPS) exceeds the 50 FPS threshold, while all other presets drop below 41 FPS.

Q: How much performance is gained by switching from Ultra to Low settings at 4K?

A: The improvement is substantial. At 3840x2160, the average frame rate rises from 16.9 FPS on Ultra to 36.9 FPS on Low, representing a 118% increase. This indicates that the RX 570 is heavily penalized by the higher graphical workload at 4K, and reducing settings is essential for any playable experience.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-13400F holding back the Radeon RX 570?

A: The benchmark data does not suggest a CPU bottleneck at most settings. The i5-13400F has 10 cores, 16 threads, and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, which places it in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs. However, at 1080p Low, the system only reaches 79.1 FPS, which is likely near the GPU's maximum output for this game, rather than a CPU limitation.

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

A: This combo ranks 1548 out of 1637 tested combinations. This places it in the bottom 6% of all systems tested, indicating that while the CPU is capable, the GPU's age and 4 GB VRAM limit the overall gaming experience in this title.

Q: What is the impact of the RX 570's 4 GB VRAM on performance?

A: The 4 GB of GDDR5 memory is a significant constraint. At 4K Ultra, the average frame rate drops to 16.9 FPS, which is likely due to VRAM capacity being exceeded, forcing the system to use slower memory fallbacks. The 256-bit bus width provides 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth, but the capacity is insufficient for modern FPS games at high resolutions.

Q: Should I use the Medium or High preset at 1440p?

A: The measured data shows that Medium produces 40.4 FPS while High produces 35.9 FPS at 2560x1440. Neither is particularly smooth, but Medium offers a 12% performance improvement over High. For a more consistent experience, dropping to Low at 56.2 FPS is the only viable option at this resolution.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data strongly favors the Low preset for most gaming scenarios with this hardware. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 79.1 FPS, which is the only configuration that consistently exceeds the 60 FPS target for competitive play. This is 47% faster than the Medium preset at the same resolution, which produces 53.6 FPS. While the Medium preset does offer a 12% improvement over High (53.6 vs 47.9 FPS), the jump from Medium to Low is far more significant and provides the headroom needed for stable frame times.

For users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, the High preset at 1080p is the best compromise, offering 47.9 FPS. This is playable but not ideal for fast-paced FPS action. At higher resolutions, the Low preset is the only reasonable choice. At 1440p Low, the system achieves 56.2 FPS, which is acceptable, while at 4K Low, the 36.9 FPS average is marginal but technically playable for slower-paced content. The Ultra preset should be avoided entirely, as it only produces 35.9 FPS at 1080p and drops to 16.9 FPS at 4K, making it unsuitable for any serious gameplay.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance across all presets. The Low preset leads with 79.1 FPS, followed by Medium at 53.6 FPS and High at 47.9 FPS. The Ultra preset brings up the rear at 35.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 25.5 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is only 5.7 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns as settings increase.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop across the board. Low produces 56.2 FPS, which is a 29% decrease from the 1080p result. Medium falls to 40.4 FPS, High to 35.9 FPS, and Ultra to 28.3 FPS. The performance hierarchy remains consistent, but the margins between presets narrow, indicating that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly low. Low settings yield 36.9 FPS, Medium produces 28.5 FPS, High drops to 22.7 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 16.9 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is severe, with even the Low preset losing 34% of its frame rate. The data shows that this resolution is beyond the capabilities of the RX 570 for this game.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is the dominant factor in these benchmark results. Its GCN 4.0 architecture, built on a 14 nm process, features 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The base clock of 1168 MHz and boost clock of 1244 MHz drive the card to a peak FP32 performance of 5.095 TFLOPS. The 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is the key limitation at higher resolutions.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 74th among all GPUs is misleading in this context. While the average benchmark score of 30158 places it near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (deltaPct 0.2%) and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (deltaPct 0.2%), the real-world gaming results in Lockdown Protocol tell a different story. The 4 GB VRAM capacity is insufficient for modern textures at 1440p and 4K, causing the frame rate to plummet. The card's end-of-life production status and 150 W TDP suggest it is a legacy component that struggles with contemporary FPS titles.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F provides a capable foundation for this system. With 10 cores and 16 threads, the processor can handle the multi-threaded workloads of modern games. The base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz ensure responsive performance, while the 20 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency. The CPU's 82nd percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 25236 place it in a dead heat with the Intel Core i7-13620H (deltaPct 0.1%) and AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (deltaPct -0.5%).

The benchmark data suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this pairing. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 79.1 FPS, which is likely near the GPU's maximum output. If the CPU were limiting performance, we would expect to see similar frame rates across different resolutions, but the data shows a clear decline as resolution increases. The i5-13400F's single-thread score of 3634 in Passmark and multi-thread score of 25032 indicate that it has ample processing power for this game. The CPU's launch MSRP is $196, making it a mid-range part that pairs well with the RX 570 at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-13400F and AMD Radeon RX 570 ranks 1548 out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the bottom 6% of all systems tested, which is a low ranking driven primarily by the GPU's limitations. The CPU is capable, but the RX 570's 4 GB VRAM and aging GCN architecture prevent this combo from achieving competitive frame rates at higher settings.

The rank is consistent with the measured FPS data. This system is suitable for 1080p Low gaming, where it achieves 79.1 FPS, but it falls behind most modern configurations at higher resolutions. The 4K Ultra result of 16.9 FPS is among the lowest recorded for any combo, confirming that this pairing is not designed for high-end gaming. For users with this hardware, the recommendation is clear: stick to 1080p and use the Low preset for the best experience in Lockdown Protocol.